Uraga Harbor

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Uraga harbor (浦賀港 Uragakō?) is a harbor in the city of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo.

The U.S.S. Vincennes and an unidentified American crewman in Edo Bay as depicted by a Japanese artist (1846).
The U.S.S. Vincennes and an unidentified American crewman in Edo Bay as depicted by a Japanese artist (1846).

In 1846, Captain James Biddle of the U.S. Navy anchored two warships, the U.S.S. Columbus and the U.S.S. Vincennes in Uraga Channel at the mouth to Tokyo Bay. This was a first step in what turned out to be an unsuccessful effort to open Japan to trade with the United States.[1]

In 1853, U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry's initial expedition to Tokyo stopped at Uraga harbor and at Kurihama (in present-day Yokosuka); but the squadron anchored much closer to Edo when Perry returned in 1854.[2]

The city of Uraga is located at the northern end of the channel.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sewall, John. (1905). The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk: Adventures in the China Seas, pp. xxxiv-xxxv, xlix, lvi.
  2. ^ Sewall, pp. 167-195, 243-264.


  • Sewall, John S. (1905). The Logbook of the Captain's Clerk: Adventures in the China Seas, Bangor, Maine: Chas H. Glass & Co. [reprint by Chicago: R.R. Donnelly & Sons, 1995] ISBN 0-5482-0912-X