The Japanese warship was a ship of the Bakufu Navy, and subsequently belonged to the troops loyal to the Shogun during the Boshin War

Boshin War

The was a civil war in Japan, fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and those seeking to return political power to the imperial court....

 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in 1868. Banryū was originally built in England as a schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

, where she had been named Emperor. She had a length of 41.8 meters, a breadth of 5.45 meters, a draught of 3.23 meters, and weighed 370 tons. She was armed with six 12-pounder bronze cannons.

Banryū participated in the Naval Battle of Awa

Naval Battle of Awa

The 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...

, Japan's first engagement between two modern fleets, on January 28th, 1868.

She was also dispatched to participate to the Naval Battle of Miyako Bay in March 1869, but had to return back to Hokkaido after being damaged in bad weather.

During the Naval Battle of Hakodate Bay in May 1869, Banryū managed to sink one of the Imperial navy's warships, the . She sank in turn slightly later due to heavy damage.