Native name: Матуа 松輪島 | |
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| Geography | |
| Location | Sea of Okhotsk |
| Coordinates | 48°05′N153°12′E / 48.09°N 153.20°E /48.09; 153.20 |
| Archipelago | Kuril Islands |
| Area | 52 km2 (20 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 1,496 m (4908 ft) |
| Highest point | Pik Sarychev |
| Administration | |
Russia | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Matua (Russian:Матуа,Japanese:松輪島,romanized: Matsuwa-tō) is an uninhabitedvolcanic island near the center of theKuril Islands chain in theSea of Okhotsk in the northwestPacific Ocean, 16 km (9.9 mi) acrossGolovnin Strait fromRaikoke. Its name is derived from theAinu language, from “hellmouth”.
Hunting and fishing parties of theAinu have long visited Matua, but the island had no permanent habitation[citation needed] at the time of European contact. It appears on an official map showing the territories of theMatsumae Domain, afeudal domain ofEdo periodJapan dated 1644, and theTokugawa shogunate officially confirmed these holdings in 1715. Some early European documents refer to the island asRaukoke.[1]
TheEmpire of Russia claimedsovereignty over the island, which initially passed to Russia under the terms of theTreaty of Shimoda (1855), but reverted to theEmpire of Japan per theTreaty of Saint Petersburg along with the rest of the Kuril islands. Japan formerly administered Matua as part of Shimushiru District ofNemuro Subprefecture ofHokkaidō.
DuringWorld War II theImperial Japanese Army had a roughly east–west-oriented airfield, which hosted theIJNAS's553rdKōkūtai, equipped withAichi D3AVal dive bombers, located on this island, with the active runway potentially of some 1.33 km (4,360 ft) length, located on its southernmost areas. This airfield was of an advanced design, having three separate airstrips including a tertiary airstrip connected to the other two at a 120° angle. This allowed simultaneous takeoff and recovery of air units, as well as improved takeoff potential in adverse wind conditions. In addition, at least two of the primary airstrips were designed with hot water channels embedded within. In icy or snowy weather, hot water generated by the island's geothermal activity would be pumped through these channels, keeping these airstrips free of ice year-round.[2]
The island was garrisoned by 7000-8000 men of the 41st Independent Mixed Regiment, 6th Independent Tank Company, and supporting units. During 1944 theUS Army Air Forces intermittently bombed the Japanese facilities on the island and ships of theUnited States Navy shelled it. The Americans sank several Japanese cargo vessels near the island or while at harbor. On June 1, 1944, a Japanese shore-battery on Point Tagan sank the American submarineUSS Herring. During the SovietBattle of the Kuril Islands in the last weeks of World War II, the Japanese garrison surrendered to theRed Army without resistance (August 1945).
After World War II the island came under the control of theSoviet Union, andSoviet Border Troops manned the former Japanese military facilities. Its most important role was radar surveillance of the Kuril Islands. A VHFP-14 radar, "Tall King", was put into service during the 1950s or 1960s,[3] and aP-35 radar and possibly a PRV-10 “Rock Cake” radar were also in service at some point.
With the withdrawal of Soviet military forces following thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the island became uninhabited. TheRussian Federation administers it as part of theSakhalin Oblast. In 2016 some two hundred Russian officials and technical experts made an expedition to the island, part of a plan to rehabilitate the derelict 1.2 km Soviet airfield and establish a new naval and logistical forward military base.[4] A new 1400 meter runway was built between 2016 and 2019, along with new hard stands, both of which are visible on Google Earth and other satellite images. The island now hosts a battery ofBastion anti-ship cruise missiles.[5]
Matua is roughly oval, with a length of 11 km (6.8 mi) with a width of 6.5 km (4.0 mi), and an area of 52 km2 (20 sq mi).[6] The island is a complexstratovolcano with two main peaks.
Sarychev Peak (Russian:влк.Сарычева,Japanese:芙蓉山;Fuyōzan, also known asMatsuwa-Fuji) in the northwest of the island is one of the most active volcanoes of the Kuril Islands. The central cone has a 250-meter (820 ft) wide, very steep-walled crater with a jagged rim, rising to a height of 1,496 m (4,908 ft).Lava flows descending on all sides of the peak forms capes along the coast. Eruptions have been recorded since the 1760s, including 1878–1879, 1923, 1930, 1946, 1960, 1976, 1981, 1987, 1989 and 2009, with the largest in 1946 which producedpyroclastic flows that reached the sea. The 2009 eruption was large enough to affect air traffic between Asia and North America.
