LUZON, Philippines — A Japanese ship was in a convoy steaming through the South China Sea on September 21, 1944, with around 1,200 British and Dutch prisoners of war crammed in its holds. U.S. warplanes, mistaking the unmarked ship for a military cargo vessel, dropped four torpedoes. One struck the ship. The vessel split in two and sank within minutes, dooming most of the Allied prisoners trapped below deck.