World War II Database

1.  Bill says:
15 Nov 2013 10:02:39 AM

ABANDONED AT MIDWAY: FOR THEM THE WAR IS OVER

Survivors of the carrier Hiryu were picked up by both Japanese and American ships. One group of the ships company, spent two weeks in a life boat until rescued by the US Navy.

LUCKY TO ESCAPE:

On June 9th the US Submarine USS Trout picked up two survivors from the Japanese Cruiser Mikuma they were transported to Pearl Harbor as POWs.

LIFEBOAT: LIVED TO TELL THE TALE

The USS Ballard picked up 35 survivors from the
Hiryu's engineering section, thay were left behind
when the carrier was abandoned, later took to a lifeboat before the ship sank on June 5th, 1942
Later sent to Pearl Harbor as POWs.
How many other sailors were never rescued and listed as missing in action, only to be left to die in the vast Pacific Ocean.

2. Anonymous says:
8 Jun 2023 09:51:02 AM

This photo was taken on June 19. Description of the photo in National Archives:

Japanese prisoners of war under guard on Midway, following their rescue from an open lifeboat by USS Ballard (AVD-10) on 19 June 1942. They were survivors of the sunken aircraft carrier Hiryu.
After being held for a few days on Midway, they were sent on to Pearl Harbor on 23 June aboard USS Sirius (AK-15), arriving there on 1 July.
Note Marine guard in the center background, armed with a M1903 "Springfield" rifle.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

3.  David Stubblebine says:
8 Jun 2023 01:04:59 PM

Anonymous (above):
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. In checking the USS Ballard’s logs, we see the rescue at sea indeed took place on 19 Jun 1942, but the prisoners were not delivered to Midway until the following day. The ladder the prisoners are descending appears to be an Accommodation Ladder down the side of a ship, presumably the Ballard, meaning this photo almost certainly shows the prisoners’ arrival at Midway on 20 Jun 1942. Further, the Ballard log even goes so far as to list the names of 35 Japanese sailors that were picked up.

The caption has been updated accordingly and thank you again for causing us to take a second look at this photo.