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Mietsu Naval Dock

  • Mietsu Naval dock, the oldest surviving dock in Japan, built by 1861 and excavated in 2009-2012. Perfectly preserved wooden pilings delineate a frontage restrained by lateral poles, the whole being anchored back to an inner wall section.
  • View of Mietsu Naval Dock.
  • Wooden pilings delineate Mietsu Naval Dock.
  • Cross sectional view of Mietsu Naval Dock
  • Mietsu small boat docks on the Hayaetsu River, shown in a picture map of the 1850s. Its location 6km from the Ariake Sea provided good sea access to much of western Kyushu, but its estuarine situation meant that vessels had to be of shallow draught.
Mietsu Naval dock, the oldest surviving dock in Japan, built by 1861 and excavated in 2009-2012. Perfectly preserved wooden pilings delineate a frontage restrained by lateral poles, the whole being anchored back to an inner wall section. View of Mietsu Naval Dock. Wooden pilings delineate Mietsu Naval Dock. Cross sectional view of Mietsu Naval Dock Mietsu small boat docks on the Hayaetsu River, shown in a picture map of the 1850s. Its location 6km from the Ariake Sea provided good sea access to much of western Kyushu, but its estuarine situation meant that vessels had to be of shallow draught.

Lord Nabeshima of Saga Clan, who was assigned to defend Nagasaki, was always one of the first to make contact with Dutch Western science and technology via their Dejima island base in Nagasaki harbour. Following the opening of Nagasaki Naval Training Institute, Saga clan established Mietsu as a sister institute and trained Samurai to study the operation of steamships in the dry dock at Hayatsue River 6 km north of the Ariake sea.
Saga clan built this pioneer Japanese clannavy dry dock in response to the defence of Nagasaki. It was intended for the repair of Western steamships that the clan acquired and was also an asset that could help the Mietsu Naval Institute understand the technology of modern Western-style steamships and translate this into their training programmes.

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Mietsu Naval Dock
Designation: National historic site
Address: Hayatsue, Kawasoe, Saga city, Saga
Tel: 0952-40-7105 (Saga City, Planning Division)
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