Cha-203 or No. 203 (Japanese: 第äºÂç¾åÂÂÃ¥ÂÂèÂÂé© æ½Âç¹åÂÂèÂÂ) was a No.1-class auxiliary submarine chaser of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served during World War II and with Japan during the post-war period.
Her construction was authorized under the Maru Sen Programme (Ship # 2001âÂÂ2100). She was laid down on 26 November 1943 as ship 2053 at the Murakami Shipyard (æÂÂä¸Âé è¹æÂÂ) in Ishinomaki and launched on 15 June 1944.
She was completed and commissioned on 14 October 1944, fitted with armaments at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, and assigned to the à Âminato Guard District under lieutenant Keio Ebisawa (æµ·èÂÂ澤ãÂÂçµÂç·). On 1 November 1944, she was assigned to the Tsugaru Defense Force and tasked with defending the Tsugaru Strait. She spent most of the war conducting anti-submarine and minesweeping patrols between the ports of Hachinohe, Hakodate, and Muroran. Cha-203 survived the war and was decommissioned on 20 November 1945.
On 1 December 1945, she was enrolled as a minesweeper by the occupation forces, one of 269 Japanese ships that served as a minesweeper under the Allied forces after the war. She conducted minesweeping operations based out of Ominato and later Shimonoseki. On 1 August 1947, she was demobilized and on 28 August 1947, she was released to the Ministry of Transportation.
On 1 May 1948, she was assigned to the Japan Maritime Safety Agency, a sub-agency of the Ministry of Transportation, and designated on 20 August 1948 as patrol vessel Hiyodori (ã²ãÂÂã©ãÂÂ) (PB-22). On 21 July 1950, she was re-designated as patrol vessel Hiyodori (PS-22) and on 1 December 1951 she was redesignated as minesweeper Hiyodori (MS-84). On 1 August 1952, she was assigned to the Coastal Safety Force. On 1 July 1954, she was transferred to the newly created Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and re-designated on 1 September 1957 as minesweeper inshore Hiyodori (MSI-700). She was delisted on 31 March 1965.