empires. The islands had previously been claimed by Britain, and the United States had considered making them a navy base. The flagship "Kanrin Maru" was put to use in a display of military power reminiscent of the arrival of Commodore Perry's black ships in Japan just a few years earlier. Boshin war By the end of 1867, the Bakufu was attacked by pro-imperial forces, initiating the Boshin War which led to the Meiji Restoration. Towards the end of the conflict, in September 1868, after several defeats by the Bakufu, Kanrin Maru was one of the eight modern ships led by Enomoto Takeaki towards the northern part of Japan, in his final attempt to wage a counter-attack against pro-imperial forces. The fleet encountered a typhoon on its way northward, and Kanrin Maru, having suffered damage, was forced to take refuge in Shimizu harbour, where she was captured by Imperial forces, who bombarded and boarded the ship notwithstanding a white flag of surrender, and put the skeleton crew aboard to the sword. Enomoto Takeaki finally surrendered in May 1869, and after the end of the conflict, Kanrin Maru was used by the new Imperial government for the development of the northern island of Hokkaido. She was lost there in a typhoon in 1871, at Esashi. Kanrin Maru today In 1990, a ship replica twice the size of the original was ordered for manufacture in the Netherlands, according to the original plans. The ship was visible in the theme park of Huis Ten Bosch in Kyūshū, in southern Japan. It is now used as a sightseeing ship to the Naruto whirlpools from Minami Awaji harbour. Notes References H. Huygens, "Z.M. schroef-schooner Bali," in: Verhandelingen en berigten betrekkelijk het zeewezen en de zeevaartkunde, vol. 17 (1857), pp. 178–183, esp. p. 182 "Steam, Steel and Shellfire. The steam warship 1815-1905" Conway's History of the ship "The origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy. Development and technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War" Christopher Howe, The University of Chicago Press, "End of the Bakufu and the Restoration at Hakodate" (Japanese 函館の幕末・維新) External links The Kanrin Maru rebuilt Naruto whirpool with the Kanrin Maru Bali-class sloops Screw sloops of the Imperial Japanese Navy Shipwrecks in the Sea of Japan 1857 ships Ships of the Tokugawa Navy Maritime incidents in 1871 Ships built in the Netherlands