Updated:June 5, 2023

The Imperial Japanese Navy Sasebo Naval Arsenal 7th Dock
(Sasebo Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. 4th Dock)

 

 

The 7th dock (current 4th dock) completed in 1940 was the last large facility built in Sasebo Naval Arsenal. The 343.8m-long and 51.3m-wide dock was primarily intended to build and repair the Yamato-class battleships. In July 1941, the Battleship Musashi (the Yamato-class), which was being constructed at Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard, was temporarily towed to Sasebo and equipped with a rudder and propellers in this dock. The ship bottom was painted also. After the Pacific war, this dock was used to scrap the Imperial Japanese Navy war ships including the aircraft carrier Junyo, Kasagi, and Ibuki. After becoming Sasebo Heavy Industries Co., Ltd., it built many such ships as large and middle-sized tankers and bulk carriers including the Nissho Maru (130,000 tons in load capacity), the biggest tanker in the world at that time.