Beiyang Fleet - Composition, 1894

Composition, 1894

In 1894, on the eve of the war with Japan, the Beiyang Fleet was in theory the most powerful fleet in Asia. It was only one of China's four regional fleets, but in numbers it equalled Japan's entire fleet. The pride of the Beiyang Fleet were the German-built steel turret battleships Dingyuan 定遠 and Zhenyuan 鎮遠.

Between 1881 and 1889 the Beiyang Fleet acquired a squadron of eight protected or armoured cruisers, most of which were built in either Britain or Germany. The cruisers Chaoyong 超勇 and Yangwei 揚威, which joined the fleet in 1881 and were prudently kept far from the scene of action during the Sino-French War by Li Hongzhang, were products of Laird's yard, Birkenhead. Three German-built cruisers, Jiyuan, Jingyuan (normally romanised as Kingyuan or King Yuen 經遠 to distinguish her from another, British-built, cruiser whose name was pronounced identically) and Laiyuan 來遠, were completed in 1887 in the Vulcan yard at Stettin. Another pair of protected cruisers, Chingyuan 靖遠 and Zhiyuan 致遠, were built by Armstrong Whitworth in 1887 at its new Elswick yard. The latter pair were a class loosely known as the "Elswick Cruisers", ships built for export under a generally similar design. These cruisers were fast (25 knots) and heavily armed, but were not adopted by the Royal Navy because the Admiralty considered them to be "weak in structure". Their view proved to be right when both Chinese ships were lost in the Sino-Japanese War, and the Japanese (Yoshino and Takasago) during the 1904 Russo-Japanese War. These foreign-built ships were joined in 1889 by the armoured cruiser Pingyuan, a product of the Foochow Navy Yard originally named Longwei (Lung-wei, 龍威).

The Beiyang Fleet also included six steel but unarmoured British-built gunboats, delivered in 1879. These gunboats, of identical specifications, were named respectively Zhenbei ("Guard the north"), Zhendong ("Guard the east"), Zhennan ("Guard the south"), Zhenxi ("Guard the west"), Zhenbian ("Guard the frontier") and Zhenzhong ("Guard the interior"). The first four ships were originally to have been allocated to the Nanyang Fleet, but Li Hongzhang was so impressed with their quality that he took them over for the Beiyang Fleet, compensating the Nanyang Fleet with four elderly gunboats that had served with the Beiyang Fleet since 1876.

The Beiyang Fleet also possessed an array of small torpedo boats. Exact numbers are uncertain, because these craft were not systematically listed, but some details are known. Four 16-ton torpedo boats were built in 1883 at the Vulcan yard in Stettin for the use of the steel battleships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. These four craft, known respectively as Dingyuan No. 1 and No. 2 and Zhenyuan No. 1 and No. 2, were delayed in harbour by the Germans during the Sino-French War along with their mother ships, and joined the Beiyang Fleet in October 1885.

Battleships

Name (pinyin)	Name (Wade Giles)	Characters	Type	Construction	Specifications
Dingyuan	Ting-yuan	定遠	steel battleship	1882, Vulcan, Stettin	7,430 tons, 14.5 knots, four 12-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, three 14-in torpedo tubes
Zhenyuan	Chen-yuan	鎮遠	steel battleship	1882, Vulcan, Stettin	7,430 tons, 14.5 knots, four 12-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, three 14-in torpedo tubes

Cruisers

Name (pinyin)	Name (Wade Giles)	Characters	Type	Construction	Specifications
Chaoyong	Ch'ao-yung	超勇	steel cruiser	1881, Laird, Birkenhead	1,350 tons, 15 knots, two 10-in guns, four 4.7-in guns, two 15-in torpedo tubes
Yangwei	Yang-wei	揚威	steel cruiser	1881, Laird, Birkenhead	1,350 tons, 15 knots, two 10-in guns, four 4.7-in guns, two 15-in torpedo tubes
Jiyuan	Chi-yuan	濟遠	steel protected cruiser	1884, Vulcan, Stettin	2,440 tons, 15 knots, two 8-in guns, one 5.9-in gun, four 15-inch torpedo tubes
Jingyuan	Ching-yuan	經遠	steel protected cruiser	1887, Vulcan, Stettin	2,900 tons, 16 knots, two 8.3-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, four 18-in torpedo tubes
Laiyuan	Lai-yuan	來遠	steel protected cruiser	1887, Vulcan, Stettin	2,900 tons, 16 knots, two 8.3-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, four 18-in torpedo tubes
Zhiyuan	Chih-yuan	致遠	steel protected cruiser	1887, Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick	2,355 tons, 18 knots, three 8.2-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, four 18-in torpedo tubes
Jingyuan	Ching-yuan	靖遠	steel protected cruiser	1887, Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick	2,355 tons, 18 knots, three 8.2-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, four 18-in torpedo tubes
Pingyuan	P'ing-yuan	平遠	steel armoured cruiser	1889, Foochow Navy Yard	2,150 tons, 10.5 knots, one 10-in gun, two 5.9-in guns, four 18-in torpedo tubes

Gunboats

Name (pinyin)	Name (Wade Giles)	Characters	Type	Construction	Specifications
Zhenbei	Chen-pei	鎮北	steel Rendel gunboat	1879, Laird, Birkenhead	440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns
Zhenbian	Chen-pien	鎮邊	steel Rendel gunboat	1879, Laird, Birkenhead	440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns
Zhendong	Chen-tung	鎮東	steel Rendel gunboat	1879, Laird, Birkenhead	440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns
Zhennan	Chen-nan	鎮南	steel Rendel gunboat	1879, Laird, Birkenhead	440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns
Zhenxi	Chen-hsi	鎮西	steel Rendel gunboat	1879, Laird, Birkenhead	440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns
Zhenzhong	Chen-chung	鎮中	steel Rendel gunboat	1879, Laird, Birkenhead	440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns

Torpedo boats

Name (English)	Name (pinyin)	Name (Wade Giles)	Characters	Type	Construction	Specifications
Dingyuan No. 1	Dingyuan yihao	Ting-yuan i-hao	定遠一號	torpedo boat	1883, Vulcan, Stettin	15.7 tons, two 14-in torpedo tubes in bow
Dingyuan No. 2	Dingyuan erhao	Ting-yuan erh-hao	定遠二號	torpedo boat	1883, Vulcan, Stettin	15.7 tons, two 14-in torpedo tubes in bow
Zhenyuan No. 1	Zhenyuan yihao	Chen-yuan i-hao	鎮遠一號	torpedo boat	1883, Vulcan, Stettin	15.7 tons, two 14-in torpedo tubes in bow
Zhenyuan No. 1	Zhenyuan erhao	Chen-yuan erh-hao	鎮遠二號	torpedo boat	1883, Vulcan, Stettin	15.7 tons, two 14-in torpedo tubes in bow