Shimonoseki Straits, Battle of

The Battle of Shimonoseki Straits is a little-known naval engagement fought on July 16, 1863, by a warship of the United States Navy, the USS Wyoming, against the powerful feudal Japanese daimyo, Lord Mori Takachika of the Chōshū clan based in Shimonoseki.The USS Wyoming under Captain David McDougal sails into the strait and single-handedly engages the US-built but poorly manned Japanese fleet.

Engaged for almost two hours before withdrawing, McDougal sinks two enemy vessels and severely damages the other one, and inflicts some forty Japanese casualties.

The Wyoming suffers considerable damage with four crew dead and seven wounded.The battle is a prelude to the larger-scale 1863 and 1864 Shimonoseki Campaign by allied foreign powers.

It takes place among the troubled events of the Late Tokugawa shogunate from 1854 to 1868, associated with the opening of Japan to the European and American powers.

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