To further substantiate their connection, this valuable archival document was soon sent to Shi Fuming, head of the Party History Division at the Xiangshan County Party History Research Office.

Coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, Shi had been “immersed” in the Xiangshan County Archives for three to four months, almost every day from nine to five.

Shi offered his analysis based on in-depth research:

From the perspective of timing, when Su sent a telegram to Zhejiang Provincial Government on October 17, the rescued British POWs on Tianjin Maru had already been transferred to the Sixth Prefectural Administrative Office of Zhejiang Province (hereinafter referred to as the “Sixth Prefectural Administrative Office”). By this calculation, the Tianjin Maru incident occurred at roughly the same time as that of the Lisbon Maru—both in early October.

From a geographical perspective, “According to other historical records, Tianjin Maru and Lisbon Maru encountered danger near Mount Putuo and Dongji Island respectively, which are both coincidentally within the eastern waters of the Zhoushan Archipelago, Zhejiang,” Shi noted.

Both vessels were torpedoed by U.S. submarines, and subjected to machine gun fire after sinking by the Japanese forces.

As for key figures, “The telegram replied to Su in the Xiangshan County Archives notes ‘three British prisoners (JOHSTONE) [Johnstone] of war,’” explained Shi, “The names of the three Britons on Tianjin Maru, as shown in related historical records, are identical to those of three British POWs aboard the Lisbon Maru.”

In addition, the two ships transported roughly equivalent numbers of British POWs. The three rescued POWs estimated that the Tianjin Maru carried more than 2,000 people, while the statistics from postwar researchers indicate 1,816 POWs on the Lisbon Maru.

When it comes to the rescue effort, the British POWs in both cases were escorted by an official armed force—Dinghai County Militia Corps. “According to memoirs related to the Lisbon Maru, after the three POWs were rescued, they were escorted to Hulu Island, handed over to Wang Jineng of the fourth detachment of guerrilla force, and then transferred to Mayor Su in Xiangshan County Government…” Shi noted.

“Wang Jineng was a subordinate of Zhu Tiejun, deputy commander of Dinghai County Militia Corps. The commander of that corps was Su Benshan,” Shi added.

Taken together, the evidence suggests that “Tianjin Maru” was most likely the Lisbon Maru. Shi speculates that names were concealed in the telegram because the rescue of the British POWs had exposed the Japanese massacre of prisoners; explicitly mentioning the Lisbon Maru could have enabled the Japanese to trace the POWs’ transfer route. He further notes that the Japanese had previously conducted a sweep of Dongji Island and massacred fishermen there, making secrecy essential to protect the rescuers.