View source for Japanese warship Hōō Maru

{{Short description|Western-style sail frigate}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2015}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= Hōō Maru warship drawing.png
|Ship caption=Japanese warship {{lang|ja-latn|Hōō Maru}}
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=Japan
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Japan|civil}}
|Ship name=''Hōō Maru''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder= [[Uraga Dock Company|Uraga shipyard]]
|Ship laid down=October 22, 1848
|Ship launched=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= June 6, 1849
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= 
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship displacement={{convert|600|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|36.4|m|ftin|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|9.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught= {{convert|4.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft=
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship sail plan= [[Barque]]
|Ship speed=
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=
|Ship armament= 10 cannon
|Ship armour=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
{{nihongo|'''''Hōō Maru'''''|鳳凰丸||'''[[Fenghuang|Phoenix]]'''}} was a western-style sail [[frigate]], constructed by the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] of [[Bakumatsu period]] [[Japan]] in response to the [[Perry Expedition]] and increasing incursions of [[Black ships|foreign warships]] into Japanese territorial waters.

==Background==
Since the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Tokugawa shogunate ruling Japan pursued a policy of [[sakoku|isolating the country]] from outside influences. Foreign trade was maintained only with the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] and the [[Qing dynasty|Chinese]] and was conducted exclusively at [[Nagasaki, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] under a strict government monopoly. No foreigners were allowed to set foot in Japan, and no Japanese was permitted to travel abroad.<ref name=Beasley1>W. G. Beasley, ''The Meiji Restoration'', p.74-77</ref> In June 1635 a law was proclaimed prohibiting the construction of large, ocean-capable vessels. However, by the early nineteenth century, this policy of isolation was increasingly under challenge. In 1846, an official American expedition led by Commodore [[James Biddle (commodore)|James Biddle]] on an official mission with two ships, including one warship armed with 72 cannons, asking for ports to be opened for trade, but his requests for a trade agreement were refused.<ref name=Beasley2>W. G. Beasley, ''The Meiji Restoration'', p.78</ref> Following this incident, a Western-style sloop, ''Soshun Maru'', was constructed at [[Uraga, Kanagawa|Uraga]], partly based on observations of Biddle's ship by local shipwrights. Following the [[Perry Expedition|July 1853 visit]] of [[Matthew Calbraith Perry|Commodore Perry]], an intense debate erupted within the Japanese government on how to handle the unprecedented threat to the nation's capital, and the only universal consensus was that steps be taken immediately to bolster Japan's coastal defenses. The law forbidding construction of large vessels was repealed, and many of the [[han system|feudal domains]] took immediate steps to construct or purchase warships. These included the ''[[Japanese warship Shōhei Maru|Shōhei Maru]]'' constructed by [[Satsuma Domain]] and the [[Japanese warship Asahi Maru|''Asahi Maru'']] constructed by [[Mito Domain]].

The ''[[Uraga bugyō]]'', [[Nakajima Saburosuke]] (中島三郎助), also received permission from senior ''[[rōjū]]'' [[Abe Masahiro]] to build a new vessel. The project was headed by Nakajima and the local ''[[yoriki]]'' and ''[[dōshin]]'', although the actual design work on the vessel was done by local shipwrights. The construction of the new vessel started on October 23, 1853, and was completed on June 6, 1854.

==Design==
''Hōō Maru'' was a three-masted [[barque]]-rigged sailing vessel, with an overall length of 36.4 meters. Of wooden construction, her hull was painted with red lacquer, and she was sheathed in copper to the waterline. Her armament consisted of ten muzzle-loading cannon (4 large, 6 small). Her sails had black bands, which was characteristic of Tokugawa naval vessels.

==Operational history==
''Hōō Maru'' was already obsolete by the time of her completion, and although she handled well, she was no match as a warship for the steam-powered vessels of the western powers. She was used primarily as a troop transport by the Tokugawa Navy. During the [[Boshin War]], she escaped [[Edo]] prior to its fall to forces of the [[Satchō Alliance]], and went to [[Sendai Domain]], from which she joined [[Enomoto Takeaki]]’s fleet and sailed for in December 1868. After the [[Naval Battle of Hakodate Bay]], and the fall of the [[Goryōkaku]], she sailed on July 15, 1869, with 305 colonists for [[Muroran]], where she was seized by the Japanese government.

After the [[Meiji restoration]], the new [[Meiji government]] assigned her to the [[Ministry of War (pre-modern Japan)|Ministry of War]] and subsequently to the [[Ministry of the Treasury]].

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book | last = Beasley| first = William G| year = 1972 | title = The Meiji Restoration| publisher = Stamford University Press | ISBN=0804708150 }}
*{{cite book|last1=Jentschura|first1=Hansgeorg|first2=Dieter|last2=Jung|first3=Peter|last3= Mickel|year=1977|title=Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869–1945|publisher=United States Naval Institute|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-893-X|name-list-style=amp}}

{{clear}}
{{IJNFoundation}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoo Maru}}
[[Category:1854 ships]]
[[Category:Naval ships of Japan]]
[[Category:Ships of the Tokugawa Navy]]
[[Category:Three-masted ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by Uraga Dock Company]]