# Nunobiki Maru

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nunobiki_Maru
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nunobiki_Maru.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunobiki_Maru
> Source revision: 1327739553
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Japanese steamship

History Japan Name Nunobiki Maru Builder Caird & Company, Greenock, Scotland Launched 30 November 1874 Completed 1874 Fate Foundered 21 July 1899 General characteristics Type Steamship Tonnage 1,336 grt Length 79.3 m (260 ft 2 in) overall Beam 9.2 m (30 ft 2 in) Propulsion compound steam engine

***Nunobiki Maru*** (布引丸, *literally, **Drawn Fabric***) was a Japanese [steamship](/source/Steamship) known mainly for her attempted delivery of arms, most notably powerful [Murata rifles](/source/Murata_rifle), from Japan to the Philippines, a key event in [Japanese–Filipino relations](/source/Japan%E2%80%93Philippines_relations) during the [Philippine–American War](/source/Philippine%E2%80%93American_War).

## History

Yaroku Nakamura was instrumental in the delivery of arms to the Philippines.

In 1874, the [steamship](/source/Steamship) *Nunobiki Maru* was built by [Caird & Company](/source/Caird_%26_Company) in [Greenock](/source/Greenock), Scotland.[1] The ship was first operated by the [Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland](/source/Netherland_Line) as *SS Sindoro*. In 1896, it was acquired by [Mitsui Bussan](/source/Mitsui_%26_Co.).[2] The ship was best known for her delivery of arms. In 1899, Filipino diplomat [Mariano Ponce](/source/Mariano_Ponce) gained the aid of Chinese revolutionary [Sun Yat-sen](/source/Sun_Yat-sen) in finding a way to procure arms. Sun sympathized with the Filipino cause during the [Philippine–American War](/source/Philippine%E2%80%93American_War) and may have seen the Philippines as a staging point for his revolution in China.[3] With Sun's help, Ponce was able to meet [pan-Asian](/source/Pan-Asian) Japanese philosopher [Tōten Miyazaki](/source/T%C5%8Dten_Miyazaki) and Japanese [silviculturist](/source/Silviculture) Yaroku Nakamura.[4] Sympathizing with the Filipino cause as well, Miyazaki and Nakamura managed to make an arms purchase amounting to 155,000 [yen](/source/Japanese_yen) with Japanese trader Kihatiro Okura. This amount included the 18,000 [yen](/source/Japanese_yen) used to purchase *Nunobiki Maru*, the ship used to deliver the arms. With the grant given by Nakamura's brother, [Vice Minister of War](/source/Ministry_of_War_of_Japan) Yujiro Nakamura, the deal was made.[5]

On 20 June 1899, the ship sailed off from [Nagasaki](/source/Nagasaki). The delivery was composed of 10,000 [rifles](/source/Murata_rifle), six million Murata rounds, a single fixed [cannon](/source/Cannon), ten [field guns](/source/Field_guns), seven [field glasses](/source/Field_glasses), equipment for [handloading](/source/Handloading) Murata cartridges including presses and dies, and other [military](/source/Military) supplies.[3][6][7] In order to avoid the American blockade, the ship was supposed to anchor off Taiwan first before arriving in the Philippines.[3] However, she foundered in a [typhoon](/source/List_of_Pacific_typhoons_before_1900) between Taihoku and Shanghai,[8] and the ship was lost on 21 July 1899. *Nunobiki Maru* was foundered when she was 110 km (60 [nautical miles](/source/Nautical_mile)) from the Saddle Islands at the mouth of [Yangtze River](/source/Yangtze).[1] Despite the sinking of the *Nunobiki Maru*, Nakamura pressed on for a second delivery which included 2.5 million rounds of ammunition. However, the remaining crew of the *Nunobiki Maru* revealed the purpose of the cargo. This resulted in a diplomatic dispute between Japan and the United States. The second delivery never went through.[4] Meanwhile, after the disaster that struck *Nunobiki Maru*, Miyazaki expressed his suspicion that Nakamura's intentions were driven more by profit than altruism, and came to state to Sun that the arms were defective and that ship herself might have been in bad condition when she set sail. In addition, after the incident, it became more difficult to deliver arms out of Japan.[8]

