The vessel that became the Japanese icebreaker Sōya was originally ordered from the Matsuo shipyard Koyagi Island by the Soviet Union.
She was launched from the shipyard February 1938 as Volochaevetz but she was never handed over due to political tensions between Japan and Soviet Union.
Completed as an ice-breaking cargo freighter she was renamed Chiryō Maru until Nov. 1939 when she was requisitioned by IJN and she got the name Soya with
assigned duties as auxiliary ammunition ship/survey vessel.
After the war she served as a repatriation ship and then as a lighthouse supply ship until 1956 when she was overhauled and modified to make her ready for Antarctic research.
Here are the first drawing showing her in 1938
![[ img ]](http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg335/lazer_one/IJNSoya1938.png)
Quick links
FAQ
Register
Login![[Post Reply]](./styles/legacy/theme/en/button_topic_reply.gif "Post a reply"){kind=small}
![[*]](./styles/legacy/theme/images/button_topic_tools.gif){kind=small}
![[ img ]](https://lazerone.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/firma-seneca.png)
![[Profile]](./styles/legacy/theme/en/icon_user_profile.gif "Profile: Lazer_one"){kind=icon}
![[Quote]](./styles/legacy/theme/en/icon_post_quote.gif "Reply with quote"){kind=icon}
![[ img ]](http://i.imgur.com/NzXKKp6.png)
Thank you Kim for the crest![[ img ]](http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg335/lazer_one/IJNSoya1941.png)
![[ img ]](https://i.imgur.com/d3p0uA7.png)
![[ img ]](http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg335/lazer_one/IJNSoya1956.png)
![[ img ]](http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg335/lazer_one/MVSoya1938.png)
![[ img ]](http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg335/lazer_one/AESoya1941.png)
![[ img ]](http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg335/lazer_one/AGBSoya1956.png)
![[ img ]](http://i540.photobucket.com/albums/gg335/lazer_one/AGBSoya1959.png)
And the folding tail rotor is an added bonus