USS Ta-Kiang

History
United States
Acquired	18 August 1864
In service	28 August 1864
Out of service	22 September 1864
Fate	Returned to charter agents, 1864
General characteristics
Displacement	510 tons
Length	154' 0"
Beam	28' 0"
Draft	11'
Depth of hold	11' 6"
Propulsion	steam engine ; screw-propelled;
Complement	40
Armament	30-pounder Parrott rifle

Last updated September 15, 2022

USS Ta-Kiang was a 510-ton steamer was chartered by the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

Ta-Kiang was assigned by the Navy to be part of the Allied fleet proceeding to Japan to enforce the opening of the Shimonoseki straits in that country, in keeping with treaties already signed with Japan.

Service history

Ta-Kiang (sometimes spelled Takiang and meaning "big river" in Chinese) -- an oak-hulled, screw steamer built in 1862 at New York City by the shipbuilding firm of Rosevelt and Joyce—was active in the China trade, probably under the British flag to avoid being molested by Confederate raiders and cruisers. In the summer of 1864, the British government chartered the ship to bring troops to Kanagawa, Japan, because of the anti-foreign sentiment then prevalent among certain segments of the Japanese population who were resisting westernization. As an outgrowth of this hostility to aliens in the summer of 1863, a Prince of Nagato, Mori, of the clan of Choshiu, fortified one side of the Strait of Shimonoseki to close that waterway to western commerce.

The following year, the western Treaty powers determined to open those waters once and for all. However, the only American warship then in that part of the world was the sail-powered sloop-of-war Jamestown, which could not overcome the strong currents in the strait and thus was unable to participate in any allied expedition to open navigation to foreign shipping. On 18 August 1864—so that the United States would be represented in the joint Anglo-French-Dutch force—Robert K. Pruyn, the minister resident of the United States in Japan, and Captain Cicero Price, the commanding officer of Jamestown, chartered Ta-Kiang from the firm Walsh, Hall, and Co., the agents for the steamer Ta-Kiang. Under the terms of the agreement, she was "to carry a landing party, and in every way to assist in the common object, but not to be under fire of the forts."

Before the joint expedition set sail, a mail steamer arrived bringing Japanese diplomats back from France with a treaty that had stipulated, among other provisions, that the Strait of Shimonoseki would be opened within three months. Ta-Kiang's charter was cancelled when word of the treaty first arrived, but the Japanese appeared unwilling to be bound by the agreement. This intransigence left the western powers no alternative to opening hostilities with Choshiu. Accordingly, the United States government rechartered Ta-Kiang and took her over on 28 August 1864. Capt. Price placed Lt. Frederick Pearson, of Jamestown, in command of the ship and also transferred 18 men—including a surgeon—and a 30-pounder Parrott rifle to the erstwhile merchantman. Price admonished Pearson to "render any and every other aid in your power to promote the common object, such as towing boats, landing men, and receiving the wounded ... if required to do so."

On the next day, 29 August, Ta-Kiang departed Yokohama in company with the Dutch steam sloop Djambe and arrived at the rendezvous point, Hime Shima, on the evening of 1 September. The following day, the remainder of the allied fleet arrived, "making a total of 18 sail." At 1000 on 4 September, the naval force got underway for Shimonoseki, in three columns, with Ta-Kiang bringing up the rear of the French column. The allied ships anchored in sight of the batteries on the shores of Nagato at 1600 that afternoon and, 24 hours later, moved in closer and commenced fire on the forts. By 1730 on the first day of the engagement, all of the batteries within sight had been silenced. During the night, British sailors and marines landed and spiked the guns of one battery. The Japanese commenced the action on 6 September, opening fire on the allied ships at 0600. During that action, Ta-Kiang towed a landing boat from the French steam corvette Dupleix, steaming close to the first battery. By noon, a mixed force of British, French, and Dutch troops had taken the batteries. The Westerners repulsed enemy counterattacks with ease; and, before nightfall, "the land forces returned to their vessels."

On 7 and 8 September, Ta-Kiang took on board 23 wounded Britons, as well as a surgeon and attendants, and ultimately returned to Yokohama on the evening of 21 September. During the attacks on the Shimonoseki forts, Ta-Kiang had fired 18 shells from her Parrott gun "thus identifying herself in this respect with the expedition." On 22 September 1864, Ta-Kiang was returned to her agents for a resumption of mercantile service. Records concerning the ultimate fate of this ship indicate that she was sold to the Japanese government in 1864, becoming Oye Maru (or Ooe Maru). Some evidence indicates that, in 1869, the ship was returned to the United States flag under Consular documents and was renamed Peiho.

