In October 1942, the Lisbon Maru, a Japanese transport ship secretly carrying over 1,800 British prisoners of war, was torpedoed off the coast of China by an American submarine unaware of its human cargo.
Although never previously studied in any depth, the sinking of the Lisbon Maru was the most costly American on British ‘Friendly Fire’ incident of the Second World War. Of the 4,500 of Hong Kong’s garrison who perished during the war, 1,000 died directly or indirectly from this sinking. From American, British, Hong Kong and Japanese sources, this book reconstructs the fateful voyage of the Lisbon Maru, and the experiences of the captives, the captors, and those on board the submarine that sank her.
The book will be of interest to anyone wishing to know more about the ‘Hellships’ that caused the deaths of almost 20,000 Allied Prisoners of War during the Second World War, or the experiences of Allied POWs in Japan.
In 2014, while making another film, China based producer Fang Li heard the story from the fishermen of Zhoushan who had saved so many lives that day. He vowed to record the facts, building on Banham’s research to produce a documentary film “The Sinking of Lisbon Maru”, which was originally picked by China’s government as the nation’s official entry in the category of International Films at the 2025 Oscars. The film’s Premiere was at the Shanghai International Film Festival in June 2024 and the UK’s premiere was showcased on 17th March 2025 and is set for a year-round release across UK and Ireland cinemas as a response to the world-wide 80th Anniversary of the End of WWII Special to promote peacebuilding.
Source: HKU Press; Wikipedia; http://www.lisbonmaru.com/;
https://www.ukchinafilm.com/the-sinking-of-the-lisbon-maru-cinemas-marathon/
The Speaker
Dr Tony Banham, is a long-term resident of Hong Kong, having arrived in the 1980s. He has been studying the Battle of Hong Kong for well more than three decades and has written on the subject, aided in the production of numerous television documentaries, and helped many children of veterans in their researches into their fathers’ war years. He is the author of Not the Slightest Chance.
http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/
PROGRAMME
Time: 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm (Reception starts at 6:30 pm)
Venue: Café 8, Roof, Hong Kong Maritime Museum, Pier 8, Central
Admission: $175 for members, $220 for guests /non-members (Light refreshments are included in the admission fee)
Registration: Please email <membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk> and provide your membership number, if applicable, at the time of registration. Please kindly complete your registration by advance payment via Stripe's payment links below (using your Credit Card):
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