The Tracey Mission was a Naval mission of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

sent to Japan in 1867–1868. Taking place immediately prior to 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 ...

of 1868, the mission had been requested by the

Shogunate , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

in order to help develop its Navy, and more specifically to organize and superintend the Naval school at

Tsukiji Tsukiji (築地) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. Literally meaning "reclaimed land", it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century during the Edo period. The eponymous Tsukiji fish market opened in 193 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. The mission was led by Commander, later Admiral, Sir Richard Tracey, and composed of several officers and warrant officers. Commander Tracey, who earlier in his career had served as a junior officer on HMS Euryalus, was a veteran of active operations at both the

Bombardment of Kagoshima The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the , was a military engagement fought between Britain and the Satsuma Domain in Kagoshima from 15 to 17 August 1863. The British were attempting to extract compensation and legal justice from ''daimyo ...

in August 1863 and the attack on Shimonoseki in September 1864. The Tracey mission was barely able to start work due to the start of 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 ...

and returned to

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 ...

, due to the promise of all foreign powers to remain neutral in the conflict.

References

The rise of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Japan–United Kingdom relations 19th-century history of the Royal Navy 1867 in military history 1868 in military history 1867 in Japan 1868 in Japan 1867 in the United Kingdom 1868 in the United Kingdom {{UK-mil-stub