Expeditionary· Japan Expedition
Commander Glynn's Nagasaki mission
A pointed and successful errand of rescue that foreshadowed the larger opening of Japan.
Commander James Glynn took the sloop USS Preble to Nagasaki in the spring of 1849 to secure the release of fifteen American sailors from the wrecked whaler Lagoda who were being held in confinement by the Japanese. The Preble's Marines stood as the ship's guard. By firm but measured pressure, Glynn compelled the authorities to give up the imprisoned men, the first time an American officer forced Japan to yield to a diplomatic demand. The cruise was a sickly one, and the Preble lost a number of men to disease, though no Marines were among them; the Nagasaki mission itself involved no fighting and no casualties. Glynn's success showed plainly the limits of Japanese seclusion when met with resolve, and his report helped shape the bolder expedition that Perry would lead a few years afterward.
Record no. 359