Book: Warships of Japan from 1869 to 1945

This book was conceived a great many years ago - thirty, and maybe even earlier. We should speak about Japanese warships separately, their role in the Second World War was very dramatic. For many Americans, it was almost incomprehensible to realize how semi-feudal Japan, backward and cut off from the rest of the world, was able to go through such a huge technological development path - from samurai swords to the fastest fighters in the world and the most deadly warships at sea. How did it all begin? In April 1868, during the War of Restoration of the Meiji Reign, six ships (including Mosun Maru, Hodzui Maru, and Yushi Maru) were placed at the disposal of the imperial fleet of Japan by the clans Aki, Chikuzen, Hijen, Kurume, Nagato, Satsuma and Tosa. All these clans supported the young emperor Meiji. These ships sailed under the imperial flag from the port of Osaka in April 1868. After the capitulation of the shogun Yoshinobu in May 1868, the frigate Kayo, the corvette Kaiten and the gun boats of Banrou and Chiyoda-gata also came under the command of the Imperial Fleet. They were followed by new ships from the shogun Dayme, who also previously supported the shogun.
Twenty-four clans in the north-west of Japan formed an alliance that supported the emperor even after the fall of the shogunate. On the 4th of October, 1868, eight warships, formerly belonging to the imperial fleet, were suddenly transferred into the hands of deserters under the leadership of Enomoto Takeaki, who previously commanded the imperial fleet. Having lost several ships as a result of a shipwreck, Enomoto was finally cornered by the imperial fleet near Hokkaido Island in June 1869. His flagship “Banry” was sunk, and he himself was forced to sign a surrender in the castle Gorekaku. Thus, the last resistance to the emperor Meiji fell. Enomoto was detained, but later pardoned and became the ambassador of Japan in St. Petersburg. With the end of the uprising, most of the outdated fleet was sent to landfill. Only a few ships survived - Kotetsu, Fugues and Chiyoda-Gata, as well as a number of other, less significant ones. They were assigned the role of a link, the transition from obsolete vessels to modern technologies ...