Kure Naval Base was established in 1889, and the Kure Naval Dockyard began operating in 1903. This was the best naval port in the Far East, and is most famous as the site where the battleship Yamato was built. Additionally, Kure was the biggest arsenal town in Japan.
  After World WarⅡ, technologies cultivated in the time before the war were combined with subsequent advances, which led to Kure becoming one of the foremost marine industry cities anywhere -- a place where many of the world's largest tankers have been built.