russian: Шумшу
ja, 占守島 , image_name = Shumshu.jpg , image_caption = A

Landsat 7 Landsat 7 is the seventh satellite of the Landsat program. Launched on 15 April 1999, Landsat 7's primary goal is to refresh the global archive of satellite photos, providing up-to-date and cloud-free images. The Landsat program is managed a ...

image of Shumshu Island. The northern tip of

Paramushir Paramushir (russian: Парамушир, Paramushir, ja, 幌筵島, Paramushiru-tō, ain, パラムシㇼ, translit=Para=mu=sir) is a volcanic island in the northern portion of Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Oc ...

Island is at left. The

First Kuril Strait First Kuril Strait (, ) (also known as just Kuril Strait) is a strait, located at , separating the Shumshu Island of the Kuril Islands from the Cape Lopatka, Kamchatka Peninsula. See also * Second Kuril Strait * Fourth Kuril Strait The Fourth Kur ...

lies across the upper portion of the image. , image_size = , map_image = Kuriles Shumshu.PNG , map_caption = , native_name_link = , nickname = , location =

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

, coordinates = , archipelago = Kuril Island , total_islands = , major_islands = , area_km2 = 388 , length_km = 28 , width_km = 15 , highest_mount = , elevation_m = 171 , country = Russia , country_admin_divisions_title = Oblast , country_admin_divisions =

Sakhalin Oblast Sakhalin Oblast ( rus, Сахали́нская о́бласть, r=Sakhalínskaya óblast', p=səxɐˈlʲinskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) comprising the island of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands in the Russian ...

, country_admin_divisions_title_1 = District , country_admin_divisions_1 = Severo-Kurilsky , population = ± 100 (seasonal) , population_as_of = , density_km2 = , ethnic_groups = , additional_info = Shumshu (russian: Шумшу, Shumshu; ja, 占守島, Shumushu-tō; ain, スㇺス (reconstruction), lit=good island) is the second-northernmost island of the

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

chain, which divides the

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 ...

from the northwest

. The name of the island is derived from the

Ainu language Ainu (, ), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu, is a language spoken by a few elderly members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, itself considered a language family isolate ...

, meaning "good island". It is separated from

by the very narrow Second Kuril Strait in the northeast , and its northern tip is , from

Cape Lopatka Cape Lopatka ( ') is the southernmost point of Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, with the rural locality of Semenovka at its southernmost point. Cape Lopatka lies about north of Shumshu, the northernmost island of the Kuril Islands. Cape Lopatka al ...

at the southern tip of the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and w ...

. The island has a seasonal population of around 100 inhabitants.

Geography

Shumshu is the least elevated in the entire Kuril group with a height of . The terrain is low-lying and covered with numerous lakes and marshland. Shumshu is roughly oval, and has an area of .

Main Features

* Ozero Utinoye (lake) * Ozero Dogovoye (lake) * Ozero Kuzminovskoye (lake) * Ozero Bol'shoye (lake) * Bukhta Shumnaya (bay) * Bukhta Sakulina (bay) * Bukhta Inozemtseva (bay) * Bukhta Mayachnaya (bay) * Nakagawa-wan (bay) * Katoka-wan (bay)

History

Shumshu was inhabited by the

Ainu Ainu or Aynu may refer to: *Ainu people, an East Asian ethnic group of Japan and the Russian Far East *Ainu languages, a family of languages **Ainu language of Hokkaido **Kuril Ainu language, extinct language of the Kuril Islands **Sakhalin Ainu la ...

, who subsisted off of the abundant fish,

marine mammal Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their ...

s and birdlife in the area, at the time of European contact. The island appears on an official map showing the territories of

Matsumae Domain The was a Japanese clan that was confirmed in the possession of the area around Matsumae, Hokkaidō as a march fief in 1590 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and charged with defending it, and by extension the whole of Japan, from the Ainu "barbarians" ...

, a feudal domain of

Edo-period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional ''daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

dated 1644. Due to its proximity to the Kamchatka Peninsula, Shumshu became the first of the Kurils to be reached by

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

s from the peninsula in the first years of the 18th century. Russian fur traders are known to have visited the island in 1711 and 1713, and it was from this base that Russian fur hunters and traders gradually expanded into other islands of the chain and

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 ...

. Although the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

of Japan officially confirmed the Matsumae Domain’s claims to the island, the island remained outside of ''de facto'' Japanese control. Also claimed by the Empire of Russia,

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

over the island was confirmed to be under Russia under the terms of the

Treaty of Shimoda The Treaty of Shimoda (下田条約, ''Shimoda Jouyaku'') (formally Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and Russia 日露和親条約, ''Nichi-Ro Washin Jouyaku'') of February 7, 1855, was the first treaty between the Russian Empire, a ...

in 1855. In 1875, sovereignty over the Kuril Islands, including Shumshu, was transferred to the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

per the Treaty of Saint Petersburg. A number of Japanese colonizing expeditions followed, establishing the settlement of

Kataoka Kataoka (written: 片岡) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Azusa Kataoka (born 1988), Japanese voice actress and singer *Chiezō Kataoka (1903–1983), Japanese actor *, Japanese golfer * Drue Kataoka, Japanese Ameri ...

