Sinking at the end of the Pacific War Seikan ferry found on the seabed off Hakodate, Hokkaido August 13 12:54
k10012565191_202008131224_202008131225.mp4
One of the Seikan ferry ships that sank in the end of the Pacific War after being attacked by the US forces, "No. 4 Seikan Maru," was first found in a joint survey by NHK and a marine research company on the seabed off the coast of Hakodate, Hokkaido.
After the Pacific War began, the Seikan ferry had the role of sending Hokkaido's coal, etc. to the industrial area of Honshu as a munitions material, but in July 1945, near the end of the war, 12 ferry ships In total, more than 400 people were killed in the attack by a fighter.
Of these, "No. 4 Seiko Hakomaru" sank off the coast of Hakodate, killing 54 people, but at that time, the military did not announce that the sank, so the detailed situation of the damage and the exact location of the sunk were known. I didn't.
On March 13th, NHK and Windy Network, a marine research company that is investigating battlefields in the waters near Japan, jointly conducted a survey using underwater robot cameras, and it was located 5 km southwest of Hakodate City and about 80 meters deep. For the first time, I found the 4th Seikanmaru, which sank on the bottom of the sea.
According to several experts, in the video, the deck and bridge were severely damaged, and marks such as "fenders" that protect the hull when docking and rails for loading freight cars at the stern were confirmed. There is no doubt that it is Shisei Hakomaru.
Satoshi Iwabuchi, a professor at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology who is familiar with the battlefields underwater, said, "Understanding video footage is definitely the fourth Seikan Maru. At that time, the Seikan ferry, which was the center of logistics in Japan, had a tragic end. I think it's a valuable underwater heritage."