Bombardment of Kagoshima
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The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the , took place in August 1863. The British Royal Navy bombarded the town of Kagoshima in retribution after the Namamugi Incident of 1862 in which a British merchant was murdered by a local official.
The naval bombardment claimed 5 lives among the people of Satsuma, 13 lives among the British (including the Captain of the British flagship). Material losses were important, with around 500 houses burnt in Kagoshima, and three Satsuma steamships destroyed. An interesting historical footnote to this incident was that a young Heihachiro Togo was manning one of the stone cannon used to defend the port, and is reported to have attributed his future career as head and 'father' of the Japanese Navy to this humiliating moment.
See also
References
- See 'The Bombardment of Kagoshima', Chapter VIII, A Diplomat in Japan by Sir Ernest Satow
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