Ōminato Guard District The was the major navy base for the Imperial Japanese Navy in northern Honshu before and during World War II . Located in Mutsu Bay , ( at the present - day city of Mutsu , Aomori Prefecture , the Ōminato Guard District was responsible for control of the strategic Tsugaru Strait between Honshu and Hokkaidō and for patrols along the Hokkaidō , Karafuto and Kurile Islands coastlines . History . In the organizational structure of the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1886 , the Japanese Empire was divided into five operational districts , with the Hokkaidō - Ōshu area forming Naval District 5 , with its nominal headquarters in Muroran , Hokkaidō . However , the area was given a low priority in funding , and remained largely a paper organization under overall command of the Yokosuka Naval District . On 12 June 1895 , the nominal headquarters of Naval District 5 was transferred from Muroran to the more sheltered port of Ōminato , although facilities and infrastructure were minimal . After the Russo - Japanese War , when the strategic importance of control of the Tsugaru Straits came into focus , and with Japan ' s acquisition of Karafuto Prefecture , more investment was made in securing Japan ' s northern frontiers . Ōminato was one of eleven designated third echelon naval ports , or located around Japan . In December 1905 it was made independent of Yokosuka . Although Muroran , Asahikawa and Wakkanai bases reported to Ōminato , it was not raised to full headquarters status , but continued as Ōminato " yokobu " . A wireless station was completed in 1913 . On 9 October 1913 , the " Inazuma " - class destroyer " Inazuma " suffered from an explosion of her No . 3 boiler while at Ōminato . The incident highlighted the need for better facilities at Ōminato , and a ship repair facility and naval hospital were completed by 1923 . On 19 July 1931 , the ship repair facilities at Ōminato caught fire and were largely destroyed , and had to be rebuilt a year later . The Ōminato Naval Air Station was opened in November 1933 . In September 1936 , after the IJN 4th Fleet Incident ( in which the fleet was caught in a typhoon , with loss of several ships and damage to many more ) , Ōminato received the destroyers " Hatsuyuki " and " Yugiri " for emergency repairs . On 20 November 1941 , Ōminato was finally raised to the status of a Guard District . The In concept , the Guard District was similar to the United States Navy Sea Frontier s concept . the Guard District maintained a small garrison force of ships and Naval Land Forces which reported directly to the Guard District commander , and hosted detachments of the on a temporary assignment basis . After the start of the Pacific War , Ōminato became the home port of the IJN 5th Fleet . The diversionary attack on Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands during the Battle of Midway was launched from Ōminato . Ōminato was bombed several times in the closing days of the war : 14 July , 15 and 28 July , followed by a large attack from August 8 – 10 , 1945 , which destroyed several ships . American forces landed from the USS " Panamint " ( AGC - 13 ) to accept the surrender of the base from the Imperial Japanese Navy on 9 September 1945 . The base facilities were used by the United States Navy during the occupation of Japan , and are currently in use by the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force .