Sōya (PL107)
Sōya is a Japanese icebreaker that serves as a museum ship in Tokyo after a long and storied service spanning some of the 20th century's historic events. She is named after Sōya Subprefecture in Hokkaido.
Construction
The vessel was built as Volochaevets, commissioned by the Soviets in 1936 from the Matsuo shipyard, on Nagasaki's Koyagi Island, as partial payment for Japan's construction of the South Manchuria Railway. Two other ice-strengthened cargo ships were ordered at the same time, Bolshevik and Komsomolets. All three were built, but owing to the worsening state of Japan-Soviet relations by that time, the ships were never delivered. Volochaevets was launched from the now-renamed Kawaminami Shipyard in February 1938. She was completed as an ice-breaking cargo freighter for the Tatsunan Kisen Co. and was renamed Chiryō Maru. Bolshevik and Komsomolets were renamed Minryō Maru and Tenryō Maru.War role
In November 1939, the Imperial Japanese Navy requisitioned Chiryō Maru for national service. In February 1940, she was renamed Sōya, a name previously held by the former Varyag, an armoured cruiser seized from Imperial Russia, but which Japan returned in 1916. The icebreaker Sōya was assigned duties as an auxiliary ammunition supply and survey vessel. In May 1942, she participated in the Battle of Midway, where she was assigned to Miyamoto Sadachika's 16th Minesweeper Unit. She survived the Second World War, albeit with multiple close calls. In January 1943 Sōya was attacked by. The torpedoes either missed or proved to be duds: Sōyas crew hoisted one undetonated torpedo onto the deck in celebration. In the February 1944 Operation Hailstone, aircraft from TF58 attacked the Japanese anchorage at Truk, sinking 41 Japanese vessels. Sōya escaped, but ran aground as she did so; 10 crewmembers were killed. On 26 June 1945 the submarine attacked a convoy escorting Sōya and other transport ships from Yokohama to Hakodate, sinking an escort vessel and disabling one transport ship. On 9 August 1945, Sōya was at anchor in Onagawa Bay as part of a flotilla with other vessels when British bombers attacked from the air, sinking at least two of them.Postwar
After the war, with Japan in defeat and needing to repatriate millions of individuals from its former colonies, Sōya was removed from the navy list and was assigned duties with the nation's repatriation fleet. Modifications at this time included removal of her guns and the installation of facilities for passengers, such as toilets in what had been her large forward and aft cargo holds. Spacious wooden accommodations were also built on deck. She undertook numerous missions embarking troops and passengers, including calls at Shanghai, Tinian, and Guam. In light of her ice-breaking ability, she was also assigned northerly missions, and by 1948, had made 14 voyages to and from Sakhalin (the former Karafuto), evacuating citizens by agreement with the new authorities from what had become part of the Soviet Union.In 1949, her repatriation duties ceased and Sōya was transferred to the Maritime Safety Agency, the precursor to the Japan Coast Guard. In a new role supplying remote lighthouses, she is reputed to have become known in some circles as the Santa Claus of the Sea.