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36-622: Before 1885, the Southern Seas Fleet (Nanyang Fleet) based at Shanghai, was the largest of China's four regional fleets. In the early 1880s, its best ships were the modern composite cruiser Kaiji , completed in 1884 at the Foochow Navy Yard , the composite sloops Kangji and Chengching , also recent products of the Foochow Navy Yard (1878 and 1880), and the 2,630-ton wooden steam frigate Yuyuan , built at

72-641: The Gapsin Coup in December 1884.) According to L. C. Arlington, an American naval officer serving as a 'foreign adviser' aboard the frigate Yuyuen , the sortie was made in a mood of deep despondency. The Chinese captains had no confidence in their ability to meet the French in combat and were determined to avoid battle if they possibly could. The Chinese flotilla sailed south slowly and hesitantly, never out of sight of land, and with frequent halts to exercise

108-649: The Kiangnan Arsenal in 1873. The fleet was originally to have had the four steel Rendel gunboats , Zhendong , Zhenxi , Zhennan and Zhenbei , completed in 1879, but Li Hongzhang was so impressed by them that he took them over for the Beiyang Fleet , compensating the Nanyang Fleet with Longxiang , Huwei , Feiting and Cedian , four iron Rendel 'alphabetical' gunboats that had been in service at Tianjin since 1876. The fleet also included

144-542: The Nanking Arsenal , both plausible targets for future French naval descents. The Rendel gunboats Longxiang , Feiting , Cedian and Huwei remained at Shanghai, and the frigate Haian was filled with stones and prepared as a blockship, to be sunk across the entrance to the Huangpu river if the French showed themselves in force. The German-built cruisers Nanrui and Nanchen , together with several other ships of

180-672: The Beiyang Fleet had a comfortable superiority over the Nanyang Fleet both in numbers of ships and quality. Nevertheless, the Nanyang fleet continued to acquire new ships after the Sino-French War, some of reasonable quality. The first of the new ships was the steel cruiser Baomin , completed at the Kiangnan Arsenal in 1885. The next additions were the composite cruisers Jingqing and Huantai , both products of

216-644: The China Coast. On 9 February, with supplies of coal beginning to run short on some ships, Courbet was obliged to send the cruiser Duguay-Trouin back to Keelung. On 10 February the rest of the French squadron reached the Chusan Islands and on 11 February entered the mouth of the Yangzi River, to the alarm of the Chinese batteries at Wusong. There was still no sign of the Chinese. Eventually

252-521: The Chinese port of Ningbo. The Chinese sortie was duly reported in the Hong Kong newspapers at the end of January 1885. Captain Baux of Triomphante , who had been stationed in Hong Kong to monitor the news from China, immediately cabled the news to Admiral Amédée Courbet at Keelung . The French, weary of the monotonous routine of the blockade and frustrated with their inability to get to grips with

288-448: The Chinese sentries on both ships were on the alert, and the French launches were spotted some distance away from their objectives. Under heavy Chinese rifle fire, Duboc and Gourdon made an extremely dangerous approach and successfully exploded their spar torpedoes against Yuyuen' s hull, crippling the Chinese frigate. Both launches then made their escape from Shipu Bay and were recovered the following morning by Saône . One French sailor

324-415: The Chinese shore batteries opened fire. The Chinese artillery fire was wildly inaccurate and at least one shell seems to have hit the composite sloop Chengqing , crippling her also: The scene that now occurred almost beggars description. Some tried to lower the boats, some rushed between decks to try and save their possessions, many jumped overboard into the sea. It was, in fact, everyone for himself, and

360-506: The Chinese, jumped at the chance of destroying half the Nanyang Fleet at sea. Courbet sailed north from Keelung in early February to hunt down the Chinese with the ironclads Bayard and Triomphante , the cruisers Nielly , Éclaireur and Duguay-Trouin , the gunboat Aspic and the troopship Saône . Uncertain where to find the enemy, Courbet first looked into the mouth of the Min River (7 February), then headed northwards along

396-499: The Chinese—even at the last moment, had they made any attempt to repel the torpedo boat they might have warded off the catastrophe, and possibly sunk the enemy instead. No such attempt was made, and the French escaped scot-free. On the morning of 15 February the French scouted Shipu Bay and discovered that both Chinese ships had been sunk. Gourdon and Duboc were feted on their return to the French squadron, and were both decorated for

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432-623: The Foochow Navy Yard (1886 and 1887). Table 2: Additions to the Nanyang fleet, 1885–94 Foochow Arsenal The Foochow Arsenal , also known as the Fuzhou or Mawei Arsenal , was one of several shipyards created by the Qing Empire and a flagship project of French assistance to China during the Self-Strengthening Movement . The shipyard was constructed under orders from Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang and

468-492: The French Imperial Navy, were contracted to recruit a staff of about forty European engineers and mechanics, and to oversee the construction of a metal-working forge, the creation of a Western-style naval dockyard, the construction of eleven transports and five gunboats, and the establishment of schools for training in navigation and marine engineering—all within a five-year period. Chinese authorities provided

