Chinese cruiser Yangwei
Yangwei under construction in Newcastle Upon Tyne
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History | |
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Imperial China | |
Name | Yangwei |
Ordered | 1879 |
Builder | Newcastle Upon Tyne |
Laid down | 15 January 1880 |
Launched | 29 January 1881 |
Completed | 15 July 1881 |
Commissioned | 22 November 1881 |
Fate | Sank 18 September 1894 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Tsukushi-class cruiser |
Displacement | 1,350 long tons (1,370 t) |
Length | 220 ft (67 m) |
Beam | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
Draught | 15.5 ft (4.7 m) |
Installed power | 2,580 indicated horsepower (1,920 kilowatts) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Boats & landing craft carried | 2 x Pinnaces |
Complement | 140 |
Armament |
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Yangwei (
Yangwei did not see any action during the
Design
The design for Yangwei was advertised by its designer, British naval architect Sir George Wightwick Rendel, as an example of a low-cost cruiser able to withstand larger ironclad warships. The design was later seen as an intermediate concept between his flat-iron gunboats and the protected cruiser.[1] In theory, the ship would rely on its small size and higher speed, along with a higher muzzle velocity main battery to attack larger,[2][3] less maneuverable ships.[4]
Yangwei's basic design was initially used on the
They both were constructed out of 0.75 inches (1.9 cm) steel with waterproof bulkhead 3.5 ft (1.1 m) below the
Career
Chinese diplomat Li Hongzhang was made aware of Rendel's designs, and following the start of the construction on Arturo Prat, an order was placed on behalf of the Imperial Chinese Navy for two ships of the same type. Yangwei was laid down on 15 January 1880, and launched on 29 January 1881. Yangwei was subsequently worked up, and was announced as completed on 14 July that year. They were completed ahead of Arturo Prat,[5] who instead would enter service as the Imperial Japanese Navy's Tsukushi after Chile cancelled the order following the end of the War of the Pacific.[1]
Commanded by American
On 23 June 1884, Yangwei was present alongside Chaoyong, as well as the
Battle of Yalu River
Following the war, Chaoyong and Yangwei continued to operate together. They operated out of Taku, but since the water froze over during winter, they would spend that part of the year in the Korean port of Chemulpo (now Incheon).[16] During the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894, Yangwei remained with the fleet and was supporting troop transports when they made contact with a Japanese fleet on the morning of 17 September.[17]
As the Japanese fleet moved in, the Chinese fleet moved away from anchor and attempted for form up in a line. However, the manoeuvre was botched and Yangwei was one of four ships which ended up behind the others.[17] This was due to a lack of maintenance over the years; with their equipment out of date they could barely make 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph). Orders had been given for the ships to operate in pairs, with Yangwei and Chaoyong teamed together. This battle plan was alien to the premise of their design, inherent in the lack of armour for ships about to fight in the line of battle.[18]
At a distance of 3,000 yd (2,700 m), the Japanese fleet targeted the Chaoyong and Yangwei. Within a few minutes, fires broke out on both ships, which quickly engulfed the central superstructures with its numerous wooden partitions covered with thick layers of flammable varnish applied over the years. Yangwei fought no more, and eventually beached on a reef several miles south with the loss of the majority of her crew.[18][19] The morning following the battle, she was destroyed by a spar torpedo from a boat of the Japanese cruiser Chiyoda.[18][20] The Japanese fleet had kept their distance, only sending in their smaller boats to investigate, fearing a counterattack by the Chinese using torpedoes.[20]
Notes
- ^ a b Chesneau & Kolesnik 1979, p. 233.
- ^ Friedman 2012, p. 150.
- ^ van de Ven 2014, p. 110.
- ^ a b c Wright 2000, p. 47.
- ^ a b Wright 2000, p. 48.
- ^ Wright 2000, p. 49.
- ^ Wright 2000, p. 181.
- ^ Andrade (2016) p. 287-290
- ^ McGiffin (1968) p. 91, 93, 96
- ^ The Desk Hong List 1884, p. 173.
- ^ a b Wright 2000, pp. 60–61.
- ^ Wright 2000, pp. 62–63.
- ^ "The Chinese Navy". The Examiner. 31 January 1885. p. 1. Retrieved 11 December 2016 – via Trove.
- ^ Wright 2000, p. 64.
- ^ Wright 2000, p. 81.
- ^ a b Wright 2000, p. 90.
- ^ a b c Wright 2000, p. 91.
- ^ "The Fight off the Yaloo River". Sydney Morning Herald. 26 October 1894. p. 5. Retrieved 11 December 2016 – via Trove.
- ^ a b Jacques 1898, p. 479.
References
- Andrade, Tonio (2016). The Gunpowder Age, China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History. Princeton, New Jersey, USA and Oxfordshire, United Kingdom: Princeton University Press/Princeton and Oxford.
- The Desk Hong List. Shanghai: North China Herald. 1884.
- Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M., eds. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
- Friedman, Norman (2012). British Cruisers of the Victorian Era. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-068-9.
- McGiffin, Lee (1968). Yankee of the Yalu, Philo Norton McGiffin, American Captain in the Chinese Navy (1885-1895). New York: E.P. Dutton & Co.
- Jacques, William H. (1898). "Torpedo Boats in Modern Warfare". Cassier's Magazine. 14. London: Cassier Magazine Company.
- van de Ven, Hans (2014). Breaking with the Past: The Maritime Customs Service and the Global Origins of Modernity in China. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-51052-3.
- Wright, Richard N.J. (2000). The Chinese Steam Navy. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-144-6.