Montevideo Maru was a Japanese auxiliary ship that was sunk in World War II, resulting in the drowning of a large number of Australian prisoners of war and civilians being transported from Rabaul. Prior to the war, it operated as a passenger and cargo vessel, traveling mainly between Asia and South America.

Ship history

The Montevideo Maru was one of three ships (along with Santos Maru and La Plata Maru) of the Osaka Shosen Kaisha (OSK) shipping line built for their trans-Pacific service to South America. The 7,267 ton ship was constructed at the Mitsubishi Zosen Kakoki Kaisha shipyard at Nagasaki, and launched in 1926. At 430 feet in length, and 56 feet in the beam, she was powered by two Mitsubishi-Sulzer 6ST60 six-cylinder diesel engines delivering a total of 4,600 hp and giving her a speed of 14.5 knots.

Sinking

On 22 June 1942, some weeks after the fall of Rabaul to the Japanese, a large number of Australian prisoners were embarked from Rabaul's port on the SS Montevideo Maru. Unmarked as a POW ship, she was proceeding without escort to the Chinese island of Hainan, when she was sighted by the American submarine USS Sturgeon near the northern Philippine coast on 30 June.

Montevideo (Spanish pronunciation: [monteβiˈðe.o]) is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of 194.0 square kilometres (74.9 sq mi). The southernmost capital city in the Americas, Montevideo is situated in the southern coast of the country, on the northeastern bank of the Río de la Plata.

The city was established in 1724 by a Spanish soldier, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst the Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region. It was also under brief British rule in 1807. Montevideo hosted all the matches during the first FIFA World Cup. Montevideo is the seat of the administrative headquarters of Mercosur and ALADI, Latin America’s leading trade blocs, position that entailed comparisons to the role of Brussels in Europe.

Montevideo has consistently been rated as having the highest quality of life of any city in Latin America: by 2015 has held this rank every year during the last decade.As of 2010, Montevideo was the 19th largest city economy in the continent and 9th highest income earner among major cities. In 2015, it has a GDP of $ 40.5 billion, and a per capita of $24,400.

Montevideo was a Holsteiner horse ridden by Uwe Sauer for West Germany in international level dressage competitions between 1983 and 1992.

Montevideo and Sauer competed in the 1983 European Championships, where they took an individual bronze and helped the West German team to back-to-back team golds in the 1983 and 1985 European Championships. The pair also competed at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where they took a team gold and 6th individually. Other major accomplishments include a team gold and an individual silver at the 1984 German Championships and an individual silver at the 1985 German Championships.

Pedigree

References

Montevideo is a 43-storey, 139.5 m (458 ft) residential skyscraper on the river Nieuwe Maas in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Montevideo logo on the roof is an 8 by 8 m (26 by 26 ft) letter "M" which brings the tower's total height to 152.3 m (500 ft). The logo is also designed to be a giant wind vane. Designed by the Mecanoo architecture firm, the tower was opened 19 December 2005, featuring 192 apartment units, 6,050 m² (65,122 sq ft) of office space, and 1,933 m² (20,807 sq ft) of retail space. The building is named after the Uruguay capital city, Montevideo.

Awards

The building received a commendation award by the International Highrise Award 2006, and it has been awarded the Dedallo Minosse Prize. In addition it finished in third place in the 2005 Emporis Skyscraper Award selection.

Gallery

See also

Media related to Tower Montevideo at Wikimedia Commons

References