Related Research Articles

<i>Bakumatsu</i> 1853–1867 final years of the Edo period of Japan

Bakumatsu was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as sakoku and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. The major ideological-political divide during this period was between the pro-imperial nationalists called ishin shishi and the shogunate forces, which included the elite shinsengumi swordsmen.

A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuverable than merchant ships. Unlike a merchant ship, which carries cargo, a warship typically carries only weapons, ammunition and supplies for its crew. Warships usually belong to a navy, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations.

The first USS Powhatan was a sidewheel steam frigate in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was named for Powhatan, a Native American chief of eastern Virginia. She was one of the last, and largest, of the United States Navy's paddle frigates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shimonoseki campaign</span> Series of military engagements in 1863–64 between Japan and China

The Shimonoseki campaign refers to a series of military engagements in 1863 and 1864, fought to control the Shimonoseki Straits of Japan by joint naval forces from Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States, against the Japanese feudal domain of Chōshū, which took place off and on the coast of Shimonoseki, Japan.

Steam frigate Type of steam-powered warship

Steam frigates and the smaller steam corvettes, steam sloops, steam gunboats and steam schooners, were steam-powered warships that were not meant to stand in the line of battle. There were some exceptions like for example the French Napoléon class steam ship of the line was meant to stand in the line of battle, making it the world's first steam battleship. The first such ships were paddle steamers. Later on the invention of screw propulsion enabled construction of steam-powered versions of the traditional ships of the line, frigates, corvettes, sloops and gunboats.

USS <i>Wyoming</i> (1859) Sloop-of-war of the United States Navy

The first USS Wyoming of the United States Navy was a wooden-hulled screw sloop that fought on the Union side during the American Civil War. Sent to the Pacific Ocean to search for the CSS Alabama, Wyoming eventually came upon the shores of Japan and engaged Japanese land and sea forces. On 16 July 1863, Wyoming won the first-ever United States naval victory over Japan in the Battle of Shimonoseki Straits.

The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the Anglo-Satsuma War, was a battle fought between Britain and the Satsuma Domain in Kagoshima from 15 to 17 August 1863. The British were trying to extract compensation and legal justice from the daimyō of the Satsuma Domain for the Namamugi Incident in 1862, when vessels of the Royal Navy were fired on from coastal batteries near Kagoshima. The British bombarded the city in retaliation and pushed out the Satsuma, but were unable to defeat them and retreated two days later. The Satsuma declared victory and after negotiations fulfilled some British demands for the Namamugi Incident.

Dupleix was a steam and sail corvette of the Cosmao class built for the French Marine Nationale. She was the first French vessel named after the 18th century governor of Pondichéry and Gouverneur Général of the French possessions in India Marquess Joseph François Dupleix.

David Stockton McDougal was an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War most noted for his leadership during a naval battle off of Japan.

USS John D. Ford (DD-228/AG-119) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Rear Admiral John Donaldson Ford.

George Beall Balch was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy who served during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.

The East India Squadron, or East Indies Squadron, was a squadron of American ships which existed in the nineteenth century, it focused on protecting American interests in the Far East while the Pacific Squadron concentrated on the western coasts of the Americas and in the South Pacific Ocean. Part of the duties of this squadron was serving with the Yangtze River Patrol in China. The East India Squadron was established in 1835 and existed until it became part of the Asiatic Squadron in 1868.

The Battle of Shimonoseki Straits was a naval engagement fought on July 16, 1863, by the United States Navy warship USS Wyoming against the powerful daimyō Mōri Takachika of the Chōshū clan based in Shimonoseki.

USS Dai Ching was a steam gunboat in commissioned into service in the United States Navy in 1863. She served in the Union Navy during the American Civil War until her loss in 1865.

USS Yankee was a steam-powered side-wheel tugboat acquired by the Union Navy just prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War.

USS Aroostook was a Unadilla-class gunboat built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War. Aroostook was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

USS Thomas Freeborn was a steam tug acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy as a gunboat to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

SS Coptic was a steamship built in 1881, which was successively owned by the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and the Japanese Oriental Steam Ship Co. before being scrapped in 1926. She was filmed by Thomas Edison in 1897 in one of his early movies. The movie is currently stored in the Library of Congress, archive.org and other internet archives.

Commodore Jonathan Young was an officer in the United States Navy. He participated in anti-piracy actions and the African Slave Trade Patrol, fought in the Mexican War, Puget Sound War, and American Civil War, and served briefly as commander of the Asiatic Squadron.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.