Chinese cruiser Jiyuan
Encyclopedia
The Jiyuan (Chinese:济远), sometimes translated as Chiyuan, was a cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
in the Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
Beiyang fleet
Beiyang Fleet
The Beiyang Fleet was one of the four modernised Chinese navies in the late Qing Dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hongzhang, one of the most trusted vassals of Empress Dowager Cixi and the principal patron of the "self-strengthening movement" in northern...
of the Qing government
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
. It was originally ordered as the third vessel in the class of battleships, but as the necessary funds could not be raised and the order was changed to a smaller armoured deck cruiser. The shipbuilder was AG Vulcan Stettin, in Stettin, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Obsolete transliterations of its Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
name in some western sources include Tche-Yuen, and Tsi-yuan.
Design
The Jiyuan is said to be the first armoured deck cruiser built by Germany. From its completion, there were many critics about its performance. Some sources claim that it was modeled after the BritishRoyal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, but this claim has never been verified.
Sir Robert Hart
Sir Robert Hart, 1st Baronet
Sir Robert Hart, 1st Baronet, GCMG , was a British consular official in China, who served as the second Inspector General of China's Imperial Maritime Custom Service from 1863 to 1911.-Early life:...
promoter on behalf of the British shipbuilding industry strongly lobbied the Qing court higher officials, and the Chinese purchaser Li Fengbao (李鳳苞) (Chinese Ambassador to Germany) had to resign before the ship was finally completely.
Career
Originally scheduled to be delivered 1884, due to the Sino-French WarSino-French War
The Sino–French War was a limited conflict fought between August 1884 and April 1885 to decide whether France should replace China in control of Tonkin . As the French achieved their war aims, they are usually considered to have won the war...
completion was postponed to 1885. The Jiyuan took part in the Battle of Pungdo
Battle of Pungdo
The Battle of Pungdo or Feng-tao was the first naval battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 25 July 1894 offshore of Asan, Chungcheongnam-do Korea between cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy of Meiji Japan and components of the Beiyang Fleet of Qing China.-Background:Both Qing...
and Battle of the Yalu River (1894) in First Sino-Japanese War
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
. Without achieving any military success, it ran down another Chinese cruiser during the battle. Later, it was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
after the Battle of Weihaiwei
Battle of Weihaiwei
The Battle of Weihaiwei was a 23 day siege with a major land and naval component during the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place between 20 January and 12 February 1895 in Weihai, Shandong Province, China) between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China...
as a prize of war
Prize of war
A prize of war is a piece of military property seized by the victorious party after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of a captured ship during the 18th and 19th centuries....
. The Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
later commissioned it into Japanese service (keeping the same Chinese character name, 济远) as the