"Allied prisoners of war called them "hell ships," the requisitioned merchant vessels that the Japanese navy overloaded with POWs being relocated to internment on the Japanese Home Islands or elsewhere in the empire. The holds were floating dungeons, where inmates were denied air, space, light, bathroom facilities, and adequate food and water—especially water. Thirst and heat claimed many lives in the end, as did summary executions and beatings, yet the vast majority of deaths came as a result of so-called "friendly fire" from U.S. and Allied naval ships, submarines, and aircraft.
In his comprehensive study of the sources, historian Gregory F. Michno shows that by the end of the war, 134 Japanese hell ships had together embarked on more than 156 voyages, which carried an estimated 126,000 Allied prisoners of war.
Approximately 1,540 Allied POW deaths resulted from conditions in the holds and violence aboard hell ships, whereas more than 19,000 deaths came as a consequence of Allied attacks.[3] The U.S. Navy carried out most of these attacks but with the help of Allied intelligence services and the Royal Navy's Far East patrols. On 18 September 1944, for example, a British submarine torpedoed and sank the Japanese hell ship Junyo Maru. Nearly 6,000 people died: 4,120 Javanese laborers and 1,520 Allied POWs…"
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paints up some WWII Soviet aircraft.