## Technical details

*Nunobiki Maru* had a [compound engine](/source/Compound_engine), a [drive shaft](/source/Drive_shaft), and a [propeller](/source/Propeller). It was a [ship transport](/source/Ship_transport) protected by [iron](/source/Wrought_iron). She was 79.3 meters long, and her beam was 9.2 meters. Her [hull number](/source/Hull_number) was 183.[1]

## See also

- [SS John Grafton](/source/SS_John_Grafton)

- [List of shipwrecks in 1899](/source/List_of_shipwrecks_in_1899)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-wrecksite1_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-wrecksite1_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-wrecksite1_1-2) ["Nunobiki Maru (+1899)"](http://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?208824). *The Wrecksite*. Retrieved 25 October 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-wrecksite2_2-0)** ["Sindoro SS (1874~1896)"](http://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?208825). *The Wrecksite*. Retrieved 25 October 2016.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-lb_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-lb_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-lb_3-2) Ocampo, Ambeth (2010). *Looking Back 2*. Pasig: Anvil Publishing. pp. 8–11.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-sven_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-sven_4-1) Matthiessen, Sven (2015). [*Japanese Pan-Asianism and the Philippines from the Late Nineteenth Century to the End of World War II: Going to the Philippines Is Like Coming Home?*](https://books.google.com/books?id=llPeCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA28). BRILL. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9789004305724](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9789004305724). Retrieved 25 October 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-inq_5-0)** Ocampo, Ambeth. ["Japanese with a different face"](http://opinion.inquirer.net/86364/japanese-with-a-different-face). *Inquirer.net*. Retrieved 25 October 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-kahimyang_6-0)** ["Today in Philippine History, June 20, 1899, Nonubiki Maru leaves Nagasaki for the Philippines loaded with rifles and ammunition"](https://kahimyang.com/kauswagan/articles/1192/today-in-philippine-history-june-20-1899-nonubiki-maru-leaves-nagasaki-for-the-philippines-loaded-with-rifles-and-ammunition). *Kahimyang Project*. Retrieved 25 October 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-anderson_7-0)** Anderson, Benedict (2005). *[Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the Anti-Colonial Imagination](/source/Under_Three_Flags%3A_Anarchism_and_the_Anti-Colonial_Imagination)*. Pasig: Anvil Publishing.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-toten_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-toten_8-1) Miyasaki, Toten (2014). [*My Thirty-Three Year's Dream: The Autobiography of Miyazaki Toten*](https://books.google.com/books?id=OeL_AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA195). Princeton University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781400857258](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781400857258). Retrieved 25 October 2016.

## Further reading

- *The Nunobiki-Maru affair*. National Library of the Philippines Government Publication: National Historical Institute. 1998.

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1899 Shipwrecks 4 Mar: HMS Resistance 30 Mar: Stella 24 Apr: Loch Sloy 14 May: Gallia May (unknown date): City of Paris 4 Jun: Lindus, R.G. Stewart 12 Jul: City of York 21 Jul: Nunobiki Maru 26 Jul: Clarence 1 Aug: Benjamin C. Cromwell, James A. Garfield 27 Aug: George Stetson 8 Oct: Caleb Curtis 14 Oct: Typo 2 Nov: USS Charleston 2 Dec: Montevideo 3 Dec: Ismore 18 Dec: 115 Unknown date: Zaragoza Other incidents January (unknown date): Nubia 13 Feb: Germanic 24 Mar: Willehad June-September : SS Waikato 28 Jul: HMS Royal Sovereign July (unknown date): Oakland, Vigilancia 12 Nov: Gromoboi 29 Dec: Mesaba Unknown date: Frank A. Palmer 1898 1900

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nunobiki Maru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunobiki_Maru) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunobiki_Maru?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.