The 30 May 1921, Notice No. 104, ''Named one auxiliary vessel.'', Minister's Secretariat, Ministry of the Navy. was an icebreaker of the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

(IJN) serving during the 1920s through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the only ship of her class. She was the only icebreaker warship in the IJN.

Background

''Ōtomari'' was planned as one of the ''Kamoi''-class oilers under the

Eight-eight fleet The was a Japanese naval strategy formulated for the development of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the first quarter of the 20th century, which stipulated that the navy should include eight first-class battleships and eight armoured cruisers or b ...

plan at first. The

Nikolayevsk Incident The was an international conflict in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur in the Russian Far East between Japan and the Far Eastern Republic during the Japanese intervention. The culmination was the execution of imprisoned Japanese prisoners of war and survivor ...

(12 March 1920 – 3 June 1920) changed the plan. The Imperial Japanese Navy was not able to dispatch their warship to

Nikolayevsk Nikolayevsk (russian: Никола́евск) is a town and the administrative center of Nikolayevsky District in Volgograd Oblast, Russia, located on the left (eastern) shore of the Volga River. Population: History It was founded in 1747 as t ...

which froze, because they did not have an icebreaker. Japanese civilians were killed by

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

terrorists in this incident. Japan was afraid that this disaster could occur again, because the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

continued. As a result, the budget for the vessels was rearranged: only the lead ship of ''Kamoi''-class oiler was built, plus three oilers of ''Ondo''-class, one food supply ship ( ''Mamiya''), and one icebreaker (''Ōtomari''). As Japan had no prior experience in building icebreakers, the IJN began by observing icebreaker architectures of neighboring countries, and decided to base ''Ōtomari'' on the Russian icebreaker ''Dobrynya Nikitich''. The IJN hurried the construction of ''Otomari'', because they wanted her by the Winter of 1921, and she was launched less than four months after her keel was laid down. She was assigned to

Ōminato Guard District The was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in northern Honshu before and during World War II. Located in Mutsu Bay at the present-day city of Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, the Ōminato Guard District was responsible for control of t ...

and took northern patrol duties, and continued active service throughout her life. Because ''Ōtomari'' was small and aging by World War II, the IJN planned her succeeding ship ''Esan'' (恵山, Project Number J23, 6,800 tons standard) under the Kai-Maru 5 program in 1942; however ''Esan'' was canceled in 1943.

Service

''Ōtomari'' acted in

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

and

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

except during maintenance. In July 1945, she sailed to

Yokosuka Naval Arsenal was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was located at Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture on Tokyo Bay, south of Yokohama. History In 1866, the Tokugawa shogunate government established the ...

for maintenance. However, she was not able to take maintenance because Japan had surrendered. Japan was going to employ her as repatriation transport, however, it was given up, because her boiler was worn out. She was scrapped in March 1950.

References

Bibliography

* Ships of the World special issue Vol.47 ''Auxiliary Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy'', Kaijinsha, (Japan), March 1997 * The Maru Special, ''Japanese Naval Vessels No.34, "Japanese Auxiliary vessels"'', Ushio Shobō (Japan), December 1979 * The Maru Special, ''Japanese Naval Operations in WWII No.111, "Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels in postwar"'', Ushio Shobō (Japan), May 1986 *

Senshi Sōsho The , also called the , is the official military history of Imperial Japan's involvement in the Pacific War from 1937 to 1945. The task of compiling the official account of the Japanese involvement in World War II began in October 1955 with the op ...

Vol.31, ''Naval armaments and war preparation (1), "Until November 1941"'', Asagumo Simbun (Japan), November 1969 * History of Pacific War Vol.37, ''"Support vessels of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy"'',

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales is reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces other ...

(Japan), June 2002, {{DEFAULTSORT:Otomari Otomari Otomari 1921 ships Ships built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries