was a Japanese

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ...

constructed by

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR) which sank during Typhoon Marie, known locally as the Tōya Maru Typhoon, in the

Tsugaru Strait The is a strait between Honshu and Hokkaido in northern Japan connecting the Sea of Japan with the Pacific Ocean. It was named after the western part of Aomori Prefecture. The Seikan Tunnel passes under it at its narrowest point 12.1 miles (1 ...

between the Japanese islands of

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

and

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

on September 26, 1954. JNR announced in September 1955 that 1,153 people aboard were killed in the accident. However, the exact number of fatalities remains unknown because some victims managed to obtain passage on the ship at the last minute, and others canceled their tickets just before the incident occurred.

Construction

''Tōya Maru'' was launched on November 21, 1947. She was long and at her beam and she had a gross register tonnage of . She could accommodate 1,128 passengers and was operated by a crew of 120. She covered the distance from

Aomori is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 278,964 in 136,457 households, and a population density of 340 people per square kilometer spread over the city's total area of ...

Hakodate is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

in 4 hours and 30 minutes. As early as 1950, she was fitted with

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

equipment, becoming one of the first Japanese sea liners to be so equipped. She was used by the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

the month before she sank. She was also famous as the flagship of the Tsugaru Strait.

Accident

Typhoon Marie, which had previously blown through

, was in the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

at 12:00 on September 26, 1954, heading northeast with wind speeds of more than 100 km/h. It was predicted to reach the Tsugaru Strait at around 17:00. At 11:00, ''Tōya Maru'' arrived at

after its first journey that day from

. She was originally scheduled to return at 14:40, to arrive at Aomori just before Typhoon Marie. However, due to the expected storm, another ferry— ''Dai 11 Seikan Maru'', a somewhat poorer quality vessel—could not depart on her scheduled journey to Hakodate. Therefore, passengers and vehicles were transferred to ''Tōya Maru'', delaying her departure. The captain of ''Tōya Maru'' decided to cancel its journey at 15:10. At 17:00, following heavy rainfall in Hakodate, the weather cleared up and the outlook improved. The captain, presuming that the typhoon had now passed as predicted, decided to proceed with the journey to Aomori. However, by this time the typhoon had only slowed down and was predicted to remain over the strait for an entire day. Atypically, the typhoon gained strength in the

. It was considered to have already become an

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of ...

when it reached Japan. At 18:39, ''Tōya Maru'' departed from Hakodate with approximately 1,300 passengers aboard. Shortly thereafter, the wind picked up coming from a SSE direction. At 19:01, ''Tōya Maru'' lowered its anchor near Hakodate Port to wait for the weather to clear up again. However, due to high winds, the anchor did not hold and ''Tōya Maru'' was cast adrift. Water entered the engine room due to the poor design of the vehicle decks, causing its steam engine to stop and ''Tōya Maru'' to become uncontrollable. The captain decided to beach the sea liner onto Nanae Beach, on the outskirts of

. At 22:26, ''Tōya Maru'' beached and an SOS call was made. However, the waves were so strong that the sea liner could no longer remain upright and at around 22:43, ''Tōya Maru'' capsized and sank at sea several hundred meters off the shore of Hakodate. Of the 1,309 on board, only 150 people survived, while 1,159 (1,041 passengers, 73 crew and 41 others) died. Among those killed were 35 American soldiers from the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division Artillery who were traveling from Hokkaidō as an advance party to set up a new camp ( Camp Younghans) at

Higashine, Yamagata is a city located in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 47,910 in 17868 households, and a population density of 230 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Located on the eastern shore of ...

, near

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, desig ...

. One soldier survived when he was swept through a port hole. Another, 2nd lieutenant George A. Vaillancourt, Battery C, 99th Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, was posthumously awarded the

Soldier's Medal The Soldier's Medal is an individual decoration of the United States Army. It was introduced as Section 11 of the Air Corps Act, passed by the Congress of the United States on July 2, 1926., Appendix 5, p. 126. The Army' Soldier's Medal is equiv ...

, the highest non-combat medal at the time, for his courage during the tragedy. The football field at Camp Younghans was dedicated to Vaillancourt on September 24, 1955. Four other ferries sank in the same typhoon, making a total loss of life of 1,430.

Aftermath

The sinking of ''Tōya Maru'' was one of the major factors behind the construction of the

Seikan Tunnel The Seikan Tunnel ( ja, 青函トンネル, or , ), is a dual-gauge railway tunnel in Japan, with a portion under the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, which separates Aomori Prefecture on the main Japanese island of Honshu from the northern isla ...

between Hokkaidō and Honshū. However, ferry traffic still continues to operate in the strait.

References

External links

Miramar Ship Index
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toya Maru Merchant ships of Japan Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Maritime incidents in Japan Maritime incidents in 1954 Seikan Tunnel 1947 ships 1954 in Japan Ferries of Japan Train ferries

Construction

Accident

Aftermath

See also

References

External links