Famous world-wide as a naval strategist, in his youth Mahan served as Lieutenant Commander of a U.S. Naval ship, the USS Iroquois, that was in Osaka Bay during the last days of the Japanese shogunate. After secretly exiting Osaka Castle, Yoshinobu temporarily boarded the Iroquois before making his way to the Kaiyo Maru, which would take him to Edo (Tokyo). At the time, Yoshinobu had with him a letter to the captain of the Iroquois from the U.S. Minister to Japan. The U.S. government thus assisted in Yoshinobu's escape. This is the 100th anniversary of Mahan's death.

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