was a three-masted composite-hulled sailing ship of the

Bakumatsu was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government ...

and early

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

s, with an auxiliary

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

. She was built in 1867 on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, serving with the navy of Saga Domain, and later with the fledgling

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

Service under Saga Domain

''Moshun Maru'' was built in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

originally as the

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

''Eugenie'' in 1867. She was purchased by Saga Domain and handed over at

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

in February 1868 where she was renamed ''Moshun Maru''. Initially assigned to be an armed cargo vessel, she transported supplies and troops from Nagasaki to

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

, and later the

Edo Edo ( ja, , , "bay-entrance" or "estuary"), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a ''jōkamachi'' (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the ''de facto'' capital of ...

in support of the

Satchō Alliance The , or was a powerful military alliance between the feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū formed in 1866 to combine their efforts to restore Imperial rule and overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. History The name ''Satchō'' () is an ...

in the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a clique seeking to seize political power in the name of the Imperi ...

of the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

. In March 1869, she was assigned to the expedition against the last remnants of the pro-

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

forces in

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

, where they had formed the

Republic of Ezo The was a short-lived separatist state established in 1869 on the island of Ezo, now Hokkaido, by a part of the former military of the Tokugawa shogunate at the end of the ''Bakumatsu'' period in Japan. It was the first government to attempt t ...

. While at

Miyako Bay is a bay in Iwate Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of northern Japan. It is a long and narrow, roughly triangular body of water extending southwest to northeast where it opens to the Pacific Ocean. The forms its southern border and fo ...

, the expedition suffered a surprise attack by the Tokugawa naval ship . The encounter has been named the

Naval Battle of Miyako Bay The was a naval action on 6 May 1869, in which samurai loyalists of the former Tokugawa shogunate under the flag of the newly formed Republic of Ezo failed to take over the , the flagship of the Imperial forces of the new Meiji government. It wa ...

. She later participated in the

Naval Battle of Hakodate Bay The was fought from 4 to 10 May 1869, between the remnants of the Tokugawa shogunate navy, consolidated into the armed forces of the rebel Ezo Republic, and the newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy. It was one of the last stages of Battle of H ...

in May 1869, until the surrender of the last forces of the Republic of Ezo. However, in 1869 she also was grounded off the coast of Iwate, having been hit by a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

, but was later refloated.

Service under the Imperial Japanese Navy

''Moshun Maru'' was transferred on June 3, 1868 from Saga Domain to the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji o ...

and assigned to the newly formed Imperial Japanese Navy, and was renamed ''Moshun'' on July 9. She was one of the ships assigned to the

Taiwan Expedition of 1874 The Japanese punitive expedition to Taiwan in 1874, referred to in Japan as the and in Taiwan and Mainland China as the Mudan incident (), was a punitive expedition launched by the Japanese in retaliation for the murder of 54 Ryukyuan sailo ...

. During the

Ganghwa Island incident The Ganghwa Island incident or the Japanese Battle of Ganghwa ( ko, 운요호 사건 ��揚號事件} ''Unyo-ho sageon'' meaning "'' Un'yō'' incident"; ja, 江華島 ''Kōka-tō jiken''), was an armed clash between the Joseon dynasty of Kore ...

of 1875, she assisted ''Kasuga'' in the blockade the port of

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

. In 1877, she participated in the suppression of the

Satsuma Rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and beca ...

. From 1879-1882, she was used primarily as a survey ship. From 1882, ''Moshun'' was assigned to patrols of the coast of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, as part of a show of strength by the Japanese government in response to the burning of the Japanese embassy in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

during the

Imo Incident The Imo Incident, also sometimes known as the Imo Mutiny, Soldier's riot or Jingo-gunran in Japanese, was a violent uprising and riot in Seoul beginning on July 23, 1882, by soldiers of the Joseon Army who were later joined by disaffected members ...

. She was demobilized and transferred from the Imperial Japanese Navy to the

Ministry of Communications A Communications Ministry or Department of Communications is a ministry or other government agency charged with communication. Communications responsibilities includes regulating telecommunications, postal services, broadcasting and print media. T ...

on October 8, 1887 to serve as a training vessel for commercial sailors. She was scrapped in July 1897.

References

Bibliography

*Jane, Frederick Thomas. ''The Imperial Japanese Navy''.

Nabu Press BiblioBazaar is, with Nabu Press, an imprint of the historical reprints publisher BiblioLife, which is based in Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston C ...

(2010 POD reprint of 1923 edition) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moshun Moshun Three-masted ships Moshun 1867 ships Moshun Ships built in London