Japanese warship San Juan Bautista
| Replica of the Japanese-built 1613 galleon San Juan Bautista, in Ishinomaki, Japan |
Replica of the Japanese-built 1613 galleon
San Juan Bautista, in Ishinomaki, Japan. | | Career | |
|---|
| Builder: | Sendai Daimyo |
| Laid down: | 1613 |
| Launched: | 1613 |
| Commissioned: | September 1613 |
| Decommissioned: |
| Fate: | Sold to Spain |
| General Specifications |
|---|
| Displacement: | 500 tons |
| Length: | 55.35 m (LOA) |
| Beam: | 11.25 m |
| Draught: | 3.80 m |
| Propulsion: | 3-masted sailboat |
| Complement: | 180 |
| Armament: | 16 cannons |
San Juan Bautista ("
St. John the Baptist") (originally called
Date Maru, 伊"丸 in Japanese) was one of Japan's first Japanese-built Western-style sail warships. She crossed the Pacific in
1614. She was of the Spanish
galleon type, known in Japan as
Nanban-Sen (南蛮船, lit. "Southern Barbarian ships").
She transported a Japanese embassy of 180 people to the Pope, headed by
Hasekura Tsunenaga and accompanied by the Spanish friar
Luis Sotelo. After transporting Hasekura to the Spanish possessions of
Mexico, the ship returned to Japan. Hasekura and the embassy went on to Europe, eventually reaching Rome.
San Juan Bautista was built in 1613 by
Date Masamune, the
Daimyo of
Sendai in northern
Japan, in Tsuki-No-Ura harbour (
Ishinomaki,
Miyagi). The project had been approved by the
Bakufu, the
Shogun's government in
Edo.
The Shogun already had had two smaller ships (80 and 120 tons) built for him by the English pilot
William Adams, and the larger one, the
San Buena Ventura, was given to Spanish shipwrecked sailors for their return to Mexico in 1610. The Shogun also issued numerous permits for
Red seal ships, destined to Asian trade and incorporating many elements of Western ship design.
San Juan Bautista is reported to have required 45 days work, with the participation of technical experts from the
Bakufu, 800
shipwrights, 700
smiths, and 3000
carpenters. Two Spanish men are also reported to have participated to the endeavour: the friar
Luis Sotelo, and the Spanish captain
Sebastian Vizcaino.
These efforts were seen with disapproval by the Spanish government in
Manila, and Los Rios Coronel suggested that Luis Sotelo should not be allowed into Japan any further (C.R. Boxer).
|
The San Juan Bautista is represented in Claude Deruet's painting of Hasekura Tsunenaga in Rome in 1617, as a galleon with Hasekura's flag (red swastika on orange background) on the top mast. |
Upon completion, the ship left in 28 October
1613 for
Acapulco in
Mexico, with around 180 people on board, consisting of 10 samurai of the Shogun (led by the Minister of the Navy Mukai Shooken), 12 samurai from Sendai, 120 Japanese merchants, sailors, and servants, and around 40 Spaniards and Portuguese. The ship arrived in Acapulco on 25 January 1614 after three months.
After a year in Acapulco, the ship returned to Japan in April
1615, as Hasekura continued to Europe. It seems that around 50 specialists in mining and silver-refining were invited to Japan on this occasion, so that they could help develop the mining industry in the Sendai area.
In September
1616, the
San Juan Batista headed again to Acapulco, at the request of Luis Sotelo. She was sailed by Captain
Yokozawa Shogen, but the trip went wrong and around 100 sailors died en route. Sotelo and Hasekura met in Mexico for the final trip back to Japan. In April 1618 the ship arrived to the
Philippines, where she was sold to the Spanish government there, with the objective of building up defenses against the Dutch. Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620.
By the time Hasekura came back, Japan had changed quite drastically: Christianity was being eradicated since its interdiction in 1614, and Japan was moving towards a period of Seclusion. Because of these persecutions, the trade agreements with Mexico he had been trying to establish were also denied. In the end, his embassy seems to have had little results, and he died two years later of illness.
A new
San Juan Bautista was reconstructed in 1993 on the basis of the records of the House of Date. Although the exact blueprints have not been found, the ship's dimensions were recorded properly, permitting the reconstitution. The ship is currently on display in a theme park in Ishinomaki, in northern Japan, close to the location where she was originally built.
*
Manila Galleon*
List of ships of the Japanese Navy*
Red seal ships*
Ship replica (including a list of ship replicas)
*"The Christian century in Japan 1549-1650" C.R. Boxer ISBN 1857540352
*"Quand le Japon s'ouvrit au monde" Francis Marcouin and Keiko Omoto ISBN 207053118X
*
Reconstitution of the San Juan Bautista*
Ship plan*
Ship interior*
Ship guns*
Various views of the ship
