Uraga Dock Company
Uraga Dock Company (浦賀船渠株式会社, Uraga Senkyo Kabushiki Kaisha) was a major privately owned shipyard in Uraga, Japan, which built numerous warships for the Imperial Japanese Navy.
History
Uraga Dock Company was founded by
Kanrin maru, during which time he constructed the first dry dock built in Japan in 1859. However, the Tokugawa government decided to establish its own shipyards at nearby Yokosuka
, and the Uraga facilities went out of business in 1876.
Nakajima died during the
Meiji government, his former colleagues Enomoto Takeaki and Arai Ikunosuke gained important positions in the new administration, and supported the establishment of a modern shipyard on the foundation established by Nakajima. The new facility was inaugurated in 1897, and faced an immediate crisis when Tokyo-based Ishikawajima Harima
opened a rival facility the following year and started to dump prices in an effort to destroy its competition. Uraga Dock Company managed to buy out Ishikawajima in 1902.
In 1906, Uraga Dock Company launched its first
passenger liners
, training vessels, and warships of various sizes. Numerous vessels were also produced for the export market.
By 1919, Uraga Dock Company was considered one of the largest and best equipped private shipyards in the world.Yokkaichi, Mie and in Qingdao.
Uraga Dock Company was also characterized by its
organized labor force, one of the earliest in Japan, which went on strike
in 1905-1907, 1910-1911, and in 1915.
In post war Japan, Uraga Dock Company was acquired by the
Sumitomo
group in 1969. It was modernized extensively on several occasions, but increasing competitive pressures from overseas ship builders forced Sumitomo to close down operations in 2003.
Ships built
(dates are launch dates)
- Light cruisers
- 2 of 6 Nagara-class
- Destroyers
- 2 of 32 Kamikaze-class
- 0 of 2 Umikaze-class
- 0 of 2 Sakura-class
- 0 of 2 Urakaze-class
- 1 of 10 Kaba-class
- Kiri (28 February 1915)
- 0 of 4 Isokaze-class
- 0 of 4 Momo-class
- 4 of 21 Momi-class
- 0 of 15 Minekaze-class
- 2 of 8 Wakatake-class
- 1 of 9 Kamikaze-class
- Oite (27 November 1924)
- 3 of 12 Mutsuki-class
- 5 of 24 Fubuki-class
- 2 of 6 Hatsuharu-class
- Nenohi (22 December 1932)
- Hatsushimo (4 November 1933)
- 4 of 10 Shiratsuyu-class
- 1 of 10 Asashio-class
- Kasumi (18 November 1937)
- 6 of 19 Kagero-class
- 6 of 19 Yugumo-class
- 1 of 12 Akizuki-class
- Yoizuki (25 September 1944)
References
- ^ Brown, the Mastery of the Far East
- Gordon, Andrew (1992). Labor and Imperial Democracy in Prewar Japan. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-08091-2.
- Brown, Arthur Judson (1919). The Mastery of the Far East. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-520-08091-2.
