Manhattan (1843)

The Manhattan was a United States ship under Mercator Cooper that made the first authorized visit from U.S. citizen to Tokyo Bay in 1845.

The Manhattan left the whaling port Sag Harbor, New York on November 9, 1843.

On March 14-15, 1845 it rescued a total of 22 shipwrecked Japanese sailors in the northern Japanese islands. The first 11 sailors were found on an island. The next day 11 more sailors were found on floundering Japanese boat (along with a detailed navigation map of Japan). [ [http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs509a,0,7092164.story A Cold Welcome in Japan When an LI ship sailed into Tokyo's bay, it was met with curiosity and hostility by Bill Bleyer - Newsday - Long Island Our Story] ] in the northern Japanese islands [The cited [http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs509a,0,7092164.story Newsday article] refers to the island as St. Peter. Doing web searches it is difficult if not impossible to find a Japanese island of this name. However there is a Saint Paul Island, Alaska which is part of the Pribilof Islands which is home to Northern Fur Seal. Given Mercator's next famous voyage to Antarctica while sealing it seems possible that the island was St. Paul rather than St. Peter.]

The Manhattan set sail for Tokyo to repatriate the sailors.

Outside of Tokyo Bay four of the survivors took a Japanese boat with a message that Cooper wanted to deliver the remainder to the harbor [The cited [http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs509a,0,7092164.story Newsday article] says four shipwreck survivors went onland to deliver the message. However the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State thesis [http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05132005-131722/unrestricted/MAThesis.pdf Commodore Perry’s 1853 Japanese Expedition: How Whaling Influenced the Event that Revolutionized Japan by Terry Burcin] says that Cooper went ashore with two of the shipwrecked Japanese and explored the coast and then returned to his ship to await word.] The Japanese were normally wanting to avoid contact with outsiders because of their culture of Sakoku.

However, on April 18, 1845, an emissary from the emperor gave the ship permission to proceed -- accompanied by "about three hundred Japanese boats with about 15 men in each took the ship in tow" according to Cooper's log. "They took all our arms out to keep till we left. There were several of the nobility came on board to see the ship. They appeared very friendly."

The Japanese examined his ship and took particular note of Pyrrhus Concer, a crewman from Southampton who was the only African American on board, and a Shinnecock Native American named Eleazar -- the first dark skinned men the Japanese had seen and they wanted to touch their skin.

The Japanese refused payment for provisions and gave them water, 20 sacks of rice, two sacks of wheat, a box of flour, 11 sacks of sweet potatoes, 50 fowl, two cords of wood, radishes and 10 pounds of tea, thanked them for returning their sailors and told them to never return.

On April 21 the 300 boats towed the Manhattan 12 to 20 miles out to sea.

Cooper took with him a map that charted the islands of Japan that had been found on the disabled Japanese ship. He was to turn it over to the United States government when the ship returned to Sag Harbor on October 14, 1846. News of Cooper's encounter was extensively publicized in the United States. Matthew Perry was said to have used the map on his visit with four U.S. warships on July 8, 1853.

Monuments to the event are across from Cooper's home at 81 Windmill Lane in Southampton (village), New York in Southampton Cemetery and in Tokyo.

References and Notes