(on the site of the

settlement of Mairuppo) as the commercial center of Shumshu. As the island closest to Russia, it became an important Japanese military outpost, as well as a center for the

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must oft ...

industry. The island was administered as part of the Shumushu District of

Nemuro Subprefecture is a subprefecture of Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. Japan claims the southern parts of the disputed Kuril Islands (known as the Northern Territories in Japan) as part of this subprefecture. As of March 2009, the subprefecture has an estimated ...

Hokkaidō is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

. In 1910, a

cannery Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although ...

was established, and the island’s civilian population exceeded 2,000 by the early 1940s. Towards the end of

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the island was strongly garrisoned by both the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...

(IJA) and

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). A garrison of over 24,500 men reinforced by sixty tanks was garrisoned on Shumshu in nine locations centered around Kataoka. All coastal areas suitable for enemy

amphibious landing Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducte ...

s were covered with permanent emplacements and

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

s, interconnected with underground passages and

trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from ero ...

es. All the

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of citie ...

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

s, and

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

s were up to underground. These defenses were manned by the IJA 91st Division, with the IJA 73rd Infantry Brigade. Miyoshino Airfield was a joint IJA-IJN airfield, located near the center of the island, and it hosted several aviation units operating various aircraft including IJN Nakajima B5N2 ( Allied reporting name "Kate") and

Mitsubishi G3M The was a Japanese bomber and transport aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during World War II. The Yokosuka L3Y (Allied reporting name "Tina"), was a transport variant of the aircraft manufactured by the Yokosu ...

(Allied reporting name "Nell") and IJA

Nakajima Ki-44 The Nakajima Ki-44 ''Shoki'' (鍾馗, " Devil Queller") was a single-seat fighter- interceptor which was developed by the Nakajima Aircraft Company and operated by the Imperial Japanese Army from 1942 to 1945 during World War II. Its officia ...

(Allied reporting name "Tojo") and Nakajima Ki-43 (Allied reporting name "Oscar") aircraft. Kataoka Naval Base was under the command of the IJN′s

5th Fleet The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headq ...

and had three oil storage tanks as well as

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

and supply buildings. The base also had a

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

facility in the harbor, and neighboring Imaizaki Airfield had a and a runway. These facilities were subject to sporadic air raids by

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

forces based in the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...

from 1943 until the

Japanese Emperor The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the w ...

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

announced the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Na ...

on 15 August 1945. The

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

continued combat operations against Japan until early September 1945. During the

Invasion of the Kuril Islands The Invasion of the Kuril Islands (russian: Курильская десантная операция, lit=Kuril Islands Landing Operation) was the World War II Soviet military operation to capture the Kuril Islands from Japan in 1945. The inv ...

, Soviet forces landed on Shumshu on 18 August 1945, beginning the

Battle of Shumshu The Battle of Shumshu, the Soviet invasion of Shumshu in the Kuril Islands, was the first stage of the Soviet Union's Invasion of the Kuril Islands in August–September 1945 during World War II. It took place from 18 to 23 August 1945, and ...

, one of the last battles of World War II. Combat operations continued through 23 August 1945, ending with the surrender of the surviving members of the Japanese garrison. The Soviets sent the Japanese

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

, including most Japanese male civilians, to labor camps and forcibly deported the remaining Japanese civilian inhabitants. The Soviets renamed Kataoka Baikovo (russian: Байково), and the Soviet Union annexed the island in 1946, including it in the

Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. Japan formally gave up sovereignty over the island under the terms of the

San Francisco Peace Treaty The , also called the , re-established peaceful relations between Japan and the Allied Powers on behalf of the United Nations by ending the legal state of war and providing for redress for hostile actions up to and including World War II. It w ...

of 1951. The island remained a part of Russia after the 1991

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and is now administered as part of the

of the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Notes

References

* Gorshkov, G. S. ''Volcanism and the Upper Mantle Investigations in the Kurile Island Arc''. Monographs in geoscience. New York: Plenum Press, 1970. * Krasheninnikov, Stepan Petrovich, and James Greive. ''The History of Kamtschatka and the Kurilski Islands, with the Countries Adjacent''. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1963. * Rees, David. ''The Soviet Seizure of the Kuriles''. New York: Praeger, 1985. * Takahashi, Hideki, and Masahiro Ōhara. ''Biodiversity and Biogeography of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin''. Bulletin of the Hokkaido University Museum, no. 2-. Sapporo, Japan: Hokkaido University Museum, 2004.

External links

*
Pictures

Abandoned tanks of Shumshu island
{{Authority control Islands of the Kuril Islands Islands of the Sea of Okhotsk Islands of the Russian Far East