Naval Battle of Miyako Bay (1869, Meiji 2)
Meiji 2, 3rd month, 25th day (lunar calendar; 6 May 1869)
Miyako Bay, off Miyako village, Rikuchū Province (present-day Miyako, Iwate)
- Date
- Meiji 2, 3rd month, 25th day (lunar calendar; 6 May 1869)
- Location
- Miyako Bay, off Miyako village, Rikuchū Province (present-day Miyako, Iwate)
- Result
- Victory for the government forces. The former shogunate force failed to seize Kōtetsu.
Forces
Former shogunate force (attacked with Kaiten and Takao; Banryū did not take part)
Government forces (Kōtetsu, Kasuga and others)
About 4 min read
Overview
On the 25th day of the 3rd month of Meiji 2 (lunar calendar; 6 May 1869), warships of the former shogunate force, the Hakodate regime, made a surprise attack on the government ironclad Kōtetsu in Miyako Bay, Rikuchū Province. The former shogunate force had three ships, Kaiten, Banryū and Takao, and about 100 soldiers. Its commander-in-chief was the naval commissioner Arai Ikunosuke, and Kaiten's captain was Kōga Gengo. The government side had four warships, Kōtetsu, Kasuga, Teibō and Yōshun, and four military transports; Kōtetsu's captain was Nakajima Shirō.
From Sortie to Assault
The force left Hakodate on the 21st day, but a storm on the night of the 22nd scattered the three ships. Banryū waited off Samemura as agreed, failed to rejoin the others and took no part in the fighting. Kaiten and Takao entered Yamada Bay on the 24th, Takao had been damaged in the storm and suffered an engine failure again on the way to Miyako Bay. Late on the night of the 24th the plan was changed so that Kaiten would go alongside Kōtetsu first, and at about 5 a.m. on the 25th Kaiten charged in alone.
The Fighting
Because Kaiten was a paddle steamer, it could not come broadside to Kōtetsu, and its bow ended up riding onto Kōtetsu's port side. There was a height difference of about three metres, and the boarding party could cross only in small numbers from the narrow bow, and many fell. The method was boarding, not ramming. Kōga Gengo was killed, Arai Ikunosuke decided to call off the operation, and Kaiten broke away. The fighting lasted about 30 minutes.
Result and Aftermath
While withdrawing, Kaiten joined up with Banryū and retreated to Hakodate on the evening of the 26th. Takao, disabled by its engine failure, was caught by Kōtetsu and Kasuga; its crew went ashore, burned the ship and surrendered to the Morioka domain. The attempt to seize Kōtetsu had failed, and the government forces won. Tōgō Heihachirō, then a gunnery officer in the government navy, is said to have remarked in later years of this surprise attack that "the unexpected is the secret of a miraculous recovery."