usl haakon pedersen

After his ship did not appear at its scheduled port of call in six months, the United States government declared Captain Haakon A. Pedersen and the crew of his ship, the SS American Leader, as lost at sea. “Lost” indicated they may be found, but are most probably dead. A month later, a curious radio listener picked up a transmission from Tokyo and learned Captain Pedersen was not only alive but interned in a Japanese prison camp. Of the 58 mariners originally aboard the SS American Leader, only 28 survived the war – Captain Pedersen among them.

In a NARA-released packet titled NEI-0 “Assorted Netherlands East Indies camps” is the document “LS Doc. No. 110.” It records the Dutch Provisional Court Martial at Pontianak, July 29, 1947, at 9:00 am sentencing of Michiaki Kamada (鎌田 道章). He was the Commander of 22nd Naval Base Balikpapan in occupied Dutch Borneo, and as such was the de-facto military governor of the territory. He directed the committed mass executions of ove one-thousand prisoners and civilians, and the willful mistreatment of prisoners of war in direct contravention of international law. Given his overall arbitrary orders for executions and punishment without cause, the Court pronounced the verdict:

[For the accused] no place in this society can be granted, and then consequently the Court Martial agrees with the military Prosecutor and is of the opinion that one punishment only can be meted out to the accused, namely, death.

NEI-0, Serial No. 9 “Pontianak” (LS Doc. 110) p 6.

Following Kamada’s sentencing is a number of affidavits and interviews. Tucked among them is a “Record of Evidence” marked as “Secret”; it holds copies of several letters Commander Pedersen, USNR submitted while interned at Tandjonk Prick Prisoner of War Camp to either the camp commandant or Swedish Consul in Batavia. He protested the treatment of both himself and the men under his care, non-recognition of their military status, and in each communication, he steadfastly maintained:

Captain Pedersen was adamant that both he and his officers were commissioned officers in the United States Naval Reserve. He recounted his training, his elevated rank, and war service. His Japanese captors ignored his protests and singled him out for individual humiliation and punishment; they had gone as far as building a solitary cage for him outside the camp commandant’s quarters. It is worth noting that Captain Pedersen was not only concerned with the lot of the licensed officers from his ship – their U.S.N.R. status was easier to explain or justify than that of his unlicensed crew. He did, however, cite international law in one of his letters, stating his was a belligerent ship and his entire crew should be afforded military privileges – the most important was pay. It is a curious thought that Prisoners of War needed to be concerned with money, but the few extra cents given to officers enabled them to purchase additional food from the Japanese – or a meager buffer against starvation.

---

Haakon Anderson Pedersen was born in Arendal, Norway on April 12, 1891. He first went to sea in September 1907 at age sixteen as a “deck boy” aboard the Norwegian Bark Formica – a windjammer involved in the lumber trade.

H. A. Pedersen Report: Loss of SS American Leader & Imprisonment

Col.:  U.S. Lines papers, AMMM

NEI-0 “Assorted Netherlands East Indies camps”

Col.: National Archives