French corvette Dupleix (1861)

The "Dupleix" was a steam and sail corvette of the French "Marine Nationale". She was the first French vessel named after the 18th Century Governor of Pondichéry and "Gouverneur Général" of the French possessions in India marquess Joseph Dupleix.

After her commissioning, the "Dupleix" was sent to the Chinese Sea under vice-admiral Jaures. She arrived in Saigon on the 25th of August 1862, and made short stops in Ryukyu Islands and the port of Hakodate on the island of Hokkaidō, before arriving in Yokohama.

Bombardment of Shimonoseki

During the bombardment of Shimonoseki (5 September 1864), the "Dupleix" was second in the line of corvettes, between the British "Tartar" and the Dutch "Metallkruz". She fired 411 shots and received 22 cannonballs (seven in the hull, four under the waterline, and 11 in the sails). She had two killed and eight wounded. On the 28 December 1864, the "Dupleix" sailed back to France, where she was decommissioned on the 25 June 1865.

She was re-commissioned in Cherbourg in 1867, and sent back to serve in the "Far-East Naval Division", under counter-admiral Ohier. She arrived in Yokohama in February 1868, and was immediately involved in the events of the Japanese Revolution.

akai incident

On the 8 March 1868, a skiff sent to Sakai was attacked by samurai retainers of the daimyo of Tosa; 11 sailors and Midshipman Guillou were killed (a monument in Kobe is now erected to their memory). The captain Dupetit Thouars protested so strongly that the culprits were arrested, and 20 of them were sentenced to death by seppuku. However, the execution style was so shocking to the French that after 11 were carried out, the French captain requested grace for the survivors. This allowed the French and Japanese parties to reconcile, and is now known as the "Sakai incident", or "Sakai Jiken" (堺事件).

On the 16 April 1868, the "Dupleix" was the first Western ship to salute the Emperor at Fort Tempozan.

In October of the same year, the "Dupleix" was sent to Edo. She rescued the British corvette "Rattler", which was shipwrecked at Romanzoff Bay, in La Perouse Strait.

Hokkaidō

Replaced in Edo by the cruiser "Coetlogon", the "Dupleix" was stationned in the northern port of Hakodate during the Battle of Hakodate, in order to guarantee French interests there. She brought back captain Jules Brunet and his companions from Hakodate to Yokohama after the fall of the Republic of Ezo.

From July 1870 to February 1871, the "Dupleix" blockaded the German corvette "Hertha" in Nagasaki as part of operations during the Franco-Prussian War. In March, the "Dupleix" sailed back to Cherbourg to be de-commissioned.

From 1876 to 1886, the "Dupleix" was re-armed every year from March to October to monitor fishery operations in Iceland. She was struck in 1887.

See also

* French ship "Dupleix" for eponymous ships.