San Juan Bautista (ship)
The San Juan Bautista (“ John the Baptist ”) (originally Date Maru , 伊達 丸 ) was one of the first western-style sailing warships in Japan . In 1614 she crossed the Pacific. She belonged to the type of Spanish galleon , which in Japan was also known as Nanban sen ( 南蛮 船 , literally "ships of the southern barbarians").
They transported a Japanese embassy of 180 men under the direction of Hasekura Tsunenaga and accompanied by the Spanish monk Luis Sotelo to Mexico . Then the ship returned to Japan.
The three-master had a displacement of 500 tons, an overall length of 55.35 m, a width of 11.25 m and a draft of 3.8 m. It was armed with 16 cannons.
construction
The San Juan Bautista was built in 1613 on the orders of Date Masamune , the daimyo of Sendai in what is now Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan, more precisely in the port of Tsuki-no-Ura ( Ishinomaki ). The shipbuilding project had the support of Bakufu , the military government of the Shogun in Edo .
The Shogun already owned two smaller ships of 80 and 120 tons, built by the English navigator William Adams , of which the larger, the San Buena Ventura, was left to shipwrecked Spanish sailors for their return to Mexico. The Shogun also issued numerous permits for so-called red - sealed ships that were active in the Asian trade and used many design features of western ships.
The San Juan Bautista is said to have been completed in just 45 days by Bakufu technical experts, 800 shipbuilders, 700 blacksmiths and 3000 carpenters. Two Spaniards are also said to have been involved in the project: the monk Luis Sotelo and the captain Sebastián Vizcaíno .
These activities were viewed with displeasure by the Spanish government in Manila and Los Rios Coronel suggested that Luis Sotelo not travel to Japan again. (CR Boxer).
Two round trips to the Pacific
After completion, the ship left on October 28, 1613 for Acapulco in Mexico. On board were around 180 people, including 10 samurai of the Shogun (under the leadership of the Navy Minister Mukai Shogen ), 12 samurai from Sendai, 120 Japanese traders, seamen and servants and about 40 Spaniards and Portuguese. The ship reached Acapulco on January 25, 1614 after a voyage of three months.
After a year stay in Acapulco, the ship returned to Japan in April 1615, while Hasekura traveled on to Europe. There is evidence that around 50 mining and silver smelter specialists were invited to Japan on this occasion to help develop mining in Sendai.
In September 1616, at the request of Luis Sotelo, the San Juan Batista drove back to Acapulco. The Yokozawa Shogen voyage was unlucky and 100 sailors died. Sotelo and Hasekura met in Mexico for the return trip. In April 1618 the ship reached the Philippines , where it was sold to the Spanish government for defense against the Dutch. Hasekura returned to Japan on another ship in 1620.
Replica of the San Juan Bautista
A full- scale replica was built in 1993 based on the preserved records of the Date House . Although there were no longer any exact blueprints, there are precise records of the ship's dimensions that allowed its reconstruction. The ship will be exhibited in a theme park in Ishinomaki in northern Japan, near where the original was built.
See also
swell
- “The Christian century in Japan 1549-1650” CR Boxer ISBN 1-85754-035-2
- “Quand le Japon s'ouvrit au monde” Francis Marcouin and Keiko Omoto ISBN 2-07-053118-X
Web links
Coordinates: 38 ° 24 ′ 32 ″ N , 141 ° 22 ′ 8 ″ E