Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

Lead Ship,Chinese Protected Cruiser Hai Chi pictured off Hoboken, New Jersey in 1911.Built by Armstrong Whitworth,Elswick Shipyards in 1898,the Hai Chi-Class design was based on the Argentinean Buenos Aires Protected Cruiser (designed by renowned British naval architect Philip Watts) which Armstrong Whitworth had just built a year earlier.

A bow view of Chinese HAI CHI off NYC.............DFO

Launch day at Sir W.G.Armstrong Whitworth & Company Shipyards,Elswick,Newcastle-upon-Tyne,for Chinese Protected Cruiser 'Zhiyuan' on September 29th 1886.

Chinese Cruiser Chaoyong pictured fitting out at Charles Mitchell & Company Low Walker Yards at Tyneside in 1881.Two ships were ordered by the Chinese, Chaoyong and Yangwei. Both would serve together throughout their careers, assigned to the Beiyang Fleet and based in Taku during the summer, and Chemulpo, Korea, in the winter.
Chaoyong did not see any action during the Sino-French War, but in the First Sino-Japanese War, she was in the Chinese line at the Battle of Yalu River on September 17th 1894. She was one of the early casualties of the battle, being set alight, and sinking after a collision with the Chinese Cruiser Jiyuan.

Lead Ship,Chinese Protected Cruiser Hai Chi on launch day at Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Shipyards at Elswick,Newcastle-upon-Tyne on January 24th 1898 and pictured in 1911.She was the Second Zhili–Fengtian War of 1924.

Chāoyǒng Class Protected Cruisers, Chāoyǒng and sister Yangwei pictured under construction at Charles Mitchell, Low Walker Shipyards, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1881..Designed by Sir George Wightwick Rendel which had already been used on the Chilean Navy vessel Arturo Prat (later the Imperial Japanese Navy's Tsukushi). ...Both would serve together throughout their careers, assigned to the Beiyang Fleet and based in Taku during the summer, and Chemulpo, Korea, in the winter. Chāoyǒng did not see any action during the Sino-French War, but in the First Sino-Japanese War, she was in the Chinese line at the Battle of Yalu River on September 17th 1894. She was one of the early casualties of the battle, being set alight, and sinking after a collision with the Chinese Cruiser Jiyuan.

Chinese Imperial Maritime Custom Service Revenue Cruisers Li Ki...Kai Pan and Chuen Tiao pictured at Hong Kong c 1895....Built at Sir W G Armstrong Shipyards, Tyneside in 1888.

Chen Pei Class Chinese Gunboat, ( A Rendel design) built at Mitchell's Shipyard, Tyneside in 1879..In 1867 Sir W G Armstong & Company signed an agreement with a local shipbuilder, Dr. Charles Mitchell, whereby Mitchell’s Shipyard would build warships and Armstrong’s company would provide the armaments. George Rendel was put in charge of the new venture, and the vessels designed under his leadership were based on a small craft used by the Armstrong factory to test heavy guns. With the assistance of the leading gunnery expert Admiral Sir Astley Cooper-Key, he turned these craft into a Gunboat designed for defensive coastal operations...A typical Flat-Iron Rendel Gunboat displaced about 250 tons, had a length of less than and drew only 6 feet. It was armed with a single large gun, (10inch in this case), but in the case of the Italian Castore Class, a massive 16-inch weapon. The gun, which was mounted at the bow, was designed to be raised and lowered on a hydraulic mechanism so that stability would not be compromised when making sea passages. The gun was aimed by pointing the whole vessel, since the mounting allowed for elevation but not traversing (in the manner of an enormous Punt Gun). No rigging of any sort was provided, and twin screws were fitted, allowing for a much reduced draught while at the same time making them highly manoeuvrable. Top speed would have been less than 9 knots, but they were designed to be towed at considerably higher speeds than they were capable of making under their own power. The crew would have numbered about 30 men.

Qing Dynasty Beiyang Fleet, Armoured Cruiser Jīngyuăn pictured c1888...She was laid down at Stettiner AG Vulcan Shipyards on January 1st 1885, launched on March 25th 1887, and completed on January 1st 1888.
On arrival in China in 1888, Jingyuan and sister Laiyuan were both assigned to the Beiyang Fleet. In the summer of 1889, both vessels were part of the flotilla let by Admiral Ding Ruchang, calling on the Russian naval base of Vladivostok. In early 1894, both vessels accompanied Dingyuan and Zhenyuan on a visit to Singapore, but the flotilla was recalled to Weihaiwei on the eve of the First Sino-Japanese War with the Empire of Japan.
Jingyuan and Laiyuan were both in the Battle of the Yalu River on September 17th 1894. Early in the battle, the captain of Laiyuan moved aggressively against the Japanese squadron, pursuing and severely damaging the slower moving Japanese Gunboat Akagi, but receiving considerable damage in return, which set her on fire and removed her from combat. With Laiyuan apparently doomed, the Japanese flying squadron led by Admiral Tsuboi Kozo (Yoshino, Takachiho, Akitsushima, and Naniwa), concentrated fire on Jingyuan for over an hour. Briefly, Jingyuan appeared to be closing on Yoshino in an apparent attempt to ram, but at 16:48, lurched to starboard and burst into flames. Soon after, with a large explosion, Jingyuan rolled over and sank. Of the 270 crewmen, only seven escaped.

Imperial Chinese Navy Beiyang Fleet, Chaoyong Class Cruiser Yangwei pictured at Shanghai c 1884, she was built by Charles Mitchell & Co Shipyards at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and completed in 1881, from a design by Sir George Wightwick Rendel which had already been used on the Chilean Naval vessel Arturo Prat (later the IJN's Tsukushi. Two ships were ordered by the Chinese, the Yangwei and Chaoyong. Both would serve together throughout their careers, assigned to the Beiyang Fleet and based in Taku during the summer, and Chemulpo, Korea, in the winter.
Yangwei did not see any action during the Sino-French War, but in the First Sino-Jalanese War, she was in the Chinese line at the Battle of Yalu River on September 17th 1894. She was set alight by combined fire from the Japanese fleet, and drifted south out of the battle until running aground on a reef. She was subsequently destroyed by a spar torpedo from a boat off the Japanese Protected Cruiser Chiyoda.