Did you know that the famous flagship which opened Japan's ports to the outside world and ended her period of isolationism was built right here in Philadelphia? The newest U.S. Navy warship, Mississippi, was launched into the Delaware River under the watchful eyes of Commodore Matthew C. Perry in January of 1842. As the Navy's most technologically experienced officer, Perry worked closely with the legendary naval constructors, Samuel Humphries and John Lenthall of Philadelphia. Built at the Philadelphia Navy Shipyard (then located in the Southwark section of the city at the foot of Federal Street), Mississippi was designated as the nation's first "sea steamer."
Her paddle wheels measured 28 feet in diameter, and she was for a time the Navy's longest vessel, at 229 feet. She boasted the latest engine decorated "in the Gothic style," built by Merrick and Towne of Philadelphia, which could propel her at a maximum speed of ten knots per hour. She also carried ten guns.
At a time when steam power was experimentally applied to traditional sails and wooden-hulled ships, Mississippi symbolized "Yankee ingenuity" and represented the nascent military presence of the U.S. in its bid for world power. Perry's "favorite Flagship" cost $569,670.70 and became the standard model for subsequent Naval warships prior to the Civil War. Her massive engines were described as "iron earthquakes," but Perry wrote proudly from Hong Kong of her performance in 1853, "Our Mississippi is as staunch and fit as when she was in the Gulf (of Mexico), beating the Susquehanna, making better weather and consuming one-third less coal.
After serving as Perry's flagship in the U.S. Mexican War, Mississippi carried Perry on a "diplomatic expedition" to Japan. The Japanese Empire was seen by Europeans and Americans as a potentially lucrative market, but remained inaccessible to them because of its two-century-old policy of isolation, systematically refusing harborage to foreign shipping. The U.S. Navy Department felt that "the time was ripe for either forcing or flattering Japan into the brotherhood of nations," and in November 1852, Mississippi left Norfolk, Virginia to be joined by the new steamer Susquehanna and the sailing ships Saratoga and Plymouth. This small but menacing emissary arrived off the shore of Uraga on July 8, 1853. These were perhaps the first steamships ever seen by the local population.
Fifty years later, an old man of Shimoda recollected that at first the residents took the black smoke rising from the funnels to be ships on fire. Rumors of an invasion spread and the panic inspired a "satirical song of the time which went like this: 'What a steaming teapot fixed by America -- just four cups, and we cannot sleep at night!'" Perry received Japanese officials aboard Mississippi where they witnessed the Americans' technological might firsthand. The Commodore presented his credentials and a letter from President Millard Fillmore to the Imperial Government's local representative after making a combination of overtures and tacit threats. Perry announced that he would return the following year for the Government's reply.
In January of 1854, Perry arrived with a larger squadron consisting of the steamers Powhatan, Susquehanna, and Mississippi, the sloops of war Plymouth, Saratoga, Macedonia, and Vandalia, and the store-ships Supply, Lexington, and Southampton. This intimidating fleet secured a treaty with the U.S. which was ratified by the shogun's ministers in spit of opposition within Japan which sought to maintain the Empire's sovereign right to seclusion at any cost. The treaty's main article protected and welcomed American merchant ships and sailors in two specified "treaty ports," Shimoda and Hakodate. Before departing Japan forever, the Mississippi steamed briefly up the waters of the Sumida River. Twelve years later, in 1866, a new Japanese shipyard launched its first steam warship in the very same waters.
The Flagship Mississippi from Philadelphia had helped inspire the Japanese government to begin its bid to control its maritime fate within months of the ship's departure. Two seamen's training schools were established and four vessels were acquired which formed the core of the new Imperial Navy. In 1878, a Japanese-built and Japanese-staffed cruiser, Seiki, first flew the flag of Japan in European waters. A program of construction of 30 cruisers and 12 torpedo boats was approved in 1882, securing for Japan the status of a modern world power.
Interested in learning more about Perry's flagship and Philadelphia's unique relationship with Japan? Phila-Nipponica: An Historic Guide to Philadelphia & Japan, a bi-lingual collection of articles on the Japan-Philly connection published by the JASGP, is available for purchase in our online store!
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