Showa Steel Works
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Showa Steel Works began as a Japanese government-sponsored industrial combine called the Anshan Iron & Steel Works. It was built under the auspices of the South Manchurian Railway Company, in 1918. The city of Anshan, in Liaoning was chosen for its proximity to the Takushan iron ore deposits and rail works at Mukden. The company used low grade iron; in 1934 it mined 950,000 tonnes. In 1933, after a reorganization, it was renamed the Showa Steel Works.
Total production of processed iron in Manchuria in 1931-32 reached 1,000,000 tonnes, of which almost half was made by Showa Steel;the iron production was grown to 0,7,000,000 of tonnes in 1938.In 1941, Showa Steel Works had a total capacity production of 1,750,000 tonnes of iron bars and 1,000,000 tonnes of processed steel. By 1942, Showa Steel Works total production capacity reached 3,600,000 tonnes, making it one of the major iron and steel centers in the world.
It was therefore of strategic importance in the Pacific War, and was subject to constant attack by B-29 bombers of the USAAF. Japanese Army detached the 1st Chutai (unit) of 104th Sentai (Squadron) of theImperial Japanese Army Air Service, to Anshan, with other air squadrons for industrial defense purposes. This unit was equipped with modern Nakajima Ki-84Ia (Manshu Type) Hayate "Frank" fighters, manufactured by Manchurian Aircraft Company under license from the Nakajima Aircraft Company.
After the end of the war, Soviet forces looted the ruins of Showa Steel Works for anything that could be taken back to the Soviet Union. The Chinese communists then occupied the ruins, and rebuilt the factory into the Anshan Iron & Steel Works, which remains one of the major steel plants in China to this day.
As a sidenote, on one of the B-29 missions, an aircraft commanded by Capt. Howard Jarrel suffered engine damage through a Japanese antiaircraft burst over the Anshan target zone. Rather than crashlanding in Japanese-held territory, he decided to landing in Vladivostok, at two hours to the northeast, in the Soviet Far East instead. As the Soviet Union was still neutral in the Pacific War, when the bomber landed, all crewmen were inmediatelly arrested and the plane confiscated. This incident led to the development of the Soviet Tu-95 Bear bomber.