The much smaller peak to the south,Japanese:天蓋山;Tengaizan has a height of 127 m (417 ft).
Although it is located at the same latitude asParis orSeattle, theOyashio current on the western flank of theAleutian Low gives Matua asubarctic climate (KöppenDfc) that is close to a polar climate (ET). Unlike the quintessential subarctic climate ofSiberia orMongolia, however, Matua has very heavy precipitation as rain, snow and fog. It also has much milder winters than corresponding latitudes inManchuria: the mean temperature of the coldest month in Matua is −6.1 °C (21.0 °F) as against −17.8 °C (0.0 °F) inQiqihar inHeilongjiang.Seasonal lag, like in all the Kuril Islands, is a major feature of the climate, with August being the mildest month and February the coldest. The island experiences very strong winds in the winter months as a result of its exposed location in the middle Kuril islands, subject to the influence of theAleutian Low.
| Climate data for Matua Island (1947-1996) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.4 (50.7) | 8.9 (48.0) | 10.0 (50.0) | 13.8 (56.8) | 23.1 (73.6) | 26.5 (79.7) | 29.0 (84.2) | 27.6 (81.7) | 26.1 (79.0) | 23.9 (75.0) | 12.5 (54.5) | 11.0 (51.8) | 29.0 (84.2) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 2.5 (36.5) | 2.5 (36.5) | 3.7 (38.7) | 8.4 (47.1) | 15.6 (60.1) | 17.7 (63.9) | 21.9 (71.4) | 22.4 (72.3) | 20.0 (68.0) | 13.6 (56.5) | 8.3 (46.9) | 5.3 (41.5) | 24.1 (75.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −2.4 (27.7) | −2.4 (27.7) | −1.1 (30.0) | 2.0 (35.6) | 6.0 (42.8) | 9.0 (48.2) | 12.4 (54.3) | 14.9 (58.8) | 12.7 (54.9) | 8.8 (47.8) | 3.4 (38.1) | −0.1 (31.8) | 5.3 (41.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.3 (24.3) | −4.6 (23.7) | −3.4 (25.9) | 0.1 (32.2) | 3.3 (37.9) | 5.7 (42.3) | 9.0 (48.2) | 11.1 (52.0) | 9.3 (48.7) | 5.9 (42.6) | 1.1 (34.0) | −2.3 (27.9) | 2.6 (36.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −6.8 (19.8) | −6.9 (19.6) | −5.5 (22.1) | −2.0 (28.4) | 0.2 (32.4) | 2.2 (36.0) | 5.4 (41.7) | 7.4 (45.3) | 6.1 (43.0) | 3.1 (37.6) | −1.3 (29.7) | −4.7 (23.5) | −0.2 (31.6) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | −12.8 (9.0) | −13.6 (7.5) | −12.2 (10.0) | −6.5 (20.3) | −3.2 (26.2) | −0.8 (30.6) | 1.3 (34.3) | 3.1 (37.6) | 1.5 (34.7) | −0.8 (30.6) | −6.0 (21.2) | −10.3 (13.5) | −15.1 (4.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −20 (−4) | −18.9 (−2.0) | −18.9 (−2.0) | −10 (14) | −5.1 (22.8) | −4 (25) | −3 (27) | −0.1 (31.8) | 0 (32) | −6.1 (21.0) | −11.1 (12.0) | −17.8 (0.0) | −20 (−4) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 106.2 (4.18) | 81.5 (3.21) | 84.8 (3.34) | 77.0 (3.03) | 98.8 (3.89) | 76.0 (2.99) | 74.1 (2.92) | 108.7 (4.28) | 139.8 (5.50) | 150.2 (5.91) | 153.1 (6.03) | 122.8 (4.83) | 1,273 (50.11) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1 mm) | 22.2 | 19.6 | 16.7 | 12.6 | 11.2 | 8.2 | 7.6 | 9.8 | 12.0 | 16.4 | 21.6 | 22.9 | 180.8 |
| Source 1: Météo climat stats[7] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Météo Climat[8] | |||||||||||||
[...] die InselRaukoke, auf welcher derPik Sarytscheff ist, [...] hatte ich [...] auf meiner Charte auch unter den NamenRaukoke aufgenommen. Ihr eigentlicher Name is aber, wie CapitänGolownin berichtet,Matua.
Media related toMatua Island at Wikimedia Commons
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