Hell continues for Oryoku Maru POWs

15th December 1944: George Curtis is lucky to escape from the POW 'Hell ship' - but his ordeal is far from over

Aerial photo of the former U.S. Naval station, Olongapo, taken from a USS Hancock (CV-19) plane on 15 December 1944. The large ship is the Oryoku Maru, sunk in Subic Bay by U.S. Third Fleet planes on 16 December.

On the morning of the 15th it was realised that the damage to the Oryoku Maru was so great that she could not continue. As the Japanese prepare…