8. One of four vessels destroyed by Typhoon Marie in 1954, the sinking of the Tōya Maru was caused by the ineptitude of its captain and cost more than one thousand individuals their lives.
Constructed by the Japanese National Railways, the Tōya Maru, measuring 389 feet long and 52 feet wide, was a train ferry constructed to transport goods and freight between Aomori and Hakodate. Capable of covering the distance in four hours and thirty minutes, the Tōya Maru, launched on November 21, 1947, became one of the first Japanese liners to be equipped with radar and was granted the honor of carrying Emperor Hirohito in August 1954. Just one month later, on September 26, whilst traveling in the Sea of Japan the Tōya Maru encountered wind speeds exceeding one hundred kilometers per hour.
A product of Typhoon Marie, the Tōya Maru was supposed to complete its return journey to Aomori before the former’s fearsome arrival in the Tsugaru Strait. Delayed in departing due to the transfer of passengers from a small ferry unable to sail, with weather conditions seemingly improving the captain elected to set sail that evening instead. Discovering the storm had not abated after just twenty minutes at sea, the Tōya Maru sought to anchor near Hakodate Port to await improvements. Caught in open waters, the anchor did not hold. Capsizing the vessel several hundred meters from shore, of the 1,309 persons on board just 150 survived.