The U. S. Steam Frigate "Mississippi" in a Typhoon, on her Passge from Simoda, Japan to the Sandwich Islands Oct 7th 1854

A colored lithograph depicting the USS 'Mississippi' in a violent typhoon on her passage from Shimoda, Japan to the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaiian Islands). The steam frigate was the flagship of Commodore Matthew Perry on his expeditions to Japan starting in 1852. Following the conclusion of his second visit to compel the Japanese empire to open its borders to the West, the steam frigate encountered a powerful typhoon that nearly wrecked the ship.