Japanese warship Banryū

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Banryū
History
Empire of Japan
NameBanryū (ex Emperor)
Ordered1856
BuilderR & H Green of Blackwall
Laid down1856
Launched1856
Commissioned1857
Decommissioned1888
FateBroken up late 1890s
General characteristics
Displacement370 long tons (376 t)
Length41.8 m (137 ft 2 in)
Beam5.45 m (17 ft 11 in)
Draught3.23 m (10 ft 7 in)
PropulsionSteam engine
Sail planSchooner
Armament6 × 12-pounder cannon

Banryū (蟠龍, Coiled Dragon) was a ship of the Tokugawa Navy, and following the collapse of the shogunate, was operated by Tokugawa loyalists under the Republic of Ezo during the Boshin War in Japan. An armed iron hulled screw-propelled schooner, she had a length of 41.8 metres, a breadth of 5.45 metres, a draught of 3.23 metres, and weighed 370 tons. She was armed with four 12-pounder bronze cannons.[1]

Built by R&H Green at the Blackwall Yard as HMY Emperor, she was presented to the Tokugawa administration by James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin as a present for the "Emperor" from Queen Victoria on the 26 August 1858, to commemorate the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce. Intended to serve as a royal yacht, its interior was luxuriously furnished with sculptures and mirrors.[2][3]

During the

Sumpu following the Fall of Edo
to imperial forces of 11 April.

Under the command of

Naval Battle of Hakodate Bay in May 1869, she sank one of the Imperial navy's warships, the steam corvette Chōyō Maru in the first recorded modern warship being sunk in ship to ship combat in Japanese history. Towards the end of the battle, with her ammunition exhausted and suffering from severe damage due to numerous hits, she was beached near Benten Daiba, and set on fire (although the fire went out before it could consume the vessel).[4]
[5]

She was salvaged by an Englishman, and after repairs and rebuilding in

Kochi, and later as a transport, passing through several owners until she was scrapped in 1897.[1][6]

Naval Battle of Hakodate Bay
.

References

  1. ^ a b King, Ian. "HMS Emperor (1857) (1st) Iron Screw Yacht". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  2. ISBN 9780275027216
    .
  3. ^ "Presentation of HMY 'Emperor' to the Emperor of Japan at Yeddo". Royal Museums Greenwich. National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
  4. ^ Kublin, Hyman (April 1953). "Admiral Enomoto And The Imperial Restoration". Proceedings. 79 (602). U.S. Naval Institute.
  5. ISBN 978-0804708159
    .
  6. ISBN 9781135786199
    .

External links

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