was a Japanese

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry Railroad car, railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Track (rail transport), railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the f ...

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 pre ...

(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 ...

between the Japanese islands of

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan 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 railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

and

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

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. Fatalities were later reported as up to 1,170 passengers and crew.

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 , officially Aomori City (, ), is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Aomori Prefecture, in the Tōhoku region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 264,945 in 136,781 households, and a population density of 321 people per squa ...

Hakodate is a Cities of Japan, city and seaports of Japan, port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of January 31, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 239,813 with 138,807 househol ...

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

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

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

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

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 ...

at 12:00 on September 26, 1954, heading northeast with wind speeds of more than . 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 p ...

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. The now uncontrollable sea liner ran aground onto Nanae Beach, on the outskirts of

. At 22:26, ''Tōya Maru'' drifted aground 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 Cities of Japan, 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 ...

, near

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

. One soldier survived when he was swept through a

porthole A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehic ...

. 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 Soldier's Medal is equivalent ...

, the highest non-combat medal at the time, for his courage during the disaster. The football field at Camp Younghans was dedicated to Vaillancourt on September 24, 1955. Six other ferries sank in the same typhoon, causing 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 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 Japanese National Railways Ferry boat disasters