On 27 September 1942, the Japanese freighter Lisbon Maru left Hong Kong for Shanghai with 1800 British POWs and 778 Japanese soldiers. In contravention of the Geneva agreement, the ship was not marked in any way to indicate that it was carrying POWs. It was torpedoed on 1 October by an American submarine.
As the ship began to sink, the Japanese ordered all the POWs down into the holds. "We firmly believed the Japs would not let us drown," said James Miller, a POW. "They could not be so heartless that they could let 1800 helpless men die."
But in fact the Japanese battened down the hatches on the three holds. While 10 Japanese vessels came and ferried off the Japanese soldiers, the POWs were left behind. It was the intention of the Japanese to let the POWs all drown.
一九四二年九月二十七日，日本貨船里斯本丸號從香港開赴上海，船上有被俘英軍一千八百人以及日本士兵七百七十八人。該船違反日內瓦協定，沒有任何標誌顯示載着戰俘；十月一日，遭美國潛艇魚雷擊中。
里斯本丸號開始下沉。日軍命令所有戰俘走到甲板下貨艙裏。戰俘詹姆斯．米勒說：「我們當時深信，日本鬼子不會任由我們淹死，不可能這樣殘忍，要一千八百個無力自救者死亡。」
事實上，日軍卻在三個貨艙口釘上板條，牢牢封緊。十艘日本船開過來，把日本士兵載走，遺下戰俘，要他們全部淹死。