SAPPORO – On the early morning of Aug. 22, 1945 — a week after the Pacific War ended on Aug.15 — three Japanese ships carrying Japanese evacuees from Soviet-invaded Sakhalin to Hokkaido were attacked and sunk by Soviet submarines near the port city of Rumoi, with a loss of over 1,700 lives.
Each year, the city commemorates the tragedy with a memorial ceremony at a cenotaph erected in 1962 dedicated to the victims of what became known as the Three Ships Incident. It was one of the final brutal acts of what remains the most devastating war in human history.
On the 80th anniversary of the tragedy, Rumoi officials are unsure how many survivors are still alive. But they said this year’s message will be to remind the world that those who were killed were largely women, children and noncombatants, and that the attacks were completely unjustified.
The attack by Soviet forces near Rumoi was also significant because of one of history’s greatest “what if” questions.
On. Aug. 8, 1945, the Soviet Union had declared war on Japan, one of the key factors that led to Japan’s surrender on Aug. 15. While the United States and other Allied nations halted combat operations after Japan’s surrender, the Soviet Union continued its military actions. Seeking to expand its influence in East Asia, Soviet leader Josef Stalin ordered Soviet forces to continue advancing and seize as much Japanese territory as possible.
Between Aug. 28 and Sept. 5, the Soviets seized the Northern Territories — the four islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomai — which had a population of 17,200 Japanese residents.
But declassified cables between U.S. President Harry Truman and Stalin later revealed that the Soviets had advanced plans to invade the island of Hokkaido as well, and occupy half of it while the U.S.-led forces would occupy the other half.
If that had happened, Rumoi would have found itself on the very border of a new Cold War in Asia.
On Aug. 15, shortly after Japan agreed to end the war, Truman issued an order to Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan, directing that Japanese forces on the Kuril Islands should surrender to the Soviet Union.
The following day, the Soviet Embassy in Washington received a message from Stalin with an additional demand, which was passed off to Truman.
“Include the northern half of the island of Hokkaido into the region of surrender by Japanese armed forces to Soviet forces. The demarcation line between the northern and southern halves of the island of Hokkaido is to be drawn along the line extending from the town of Kushiro on the eastern coast of the island until the…