504-465: The French believed that the Chinese had accepted battle. They had no doubt that they would destroy the Chinese ships with ease. Suddenly, however, before the range closed, the enemy flotilla broke its formation and scattered. The three cruisers headed south, pursued by Courbet's squadron, while Yuyuen and Chengqing took refuge in Shipu Bay. According to Arlington, Admiral Wu had a grudge against

540-542: The French established communications with the shore and combed the Chinese newspapers for the latest news of the sortie. They discovered that the Far East Squadron had passed the Chinese cruisers on its voyage north, and that the enemy vessels were now lurking in Sanmen Bay. Courbet immediately headed southwards, and led the squadron at night through the hazardous passages of the Chusan Islands to close with

576-596: The French on 1 March 1885 and ignominiously blockaded there for the rest of the war. The loss of Yuyuan and Chengqing in February 1885 eroded the Nanyang Fleet's advantage over the Northern Seas Fleet (Beiyang Fleet). During the following decade the Nanyang fleet gradually lost its primacy, as Li Hongzhang invested heavily in the Beiyang Fleet. By 1894, on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War,

612-670: The Kiangnan Arsenal in 1872; the wooden transports Yuankai and Dengyingzhou , both built at the Foochow Navy Yard (1875 and 1876); and the tiny ironclad Jinou , an experimental product of the Kiangnan Arsenal (1876) nicknamed derisively by Europeans 'the terror of the Western world'. In July 1884, on the eve of the Sino-French War, the Nanyang fleet was reinforced by the German-built steel cruisers Nanrui and Nanchen , which sailed from Germany in March 1884. Table 1: Composition of

648-535: The Min River, where he was concentrating his squadron against the Fujian Fleet and the Foochow Navy Yard. The French cruiser Parseval was sent to Shanghai in early August to keep the Nanyang Fleet under observation. Courbet's attack on the Fujian Fleet on 23 August 1884 at the Battle of Fuzhou plunged France and China into war. The Nanyang Fleet commanders responded by splitting the fleet to protect Shanghai and

684-485: The Nanyang Fleet, withdrew to Nanking. In late August 1884 Admiral Courbet ordered Parseval to leave Shanghai. The lone French cruiser had lain within range of the Nanyang Fleet for a whole week after the outbreak of war, but the Chinese made no attempt to attack her. On the night of 30 August 1884 capitaine de vaisseau Thounens of Parseval ran the gauntlet of the guns of the Wusong forts and escaped without casualties to

720-530: The Nanyang fleet, August 1884 The commander of the Nanyang fleet during the Sino-French War was Admiral Li Chengmou (李成謀), who had earlier commanded the Fujian fleet and the traditional Yangtze water forces. Most of the ships of the Nanyang fleet remained safely in harbour at Shanghai or Nanking during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). In July 1884 the French ironclad Triomphante observed

756-551: The captains of these two ships, and deliberately sacrificed them in order to save the rest of the Chinese flotilla. Courbet's ships were unable to catch the faster Chinese cruisers, and on the evening of 13 February Courbet took his squadron back to Shipu Bay to deal with Yuyuen and Chengqing . On the night of 14 February the French attacked the Chinese ships with two torpedo launches, commanded respectively by capitaine de frégate Palma Gourdon and lieutenant de vaisseau Émile Duboc. Both men had already distinguished themselves in

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792-510: The devil take the hindmost. When I had time to realise what had really happened, a strange scene was unrolled before me. Just ahead of us lay the little Ching-ching slowly settling down beneath the waters; she had been attacked by the same torpedo boat that had sunk us. Our own ship was gradually sinking, her guns just level with the water's edge. Along the shore and in the water about us were seamen, soldiers, chickens, ducks, geese and baggage of every description. The fault rested entirely with

828-588: The early battles of the Tonkin campaign . Gourdon had been one of the first officers into the Vietnamese defences at the Battle of Thuận An (20 August 1883), and Duboc had fought heroically at the Battle of Paper Bridge (19 May 1883) and the Battle of Phủ Hoài (15 August 1883). The two French officers timed their attack to coincide with the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year festival, in

864-430: The elderly wooden gunboats Caojiang , Zehai , Weijing and Jingyuan , the first three products of the Kiangnan Arsenal (1869 and 1870) and the fourth built at the Foochow Navy Yard in 1872. Other vessels with the fleet or operating on the Yangzi River in 1884 included the composite sloops Chaowu and Chengqing , both built at the Foochow Navy Yard (1878 and 1880); the 2,630-ton wooden steam frigate Haian , built at

900-486: The enemy as soon as possible. On 13 February, off Shipu Bay (Sheipoo Bay, as it was then known by Europeans), to the south of the Chusan Islands, Éclaireur caught sight of the Chinese flotilla and signalled 'Five steamships in view to the south'. The French squadron immediately offered battle, and bore down on the Chinese. The Chinese flotilla initially advanced against the French in a 'V' formation, led by Admiral Wu's flagship Kaiji , and for one brief, exhilarating moment

