From PeterD: The Beiyang Fleet (22 points)

 

More naval oddities from me this week, this time the opposing fleet in the Sino- Japanese War, The Beiyang (or Northern Seas) fleet was the largest of the four fleets operated by the Qing dynasty in 1894, operating from the ports of Lushunkou (also known as Port Arthur) and Weihaiwei.   Both ports were captured by the Japanese in the war, but ended up being in Russian and British control due to European skullduggery.  The fleet operated two reasonable but dated battleships and an assortment of rather lousy cruisers.  Information on the Imperial Chinese navy is sketchy and often contradictory.  It doesn't help that there are two sets of Chinese characters and three different English translations used by different sources.  It can be a handle keeping track of ships under all the different names used.

She flies the rainbow flag of Admiral Ding Ruchang.  Love the Dragon on the Imperial Ensign.

First up is the flagship, the battleship Dingyuan.  She was built in Germany in the early 1880s along with a sister ship in the mail from Tumbling Dice.  A turret ship with her 12" guns in the then fashionable en echelon arrangement, she was typical of her time.  Similar ships were operating in the Royal Navy's front line squadrons in 1894.   She was damaged at the Yalu River, but still operational due to her armour.  After repairs in Lushunkou, she left for Weihaiwei before the Japanese army could lay siege.  She was then involved in the siege of Weihaiwei, being torpedoed in a night time attack on the anchorage and eventually blow up by her crew to prevent her capture.  In 2005 the Chinese state finished a replica of her which is now operated as a museum ship (Trip Advisor Review).

To my very Anglocentric eyes, Chinese names are very similar and I expect confusion on ship names among my gamers.  Therefore I gave each ship label a number as well.

Next up the Pingyaun and Jingyaun  Pingyaun was a costal defence battleship, with a 10" gun in a turret.  She was captured at Weihaiwei and incorporated into the IJN as the Heien and then lost to Russian mines in 1904..  Unlike most of the fleet which were purchased overseas, she was built in China.  She managed to damage the Japanese flagship at Yalu.Jingyaun was an armoured cruiser built in Germany.  She had decent protection but was slow (as were her guns).     

Next a couple of UK built cruisers  from Elswick, providers of cruisers to the world's smaller navies before 1914.  Zhiyaun was a protected cruiser and better than most of Chinese fleet, but lacked the larger QF guns of the IJN.  Her captain is a folk hero in modern China and apparently they've built a replica of the ship.  Chaoyong was another attempt to overstuff a small hull, with a pair of 10" and no armour.  She and a sister were both sunk at Yalu River.  Oddly enough a third sister served in the Japanese fleet, wisely kept out of battle.

Most navies' TBs were painted black to make them harder to spot, and that's certainly the case here.  I wish to confirm that there are two TB hulls on that one base.

Finally some smaller ships, very similar to ones that served in most navies.  The Guangjia was a Chinese built corvette which was on loan from the Guangdong fleet.  She was probably sunk at Yalu River (but may have escaped).  Kwangping was a torpedo gunboat, captured at Weihaiwei put into service by the IJN.  Lastly, a base of two torpedo boats.

I make that 9 hulls for 18 points, and most of a squirrel. The rest of the squirrel will appear next week.

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Sylvain: As usual, very informative post. You're my weekly dose of naval history! And your ships are lovely. When we get to play these ships, it will be a fun game: fun because new strategies will have to be used and fun because trying to pronounce the names of the ships will be a challenge. I will add 4 points for the flags. Fabuleux!