''Diana'' was a

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

. She was built in 1853, and was the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

of the Russian explorer

Yevfimy Putyatin Yevfimiy Vasilyevich Putyatin (russian: Евфи́мий Васи́льевич Путя́тин; November 8, 1803 – October 16, 1883), also known as was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy. His diplomatic mission to Japan r ...

when he visited Japan in 1854 to negotiate what would become the

Treaty of Shimoda The Treaty of Shimoda (下田条約, ''Shimoda Jouyaku'') (formally Treaty of Commerce and Navigation between Japan and Russia 日露和親条約, ''Nichi-Ro Washin Jouyaku'') of February 7, 1855, was the first treaty between the Russian Empire, a ...

.''Sutebusuton: a Japanese village on the British Columbia coast'' by Mitsuo Yesaki p.6
/ref> Putyatin's fleet was damaged in 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 ...

, following the powerful Ansei-Tōkai earthquake of 23 December 1854. ''Diana'' was spun round 42 times on its moorings and was so badly damaged that it sank in a later storm in the bay of Miyajima-mura (宮島村) (modern

Fuji-shi is a city in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 245,015 in 106,087 households, and a population density of 1,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Fuji is the third largest city in terms ...

, 富士市), while sailing from Shimoda to Heda for repairs. Three hundred Japanese carpenters worked with the Russian sailors to build a Western-style ship in two months, with the help of plans salvaged from ''Diana''. They eventually built a two-masted

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

, named , displacing 100 tons, with a length of . The ship was named in honour of Heda for their assistance in its construction. The Japanese government would later order the construction of six vessels similar to the ''Heda'' to help develop a maritime fleet comparable to those of western powers.

Notes

External links

* 1853 ships Frigates of the Imperial Russian Navy Maritime incidents in December 1854 Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean {{Russia-mil-ship-stub