LESSONS FOR LOCALS BEYOND VJ DAY

EIGHTY years ago, parts of many Japanese cities lay in ruins after sustained US bombing, culminating in the atomic bomb explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and leading to VJ Day to be commemorated tomorrow.

- BRIAN INGPEN

It’s a few minutes’ train trip from Hiroshima to Kure, an important wartime naval base and industrial town. Although Kure did not suffer destruction on the scale of Hiroshima’s obliteration, the town was damaged by the blast and by fire, while radiation affected many citizens.

Kure shipyard had built Yamato, the largest battleship that was commissioned in 1942. Not participating widely in the war, she was sunk by US bombers on April 7, 1945 with the loss of most of her crew.

Although badly damaged, the Kure shipyard recovered quickly after the war. US entrepreneur Daniel K Ludwig = once a school dropout - noted the capacity of the shipyard, and leased space for the construction of seven 92 300dwt tankers. In 1956, the yard completed Universe Leader, the first of the sisterships that, at the time, were the largest vessels in terms of deadweight tonnage. Attracting massive crowds to see this “huge” vessel, Universe Leader was the first to undergo routine drydocking in Cape Town, followed at regular intervals by the others, bringing significant revenue and international recognition to local marine engineering works.

In 1958, Ludwig ordered the 104 500dwt Universe Apollo that was completed in seven months and was the first ship to exceed 100 000dwt. Two years later, a sistership was built. Remarkably, these two steam turbine ships could achieve around 15 knots service speed.