Battle of Shimonoseki Straits

Battle of Shimonoseki Straits
Part of Shimonoseki campaign
USS Wyoming battling in the Shimonoseki Straits against the Choshu steam warships Daniel Webster, the brig Lanrick, and the steamer Lancefield
Date 16 July 1863 Location Shimonoseki Straits, Honshu, Japan Result American tactical victory and withdrawal
Belligerents
United States	Chōshū Domain
Commanders and leaders
David McDougal	Mōri Takachika
Strength
1 screw sloop 198 sailors & marines	Land: 4 shore batteries Sea: 1 barque 1 brig 1 steamer
Casualties and losses
1 screw sloop damaged 4 killed 7 wounded	1 brig sunk 1 steamer sunk 1 barque damaged 40 killed 4 shore batteries damaged

The Battle of Shimonoseki Straits (Japanese:下関海戦, Shimonoseki Kaisen) was a naval engagement fought on July 16, 1863, by the United States Navy warship USS Wyoming against the powerful daimyō (feudal lord) Mōri Takachika of the Chōshū clan based in Shimonoseki.

USS Wyoming under Captain David McDougal, sailed into the strait and single-handedly engaged the US-built but poorly manned Japanese fleet. Engaged for almost two hours before withdrawing, McDougal sank two enemy vessels severely damaged the other one, and inflicted some forty Japanese casualties. Wyoming suffered considerable damage with four crew dead and seven wounded.

The battle was a prelude to the larger-scale 1863 and 1864 Shimonoseki campaign by allied foreign powers. It took place among the troubled events of the Late Tokugawa shogunate from 1854 to 1868, associated with the opening of Japan to the European and American powers.