Awa Maru - Titanic of Japan

I might have read about this ship in one of my history lessons or not. I cannot be sure as the name sounds vaguely familiar. But I didn't remember anything else about her as I picked up this book by Rei Kimura. It's a slim volume and tells the sad story of the ship in simple yet effective words.

The Awa Maru was a hospital ship that sailed for Japan from Singapore in the last days of the WW2 - under a guarantee of protection from the US. Yet, it was torpedoed on 1st April, 1945 by an American submarine. Most of the 2007 passengers on board perished. :-(

It's a moving tale and one that underscores the fact that in any war, the people that suffer the worst are, more often than not, the most innocent.