On August 29, 1945, the USS Benevolence sailed into Tokyo Bay. She was the first American hospital ship to arrive in Japan to evacuate American, Allied, and civilian POWs from two internment camps following the end of WWII. After spending the fall onboarding patients and caring for them, the Benevolence set sail for the US on November 27, 1945. She reached San Francisco on December 12, 1945.
After Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan would surrender on August 15, 1945, military officials began moving 300 US Navy ships toward Tokyo Bay, where Japan would sign the official Instrument of Surrender on September 2. Among those ships were three hospital ships: the USAHS Marigold, the USS Rescue, and the USS Benevolence. The Benevolence was a new hospital ship, recently converted from the cargo ship SS Marine Lion. She had over 800 hospital beds, state-of-the-art operating rooms, labs, other medical facilities, and a highly trained medical staff. The ship included another revolutionary feature – air conditioning.

Soon after entering the harbor, the Benevolence began receiving patients. Among them was Master Sgt. Oliver C. Thomas. Thomas enlisted in 1941 and served in the 421st Squadron, 504th Bomb Group, as a B-29 flight engineer. On May 29, 1945, his plane was hit by flak on a bombing run over Yokohama. Losing altitude, the crew of 12 jumped. Nine ended up in the same POW camp in Japan. Thomas described the conditions of his imprisonment in a newspaper interview following the war. “Sixteen of us were crowded into a cell 8 by 10 feet. Military police beat us on the heads with rifle butts… one crewman was beaten unmercifully with a bamboo rod.” During his imprisonment, Thomas lost 50 pounds. Despite the beatings, he fared better than many others.
Sgt. Harold T. Hedges served in the 500th Bomb Group, 882nd Bomb Squadron, and was the only survivor when a Japanese suicide plane rammed his B-29 over Nagoya on January 3, 1945. He endured horrific torture by his captors and was so severely beaten that he had to be carried aboard the Benevolence on a stretcher. Crew members reported the shock of seeing liberated prisoners’ thin and emaciated bodies.
In November, the Benevolence sailed toward California with 1,000 passengers. Medical personnel worked tirelessly to treat their precious human cargo.
On December 12, 1945, the Benevolence arrived in San Francisco, where all patients and passengers disembarked. Those needing further medical care were transferred to Base Hospitals. During her service in caring for liberated Allied POWs, the crew of the Benevolence screened 1520 prisoners of war and provided them with the best possible care.
To learn more about the USS Benevolence, search Fold3® today.