徳川家定
From 1855 to 1857, Pels Rijcken was assigned as commandant of the Nagasaki Naval Training Center, teaching the principles of a modern naval science (navigation, cannonry, ship-handling) to samurai including Katsu Kaishu. He arrived as captain of the "Gedeh" which accompanied the steam warship, the ZM SS "Soembing", a gift from King William III of the Netherlands to "Shōgun" Tokugawa Iesada. Under the name of "Kankō Maru", "Soembing" was used at the Nagasaki Naval Training Center as a training vessel. While in Japan, he was promoted to commander in May 1856. He was succeeded in this post by Willem Huyssen van Kattendijke from 1857 and returned to the Netherlands.