Uraga Harbor

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. 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.

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

References

• 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