Japanese battleship Ryūjō (1864)

The was a steam ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy, designed by Thomas Blake Glover and built in Scotland for the private navy of the fief of Kumamoto, where it was called the "Jo Sho Maru". It was surrendered to the new Imperial Japanese Navy on 8 May 1870, and sailed from Nagasaki to Yokohama with a British captain. Until the commissioning of the ironclad , it was the flagship (and the most powerful ship) of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

The "Ryūjō" was honored by a visit by Emperor Meiji in 1871, and formed part of the escort of Russian Crown Prince (later Emperor) Nicholas II, when he visited Japan in 1872.

The "Ryūjō" participated in the battles of the early Meiji Restoration, including the Saga Rebellion, Seinan War and the first Taiwan Expedition of 1874.

On 26 October 1877, the "Ryūjō" ran aground in high winds off of Kagoshima, but it was successfully refloated the following year and brought to Yokosuka for repairs.

From February-July 1881, the "Ryūjō" made a successful visit to Sydney, Melbourne in Australia and a circumnavigation of Tasmania. The following year, the Ryūjō made a voyage through the South Pacific, to Honolulu in Hawaii.

On 15 September 1873, 169 crewmen (of a crew of 378) were stricken with food poisoning, of which 23 died. This incident led to the use of bread as the main diet of the Japanese navy.

From February through September 1872, the "Ryūjō" made a marathon cruise from Shinagawa to Singapore, Batavia, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland.

Although formally decommissioned on 2 December 1893, the "Ryūjō's" guns were replaced with the latest Krupp cannons, and the ship continued to be used as a naval gunnery training vessel based at Yokosuka until 1908.

ource

*"Scottish Samurai: The Life of Thomas Blake Glover" by Alexander McKay (Canongate Books, 1993) ISBN 0-86241-455-5

External links

* [http://www.dsmodelmakers.co.uk/images/jho-sho-maru-big.jpgImage of the Jo Sho Maru] from [http://www.dsmodelmakers.co.uk/marine-models.shtml Aberdeen Marine Models]