Far China Station: The U.S. Navy in Asian Waters, 1800-1898

by Robert Erwin Johnson

Overview

Far China Station was the first work to put nineteenth century American naval and diplomatic affairs in the Far East into clear perspective. Johnson examines the origins of the East India Squadron, defines its import role in the implementation of foreign policy and describes the dangers routinely faced by the squadron's ships and sailors. Great and gallant ships move through the pages from the famous Olympia and the majestic Columbus to the plodding Palos. Naval heroes and the not-so-great, angry mobs, Japanese rebels, leaky boilers, imperious officials and infirm admirals are set against a background of uncertain anchorages, storms at sea, and the ravages of disease in the last years of the Old Navy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591144090
Publisher:	Naval Institute Press
Publication date:	08/15/2013
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	322
Product dimensions:	6.13(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Robert Erwin Johnson was a professor of history at the University of Alabama. He was also the author of Thence Around Cape Horn, Bering Sea Escort and Rear Admiral John Rodgers. He died in 2008.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Preface xi

1 The Peacock and Her Predecessors 1

2 The Opium War 17

3 A Treaty with China and Visits to Japan 31

4 The Most Frustrating Cruise 49

5 The Most Important Cruise 59

6 Piracy and the Affair at the Barrier Forts 76

7 The Treaty of Tientsin and the Squadron's Termination 95

8 Japanese Rebels and Rebel Raiders 114

9 The Squadron Reestablished and Renamed 124

10 Peace in Japan and Perils of the Sea 140

11 An Effort to Open Korea 154

12 Leaky Boilers and Infirm Admirals 170

13 Worn-out Ships and a Treaty with Korea 184

14 The Sino-French War 202

15 The Last Years of the Old Navy 219

16 The Sino-Japanese War 232

17 To Manila Bay 252

18 Retrospect 267

Notes 271

Bibliography 282

Index 295

Sources of Illustrations 308