Which of the following descriptions best characterizes the "hell ships" of WWII?

a.

unmarked ships which were used to bring American and Filipino prisoners to safety

b.

unmarked ships which were used to bring Japanese prisoners to safety

c.

unmarked Japanese ships carrying Japanese prisoners of war, which the US sank

d.

unmarked ships carrying Bataan prisoners of war, which the US sank

A. unmarked ships which were used to bring American and Filipino prisoners to safety

Explanation:

The term hell ship refers mostly to ships used by the Imperial Japanese Navy to transport Allied prisoners of war out of the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore during World War II. Prisoners of war were taken to Japan, Taiwan, Manchuria or Korea to be used as forced labor. In Japanese, they are known as Jigoku sen (地獄 船), with the same meaning.