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 Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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The "San Juan Bautista" was originally built as a 16 gun exploration ship by Date Masamune, named "Date Maru", it was one of Japan's first Japanese-built Western-style sailing ships and was the first Japanese ship to sail around the world. She crossed the Pacific in 1614 and was of the Spanish galleon type, known in Japan as nanban-sen "Southern Barbarian ships").
The Date Maru was built in 1613 by Date Masamune, the Daimyo of Sendai in northern Japan, in Tsuki-No-Ura harbour (Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture). The project had been approved by the Bakufu, the Shogun's government in Edo.
The Shogun already had two smaller ships (80 and 120 tons) built for him by the English pilot William Adams, and the larger one, the San Buena Ventura, was given to Spanish shipwrecked sailors for their return to Mexico in 1610. The Shogun also issued numerous permits for Red seal ships, destined to Asian trade and incorporating many elements of Western ship design.
The ship is reported to have required 45 days' work, with the participation of technical experts from the Bakufu, 800 shipwrights, 700 smiths, and 3000 carpenters. Two Spanish men are also reported to have participated to the endeavour: the friar Luis Sotelo, and the Spanish captain Sebastián Vizcaíno.
These efforts were seen with disapproval by the Spanish government in Manila, and Los Rios Coronel suggested that Luis Sotelo should not be allowed into Japan any further.
Upon completion, the ship left on October 28, 1613 for Acapulco in Mexico, with around 180 people on board, consisting of 10 samurai of the Shogun (led by the Minister of the Navy Mukai Shooken), 12 samurai from Sendai, 120 Japanese merchants, sailors, and servants, and around 40 Spaniards and Portuguese. The ship arrived in Acapulco on January 25, 1614 after three months at sea.
After a year in Acapulco, the ship returned to Japan on April 28, 1615, as Hasekura continued to Europe. It seems that around 50 specialists in mining and silver-refining were invited to Japan on this occasion, so that they could help develop the mining industry in the Sendai area. A group of Franciscans led by Father Diego de Santa Catalina, sent as a religious embassy to Tokugawa Ieyasu also sailed on the ship. The Date Maru arrived in Uraga on August 15, 1615.
In September 1616, the Date Maru headed again to Acapulco, at the request of Luis Sotelo. She was sailed by Captain Yokozawa Shōgen, but the trip went wrong and around 100 sailors died en route. Date Maru finally arrived in Acapulco in May 1617. Sotelo and Hasekura met in Mexico for the final trip back to Japan. In April 1618 the Date Maru arrived in the Philippines,and under under the belief the ship was “sick”, the Date Maru was sold to the Spanish government, who renamed the ship "San Juan Bautista" (St John the Baptist). Hasekura returned to Japan in 1620. At least five members of the expedition stayed in Coria (Seville) to avoid the persecution of Christians in Japan. 600 of their descendants, with the surname Japón (Japan), are now living in Spain.
By the time Hasekura came back, Japan had changed quite drastically: Christianity was being eradicated since its interdiction in 1614, and Japan was moving towards a period of Seclusion. Because of these persecutions, the trade agreements with Mexico he had been trying to establish were also denied. In the end, his embassy seems to have had few results, and he died two years later of illness.
The renamed San Juan Bautista was given a new mission. Captained by Manuel Mendes De Acuna, the ship would sail from the Port of Luanda transporting slaves to the silver mines of Vera Cruz, Mexico. They were slaves captured by the Imbangala during the Portuguese invasion of the Kingdom of Ndongo.
During the trip, the Bautista found its self on a direct collision course with two English Corsair ships, the "White Lion and The "Treasurer".
Captain Daniel Elfrith, of the Treasurer and Captain John Jope, of the White Lion were childhood companions from their early days in Cornwall, England. They would sail in consort finding themselves on a direct collision course with the San Juan Bautista.
The two English corsairs were not looking for a slaver, as the Bautista was being used for. They were looking for Spanish gold, usually carried by a Spanish Galleon that could protect its cargo. A Spanish Galleon like the Bautista appeared to be when the two corsairs fired upon the slaver.
