François de Casembroot
Encyclopedia
Royal Netherlands Navy
The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
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Casembroot was named Commander of the ship Medusa, which patrolled the Japanese coast from 1862 to 1864. On July 11, 1863, the ship was attacked in the Strait of Shimonoseki by the ships and the batteries of the daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of Chōshū, Mori Takachika
Mōri Takachika
was the 14th daimyo of Chōshū Domain. He was later allowed to use a character from the name of shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi and changed his name to Yoshichika...
, who was following an Imperial "Order to expel barbarians
Order to expel barbarians
The was an edict issued by the Japanese Emperor Kōmei in 1863 against the Westernization of Japan following the opening of the country by Commodore Perry in 1854.-The order:...
" (攘夷実行の勅命 – Jōi jikkō no chokumei). Casembroot managed to respond and escape, although with significant damage. Four sailors were killed in action, and 5 other were wounded.
The following year, in September 1864, Casembroot participated to the Allied retaliations against Chōshū, again on the Medusa, in the Bombardment of Shimonoseki
Bombardment of Shimonoseki
The Battles for Shimonoseki refers to a series of military engagements in 1863 and 1864, fought to control Shimonoseki Straits by joint naval forces from the Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States, against the Japanese feudal domain of Chōshū, which took place off and on the...
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Back in the Netherlands, Casembroot was complimented for his actions in Japan, was knighted and was decorated together with his men.
In 1865, Casembroot wrote an account of his adventures in Japan, entitled De medusa in wateren van Japan ("The Medusa in the waters of Japan").