Battle of Awa

Overview

The Battle of Awa occurred on 28 January 1868 during the Boshin War in Japan, in the area of Awa Bay near Osaka. Involving ships of the Tokugawa shogunate and Satsuma vessels loyal to the imperial court in Kyoto, the battle was the second naval battle in Japanese history between modern naval forces. Enomoto Takeaki led the shogunal navy to victory at Awa, in one of the few Tokugawa successes of the Boshin War, one day after the start of the land Battle of Toba–Fushimi.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Awa, fought on 28 January 1868 near Osaka's Awa Bay, was the second naval engagement between modern naval forces in Japanese history. It pitted ships of the Tokugawa shogunate, commanded by Enomoto Takeaki, against Satsuma vessels aligned with the imperial court in Kyoto. The shogunal forces prevailed, making Awa one of the few Tokugawa successes of the Boshin War. The engagement coincided almost exactly with the land Battle of Toba–Fushimi, which began one day earlier, situating Awa within the opening phase of the wider conflict between the collapsing shogunate and imperial loyalists. Despite the victory at sea, it did not reverse the broader trajectory of the war, in which Tokugawa forces faced mounting defeats on land.

Commanders (1)