hell ship

noun

A ship (sailing vessel) with extremely inhumane living conditions or with a reputation for cruelty among the crew, especially one of those used by the Japanese to transport Allied prisoners of war and Asian slave labourers out of the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong, and Singapore in World War II.

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Meanings

nounhell ship (plural hell ships)

plural hell ships

  1. historicalA ship (sailing vessel) with extremely inhumane living conditions or with a reputation for cruelty among the crew, especially one of those used by the Japanese to transport Allied prisoners of war and Asian slave labourers out of the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, Hong Kong, and Singapore in World War II.
Cite this entry
APA

hell ship. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20ship

MLA

“hell ship.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20ship. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hell ship,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hell%20ship.

Source: hell ship on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.