The SMS Danzig was the first steam-powered warship in the Prussian Navy

Prussian Navy

Throughout the centuries, Prussia’s military consistently concentrated on its land power, and never sought a similar power at sea. Yet historically there were always Prussian naval forces , beginning in the days when "Prussia" meant only the Margraviate of Brandenburg.- The Navy of Electoral...

. It is most notable for its part in the battle of Tres Forcas

Battle of Tres Forcas

The Battle of Tres Forcas was a battle on 7 August 1856 between boat crews from the Prussian Navy corvette SMS Danzig and the Riffians, a Moroccan tribe of Berbers...

 in 1856. It was later decommissioned from the Prussian Navy and served in the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

 as the Kaiten from 1864 until its destruction in 1869.

Construction

Its design was conceived by the British engineer John Scott Russell

John Scott Russell

John Scott Russell was a Scottish naval engineer who built the Great Eastern in collaboration with Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and made the discovery that gave birth to the modern study of solitons.-Personal life:John Scott Russell was born John Russell on 9 May 1808 in Parkhead, Glasgow, the son of...

 and it was originally planned to build it in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. However, Prince Adalbert of Prussia (1811–1873) decided to build it in Danzig instead to stimulate the local economy. It was begun at JW Klawitter's works there on 24 August 1850, with its copper mined near Berlin, the wood for its hull coming from the outskirts of Danzig and the iron imported from England. It entered service in June 1853.

First voyage

Its first voyage was on 12 July 1853 to pick up its armament of ten 68-pounder guns from Deptford

Deptford

Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...

 (they had to be picked up directly, since they could not be exported due to the demands of the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

). It had a crew of 220 officers and men.

Decommissioning

Due to severe dry rot

Dry rot

Dry rot refers to a type of wood decay caused by certain types of fungi, also known as True Dry Rot, that digests parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness...

 damage to the hull, the navy considered replacing the wooden hull with iron, but this plan was ultimately scotched on cost grounds. It was therefore only occasionally in service from 1859 to 1860 and was finally struck from the navy list on 1 September 1862, especially since paddle steamer

Paddle steamer

A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

s like it were now technically obsolete compared to steam screw. It was sold to the English firm Dorset and Blythe for 56,000 taler.

Service with Japanese Navy

Now renamed the Eagle, the ship sailed to England in 1864, where it was bought later the same year by the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

, which renamed it the Kaiten. Later, during the Boshin civil war

Boshin War

The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....

, it was beached at Aomori Bay

Aomori, Aomori

is the capital city of Aomori Prefecture, in the northern Tōhoku region of Japan. As of 2009, the city had an estimated population of 302,068 and a density of 366 persons per km². Its total area was 824.52 km².- History :...

 near Hakodate

Hakodate, Hokkaido

is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture.Hakodate was Japan's first city whose port was opened to foreign trade in 1854 as a result of Convention of Kanagawa, and used to be the most important port in northern Japan...

 on 6 May 1869 and burned by its crew on 20 June the same year to prevent it falling into enemy hands - the Prussian corvette SMS Medusa

SMS Medusa (1900)

SMS Medusa was a light cruiser of the Gazelle class in the Kaiserliche Marine. She was named after Medusa in ancient Greek mythology.She remained in service after the First World War, becoming the Reichsmarine's flagship in 1920. In 1924 she was decommissioned and in 1929 struck from the naval list...

happened to be present and observed the burning.