The Imperial Japanese Navy had approximately 60,000 people working in the dock yard and associated naval stations at the peak of World War II, outfitting ships, submarines and aircraft.

When war broke out in Korea three years later, Sasebo became the main launching point for the United Nations and the U.S.

Millions of tons of ammunition, fuel, tanks, trucks and supplies flowed through Sasebo on their way to the U.N.

The number of Americans in Sasebo grew to about 20,000, and some 100 warships and freighters per day swelled the foreign populations still more.

Sasebo was expanded as a result of the East Asian foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration, with a doubling of the number of LCACs stationed there.