''Diana'' was a

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

of the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

. She was built in 1853 and was the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of the Russian explorer Yevfimy Putyatin when he visited Japan in 1854 to negotiate what would become the Treaty of Shimoda.''Sutebusuton: a Japanese village on the British Columbia coast'' by Mitsuo Yesaki p.6
/ref> Putyatin's fleet was damaged in a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

, following the powerful Ansei-Tōkai earthquake of 23 December 1854. ''Diana'' was spun round 42 times on its moorings and was so badly damaged that it sank in a later storm in the bay of Miyajima-mura (宮島村) (Now an area of Fuji), while sailing from Shimoda to Heda for repairs. Three hundred Japanese carpenters worked with the Russian sailors to build a Western-style ship in two months, with the help of plans salvaged from ''Diana''. They eventually built a two-masted

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

, named , displacing 100 tons, with a length of . The ship was named in honour of Heda for their assistance in its construction. The Japanese government would later order the construction of six vessels similar to the ''Heda'' to help develop a maritime fleet comparable to those of western powers.

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* 1853 ships Frigates of the Imperial Russian Navy Maritime incidents in December 1854 Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean {{Russia-mil-ship-stub