After seeing the horrific scene of the foundering San Juan Bautista’s cargo, the two Captains took some fifty or so Africans (split between the two ships) and sail for Virginia, the closest English port that Elfrith believes will welcome the two ships, turning a blind eye to their antics of piracy. During the journey to Virginia, the two ships sail through a storm, causing one to lose the other. When the White Lion and the Africans arrive at Point Comfort, Virginia, without the Treasurer, Captain Jope finds Virginia under a very cautious new government, noticeably alarmed when Jope reports he took the Africans from a Spanish galleon.
The number of Africans is only reported as “twenty and odd”. The twenty and odd were enslaved on the Bautista, but when they arrive in the settlement of Virginia, under the laws of England, they became indentured servants. Slavery was not yet acceptable under the laws of England. Some say indentured servitude is just another name for slavery, but it is contractual. The average colonial contract was for a period of 4-7 years. The original "twenty odd" and their descendants are noted as free residents of Virginia.
A replica Date Maru ship was reconstructed in 1993 on the basis of the records of the House of Date. Although the exact blueprints have not been found, the ship's dimensions were recorded properly, permitting the reconstitution. The ship is currently on display in a theme park in Ishinomaki, in northern Japan, close to the location where she was originally built. The replica survived the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami intact with minor damage and the ship is now a symbol of the town's reconstruction.
San Juan Bautista Museum: http://en.japantravel.co...sta-keicho-mission/7461
For those that may be interested, we may develop a kit of the "San Juan Bautista" ship as it became known., please register your interes in this topic..
Video link to our 1:50 San Juan Bautista model: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcAaCNo1Izs
Date Masamune Samurai Armour kit: http://www.model-space.c...the-samurai-armour.html Tomick attached the following image(s):
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 Rank: Super-Elite        Groups: Registered
Joined: 31/05/2010 Posts: 5,679 Points: 17,011 Location: Wiltshire
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I would be interested to know some more about this one. Is it intended as a partworks model? Happy Modelling
BUILDING: Hachette Spitfire Mk 1A, Constructo Mayflower
SUBSCRIPTION COMPLETE (Awaiting building): USS Constitution, Sovereign of the Seas, 1:200 Bismarck (Hachette)
COMPLETED: Porsche 911, E-Type Jaguar, Lam Countach
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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A ModelSpace monthly subscription (100 stages).
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 Definitely interested as its anther ship from the 16 hundreds  Rgd Martyn Building ?
Completed. Soliei Royal . Sovereign of the Seas . Virginia . Scotland . San Felipe . Corel vasa , Santisima Trinadad X section , Vasa
Next Build ?
When sailors have good wine, They think themselves in heaven for the time. John Baltharpe
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Looks a nice ship and the cut away gives it that extra edge  Current builds:-C57,Zero, Lamborghini Countach, Caldercraft HMS Agamemnon,Robi,R2-D2, MFH Cobra .
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A really nice looking build and one that'll look great I'm sure when built... Will keep an eye on this one I think..... Regards Alan
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Rank: Super-Elite   Groups: Registered
Joined: 30/01/2013 Posts: 4,604 Points: 13,607 Location: Monmouthshire UK
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Looks good, a nice ship with a story and in a large scale too Steve
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Rank: Pro Groups: Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,827 Points: -13,348
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Large scale because it's a small ship
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Rank: Administration  Groups: Registered, Forum Support Team, Administrators, Global Forum Support Team, Moderator, Official Builds Joined: 09/11/2012 Posts: 8,301 Points: 23,991 Location: East midlands
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Would be a nice addition for the "Samurai Armour" being able to link the two together. Regards delboy271155 (Derek) COME BACK GUY FAWKES "YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU"
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 Rank: Elite  Groups: Registered
Joined: 20/04/2012 Posts: 1,787 Points: 5,292 Location: Thurso
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I would be interested in this as I think it would look good displayed along side the San Fran II, similar finishes and the cut away is an interesting feature.
Graeme
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Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 27/01/2014 Posts: 5,060 Points: 14,980
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That's a very nice looking ship
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