936-405: The heroism they had shown in pressing home their torpedo attack under fire. Embarrassed by the loss of one of their ships to friendly fire, the Chinese authorities later claimed that Chengqing had been deliberately scuttled to prevent her from falling into the hands of the French. However, both Arlington and Duboc record seeing a bright flash and hearing a loud explosion aboard Chengqing during

972-580: The hope of catching the Chinese off their guard. The bay was also full of junks and sampans which had taken refuge there from the French, and Duboc and Gourdon hoped that their small launches, painted black for camouflage, could mingle with these vessels and approach their targets unseen. (Arlington had warned the Chinese captains to clear these small boats away from the two Chinese warships, but his advice had been ignored.) The two French launches, under cover of darkness, managed to approach to within 100 metres (330 ft) of their targets without being seen. But

1008-550: The materials and labour, with the number of labourers rising from an initial figure of 1,600 to more than 2,000 by 1872. The operating cost over five years was estimated at 3 million taels of silver, and the cost of maintenance of the ships produced was partly funded by revenue from duties on the import of opium . The first ship produced at the Arsenal, the 150- horsepower Qing Forever ( t 萬年 清 , s 万年 清 , p Wànnián Qīng , w Wan-nien Ch'ing ),

1044-529: The night of 14 February 1885 in Shipu Bay (石浦灣), near Ningbo , China. The battle arose from an attempt by part of the Chinese Nanyang Fleet (Southern Seas fleet) to relieve the French blockade of Formosa (Taiwan). On 18 January 1885 the Chinese cruisers Nan Chen , Nanrui (南瑞) and Kaiji (開濟) left Shanghai, accompanied by the frigate Yuyuen and the composite sloop Chengqing (澄慶), and sailed towards Formosa. The Chinese flotilla

1080-554: The open sea. The Nanyang Fleet did nothing whatsoever to hinder his departure. Part of the Nanyang fleet made a disastrous sortie in February 1885 to try to break the French blockade of Formosa. The frigate Yuyuan and the composite sloop Chengqing were sunk in the Battle of Shipu (14 February 1885), the former by a French torpedo attack and the latter by friendly fire. Kaiji , Nanrui , Nanchen , Chaowu , Yuankai and two 'alphabetical' gunboats were trapped in Zhenhai Bay by

1116-519: The presence of the Nanyang fleet at Shanghai. Her commander, capitaine de vaisseau Baux, cabled Admiral Amédée Courbet for permission to attack the Chinese with Triomphante and the cruiser d'Estaing . Jules Ferry 's cabinet considered the merits of an attack on the Nanyang fleet, but decided that the risks to business confidence were too great, and notified Courbet that no naval action would be permitted at Shanghai. Courbet thereupon ordered Triomphante and d'Estaing to leave Shanghai and join him in

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1152-480: The ships' guns. Before the flotilla reached the Taiwan strait Admiral Wu had already despaired of completing his mission. He proposed instead merely to announce that the Chinese flotilla was on its way to Formosa, in the hope that this false rumour would force the French to raise the blockade of Formosa and concentrate their warships for defence. The Chinese flotilla turned around and headed back to Sanmen Bay, close to

1188-404: Was killed by rifle fire during the attack. Arlington has left a valuable description of the battle from the Chinese viewpoint. He was aboard Yuyuen when the frigate was attacked by the two French launches, and described vividly the panic that ensued after the explosion of the spar torpedoes, as the Chinese crewmen abandoned ship and swam for the shore. During the confusion of the French attack

1224-467: Was launched in June 1869. The shipyard was severely damaged by French forces in 1884 during the Sino-French War of 1883–1885, in the battle of Fuzhou . A modern shipyard was later rebuilt on the site. Battle of Shipu Vietnam Taiwan The Battle of Shipu ( Chinese : 石浦海戰 ) was a French naval victory during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). The battle took place on

1260-685: Was situated in Mamoi (now Mawei District), a port town within the jurisdiction of Fuzhou fu (then romanized as "Foochow"), which is several miles up the Min River . Planning for the shipyard, the Fuzhou Naval College ( t 船 政 學 堂 , s 船 政 学 堂 , p Chuánzhèng Xuétáng , w Ch'uan-cheng Hsüeh-t'ang ), and other facilities began in 1866. Construction began in 1867. Two French Naval officers, Prosper Giquel and Paul d'Aiguebelle, both on leave from

1296-498: Was under the command of Admiral Wu Ankang (吳安康). The Nanyang ships were originally to have been accompanied by Chaoyong (超勇) and Yangwei , two relatively modern cruisers from the Beiyang Fleet , under the command of the German 'guest-admiral' Siebelin, but Li Hongzhang diverted these two Beiyang ships to Korean waters. (Tension between China and Japan over Korea was running high at the period, following Yuan Shikai 's defeat of

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