Naval Battle of Awa
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| Naval Battle of Awa | |||||||
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| Part of Boshin War | |||||||
 Encounter between the Kasuga of the Satsuma navy (forefront), and the Kaiyo of the shogunal navy (background), during the Naval Battle of Awa. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Imperial court, Satsuma | Tokugawa shogunate | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Enomoto Takeaki | |||||||
| Boshin War |
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| Toba-Fushimi – Awa – Kōshū-Katsunuma – Utsunomiya Castle – Ueno – Hokuetsu - Bonari Pass – Aizu – Miyako Bay – Hakodate – Hakodate Bay |
The Naval Battle of Awa (阿波沖海戦 Awa oki kaisen?) occurred on January 28, 1868 during the Boshin War in Japan, in the area of Awa Bay near Osaka. Involving ships of the Tokugawa Shogunate and Satsuma vessels loyal to the imperial court in Kyoto, the battle was the first in Japanese history between modern naval forces. Enomoto Takeaki led the shogunal navy to victory at Awa, in one of the few Tokugawa successes of the Boshin War.
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[edit] Summary
The engagement, between warships of the fief of Satsuma and warships of the Bakufu was Japan's first naval battle between elements of a modern navy. It happened one day after the land battle of Toba-Fushimi, in which the Bakufu lost to the Imperial forces. This naval battle however was won by the Bakufu.
The Satsuma domain was preparing to return troops to Satsuma, aboard two transportation ships, the Hoho (翔凰?) and the Heiun (平運?) protected by the warship Kasuga. They were stationed in Hyōo harbour. The shogunal navy under Enomoto Takeaki was nearby with the Kaiyo as its main unit, and had been supporting the battle of Toba-Fushimi from the sea. They moved on to blockade the Satsuma ships.
On January 28th in the early morning, the Satsuma ships left Hyogo harbour. The Heiun left through the straights of Akashi, and the Kasuga went south with the Hoho towards the straights of Kien (紀淡). The Bakufu's Kaiyo pursued the two ships and prepared for combat. At a distance of 1,200-2,500 meters, Kaiyo shot about 25 times on the two ships, and Kasuga responded with 18 shots, without significant damage. As more Bakufu ships were arriving (the Banryū, the Hazuru), Kasuga broke off the engagement, and, being faster than Kaiyo, escaped to Kagoshima. Unable to flee, the Hoho was run aground at Yūzaki (由崎?) and was destroyed by her crew. Looking at the burning Hoho, Enomoto expressed sorrow at such a waste: "Although she is an enemy, how sad this is" (敵ながらあっぱれ Teki nagra appa?).
The future Admiral Togo Heihachiro was a gunner onboard Kasuga during the engagement.
