Putyatin's fleet was damaged in a tsunami, following the powerful Ansei-Tōkai earthquake of 23 December 1854. Diana was spun round 42 times on its moorings[2] and was so badly damaged that it sank in a later storm in the bay of Miyajima-mura (宮島村) (Now an area of Fuji), while sailing from Shimoda to Heda for repairs.[3][1][4]
Three hundred Japanese carpenters worked with the Russian sailors to build a Western-style ship in two months, with the help of plans salvaged from Diana. They eventually built a two-masted schooner, named Heda, displacing 100 tons, with a length of 24 metres (79ft).[1] The ship was named in honour of Heda for their assistance in its construction. The Japanese government would later order the construction of six vessels similar to the Heda to help develop a maritime fleet comparable to those of western powers.[1]
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.
Tokugawa Iesada was the 13th shōgun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He held office for five years from 1853 to 1858. He was physically weak and was therefore considered by later historians to have been unfit to be shōgun. His reign marks the beginning of the Bakumatsu period.
The Treaty of Shimoda of February 7, 1855, was the first treaty between the Russian Empire, and the Empire of Japan, then under the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate. Following shortly after the Convention of Kanagawa signed between Japan and the United States, it effectively meant the end of Japan's 220-year-old policy of national seclusion (sakoku), by opening the ports of Nagasaki, Shimoda and Hakodate to Russian vessels and established the position of Russian consuls in Japan and defined the borders between Japan and Russia.
Heda was a village located in Tagata District, Shizuoka, Japan on the Suruga Bay coast of Izu Peninsula. Views of Mount Fuji can be seen from the village, which is a tourist resort.
Kaei (嘉永) was a Japanese era name after Kōka and before Ansei. This period spanned the years from February 1848 through November 1854. The reigning emperor was Kōmei-tennō (孝明天皇).
Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaysky Pol. Aleksander Teodorowicz Możajski was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy of Polish origin aviation pioneer, researcher and designer of heavier-than-air craft.
The Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty was the first treaty between Great Britain and the Empire of Japan, then under the administration of the Tokugawa shogunate. Signed on October 14, 1854, it paralleled the Convention of Kanagawa, a similar agreement between Japan and the United States six months earlier which effectively ended Japan's 220-year-old policy of national seclusion (sakoku). As a result of the treaty, the ports of Nagasaki and Hakodate were opened to British vessels, and Britain was granted most favored nation status with other western powers.
The siege of Petropavlovsk was a military operation in the Pacific theatre of the Crimean War. The Russian casualties are estimated at 115 soldiers and sailors killed and seriously wounded, whilst the British suffered 105 casualties and the French 104.
Yevfimiy Vasilyevich Putyatin, also known as Euphimius Putiatin, was an admiral in the Imperial Russian Navy. His diplomatic mission to Japan resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855, for which he was made a count. His mission to China in 1858 resulted in the Russian Treaty of Tianjin.
Gyokusen-ji (玉泉寺) is a Buddhist temple located in the city of Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is noteworthy in that it served as the first American consulate in Japan. The temple and its grounds were designated as a National Historic Site of Japan in 1951.
Chōraku-ji (長楽寺) is a small Shingon sect Buddhist temple in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is noteworthy in that it was the location of the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda in 1855, which officially established diplomatic relations between Bakumatsu Japan and the Russian Empire.
The Perry Expedition was a diplomatic and military expedition during 1853–1854 to the Tokugawa Shogunate involving two separate voyages by warships of the United States Navy. The goals of this expedition included exploration, surveying, and the establishment of diplomatic relations and negotiation of trade agreements with various nations of the region; opening contact with the government of Japan was considered a top priority of the expedition, and was one of the key reasons for its inception.
The Possiet Gulf or Posyet Bay is a bay in the south-western part of the Peter the Great Gulf, between the promontories of Suslov and Gamov. It stretches for 31 kilometres from northeast to southwest and for 33 kilometers from northwest to southeast. The coastline, which forms part of the Khasansky District, is irregular and indented. Several townlets are situated on the bay, including Possiet, Zarubino, and Kraskino.
Ivan Semyonovich Unkovsky, was an admiral, explorer and surveyor of the Imperial Russian Navy. After his navy years, Unkovsky served as a military and civil governor of Yaroslav.
The 1854 Tōkai earthquake was the first of the Ansei great earthquakes (1854–1855). It occurred at about 09:00 local time on 23 December 1854. It had a magnitude of 8.4 and caused a damaging tsunami. More than 10,000 buildings were destroyed and there were at least 2,000 casualties.
Heda (ヘダ号) was a schooner built by the Russian sailors of Yevfimy Putyatin and 300 Japanese carpenters of the city of Heda in 1855. According to Ivan Goncharov's book "Frigate "Pallada"", the schooner was built only by Russian sailors, but with the assistance of Japanese equipment and materials.
Pallada was a sail frigate of the Imperial Russian Navy, most noted for its service as flagship of Vice Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin during his visit to Japan in 1853, which later resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda of 1855, establishing formal relations between the two countries. In addition to her diplomatic mission, her crew also conducted numerous geographical and natural studies in the Far East. She was scuttled by her own crew in the Crimean War due to the poor condition of her hull in 1855.
Rostislav was an 84-gun third-rate ship of the line built for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1840s as part of a naval expansion program to strengthen the fleet during a period of increased tension with Britain and France. Rostislav carried a battery primarily consisting of traditional shot-firing guns, but she also carried eight new shell-firing guns. The ship saw combat during the Crimean War at the Battle of Sinop in 1853, where the Russian shell guns proved to be decisive. She repaired in Sevastopol in 1854 and was scuttled during the Siege of Sevastopol in 1855.
Chesma was an 84-gun ship of the line built for the Black Sea Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy in the 1840s. Chesma carried a battery primarily consisting of tradition shot-firing guns, but she also carried four new shell-firing guns. The ship saw combat during the Crimean War at the Battle of Sinop against an Ottoman squadron in 1853, where the Russian shell guns proved to be decisive. The battle prompted Britain and France to intervene to support the Ottomans, leading the Russian fleet to withdraw to Sevastopol to avoid a battle with an Anglo-French fleet. Chesma helped to defend Sevastopol, supporting Russian ground forces during a battle in February 1855 before being disarmed to strengthen the city's defenses and then scuttled to block the harbor entrance to the Anglo-French fleet in August.
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