But in 1860 it was sent to San Francisco with the first Japanese Delegation to America in over 200 years. The delegation succesfully lobbied for the American-Japanese Alliance, with much help from Senator John W. Fox. The Kanrin Maru was then sent back to Japan with the good news and it remained in Japan as a trainer until the Boshin War. She was captured by Imperial Forces in 1871 while hiding from a storm with the help of the US Navy. Later in the war she was destroyed by enemy fire off the coast of Hokkaido.