Sasebo History About Sasebo Naval Arsenal
By Phil Eakins

One of the first organizations established during the construction of Sasebo Naval Station was the Naval Shipbuilding Department.

The limitations of the small 16-man department became evident as battle-damaged warships arrived at Sasebo for repairs during the 1894-95 Sino-Japanese War. The Imperial Navy sent approximately 260 shipyard workers from the Yokosuka and Kure Naval Stations to assist the overwhelmed department with the necessary repairs.

The Naval Shipbuilding Department’s first dry dock was completed on August 30, 1895, four and a half months after the end of the war. The 450-ton destroyer Yugure, commissioned on May 26, 1906, became the first of more than 250 naval vessels built by the Sasebo shipyard.

On November 5, 1903 the department was reorganized and renamed Sasebo Naval Arsenal. The Imperial Navy kept ship designers, engineers and workers busy building various classes of destroyers and submarines, as well as a small number of light cruisers. Many Japanese warships were also sent here for refits and conversions. By 1941 Sasebo Naval Arsenal had six dry docks capable of handling the construction or repair of vessels ranging in size from small motor torpedo boats to Yamato-class battleships. In fact, the arsenal’s largest dry dock was constructed specifically for the Yamato and Musashi. A high concrete wall was erected along the road on the hillside overlooking the arsenal to prevent the townspeople from viewing new ship construction. Sections of this wall are still standing today.

The arsenal was handed over to Occupation forces in September 1945. The former Japanese Navy shipyard was then used to scrap many of the vessels that remained at Sasebo, some unfinished still sitting in the dry docks and building slips.

In 1946 the shipyard was turned over to a private company that became Sasebo Sempaku Kogyo (SSK). The actual company name now is Sasebo Heavy Industries, Ltd., but Sasebo residents still call it SSK to this day.

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