View source for Japanese icebreaker Ōtomari

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
 | Ship image = IJN ice breaker ODOMARI in 1921.jpg
 | Ship caption = ''Ōtomari'' in November 1921 at [[Kobe|Kōbe]]
}}
{{Infobox ship career
 | Hide header =  
 | Ship country = Japan 
 | Ship flag = [[Image:Naval Ensign of Japan.svg|100x35px|border|Japanese Navy Ensign]]
 | Ship name = ''Ōtomari''
 | Ship namesake = [[Korsakov (town)|Port of Ōtomari]]
 | Ship ordered = 1920 Fiscal year under the [[Eight-eight fleet]] plan
 | Ship builder = [[Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corporation]]
 | Ship original cost= 
 | Ship laid down= 24 June 1921
 | Ship launched= 3 October 1921
 | Ship completed = 7 November 1921
 | Ship acquired =  
 | Ship commissioned =
 | Ship decommissioned = 15 September 1945
 | Ship fate = Scrapped between October 1949&ndash;March 1950.
 | Ship struck = 
 | Ship honors =  
 | Ship notes =  
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header= 
|Header caption= as built
|Ship class=
|Ship type=[[Icebreaker]]
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement={{convert|2330|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} standard
|Ship length={{convert|60.96|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Length between perpendiculars|pp]]
|Ship beam={{convert|15.24|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|5.55|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draft=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*2 × triple expansion reciprocating engines, 5 × [[scotch boiler]]s
*2 shafts, 4,000 shp
|Ship speed={{convert|13|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|4000|nmi|km|abbr=on}} at 14 knots
|Ship boats=
|Ship troops=
|Ship endurance=Fuel: 500 tons coal
|Ship complement=101
|Ship crew=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*'''as built'''
*1 × [[Armstrong Whitworth|Armstrong]] 3 in [[Caliber#Caliber as measurement of length|L/40]] gun
*'''In the Pacific War'''
*1 × Armstrong 3 in L/40 gun
*2 × [[Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun|Type 96 25 mm AA gun]]s
*6 × Type 93 13 mm AA guns
*some depth charges
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft= 
|Ship aircraft facilities= 
}}
|}

The {{nihongo|'''''Ōtomari'''''|大泊}}<ref>30 May 1921, Notice No. 104, ''Named one auxiliary vessel.'', Minister's Secretariat, [[Ministry of the Navy of Japan|Ministry of the Navy]].</ref> was an icebreaker of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] (IJN) serving during the 1920s through [[World War II]], the only ship of her class. She was the only icebreaker warship in the IJN.

==Background==
[[File:DobrynyaNikitich-ledokol.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Russian icebreaker ''Dobrynya Nikitich'']]
''Ōtomari'' was planned as one of the [[Japanese seaplane tender Kamoi|''Kamoi''-class oiler]]s under the [[Eight-eight fleet]] plan at first. The [[Nikolayevsk Incident]] (12 March 1920 – 3 June 1920) changed the plan. The Imperial Japanese Navy was not able to dispatch their warship to [[Nikolayevsk-on-Amur]] which froze, because they did not have an icebreaker. Japanese civilians were killed by [[Bolsheviks|Bolshevik]] terrorists in this incident. Japan was afraid that this disaster could occur again, because the [[Russian Civil War]] continued. As a result, the budget for the vessels was rearranged: only the lead ship of ''Kamoi''-class oiler was built, plus three oilers of [[Ondo class oiler|''Ondo''-class]], one food supply ship ([[Japanese food supply ship Mamiya|''Mamiya'']]), and one icebreaker (''Ōtomari'').

As Japan had no prior experience in building icebreakers, the IJN began by observing icebreaker architectures of neighboring countries, and decided to base ''Ōtomari'' on the Russian icebreaker ''Dobrynya Nikitich''. The IJN hurried the construction of ''Otomari'', because they wanted her by the Winter of 1921, and she was launched less than four months after her keel was laid down.

She was assigned to [[Ōminato Guard District]] and took northern patrol duties, and continued active service throughout her life.

Because ''Ōtomari'' was small and aging by World War II, the IJN planned her succeeding ship ''Esan'' (恵山, Project Number '''J23''', 6,800 tons standard) under the [[Modified 5th Naval Armaments Supplement Programme (Japan, 1942)|Kai-Maru 5 program]] in 1942; however ''Esan'' was canceled in 1943.

==Service==
<!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[File:HIJMS Otomari-1948.jpg|thumb|200px|left|''Ōtomari'' in [[Yokosuka]], 1948]] -->
''Ōtomari'' acted in [[Sakhalin]], [[Kuril Islands]] and [[Sea of Okhotsk]] except during maintenance. In July 1945, she sailed to [[Yokosuka Naval Arsenal]] for maintenance. However, she was not able to take maintenance because [[Surrender of Japan|Japan had surrendered]]. Japan was going to employ her as repatriation transport, however, it was given up, because her boiler was worn out.{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}} She was scrapped in March 1950.
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Ships of the World special issue Vol.47 ''Auxiliary Vessels of the Imperial Japanese Navy'', Kaijinsha, (Japan), March 1997
* The Maru Special, ''Japanese Naval Vessels No.34, "Japanese Auxiliary vessels"'', Ushio Shobō (Japan), December 1979
* The Maru Special, ''Japanese Naval Operations in WWII No.111, "Imperial Japanese Naval Vessels in postwar"'', Ushio Shobō (Japan), May 1986
* [[Senshi Sōsho]] Vol.31, ''Naval armaments and war preparation (1), "Until November 1941"'', Asagumo Simbun (Japan), November 1969
* {{cite web |url=http://rekigun.net/ |title=Rekishi Gunzō}} History of Pacific War Vol.37, ''"Support vessels of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy"'', [[Gakken]] (Japan), June 2002, {{ISBN|4-05-602780-3}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |access-date=2024-03-30 |publisher=NFAJ |title=韃靼海峽氷原航海 大正十二年二月 (Tartary Sea Pass Ice Field Voyage February Taisho 11 = 1923); Film from the National Film Archive of Japan about a voyage of the icebreaker in early 1923 |url=https://filmisadocument.jp/films/view/60}}<!-- auto-translated from German by Module:CS1 translator -->


{{WWII Japanese auxiliary ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otomari}}
[[Category:Icebreakers of Japan|Otomari]]
[[Category:World War II naval ships of Japan|Otomari]]
[[Category:1921 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries]]