Japanese gunboat Heien

The "Heien", originally known as 平遠 "Pingyuan", built by the Mawei Navy Yard near Foochow (Fuzhou), was a Coastal Defence warship/battleship of the Chinese Beiyang Fleet and later the Imperial Japanese Navy. Previous transliterations of its Chinese name include "Ping Yuen" and "Ping Yuan", also of its Japanese name "Heiyen".

ervice record

Beiyang Fleet

As part of the Beiyang fleet, the "Pingyuan" was present at the Battle of the Yellow Sea/Yalu River during the first Sino-Japanese War. Eventually being captured at the Battle and Siege of Weihaiwei and commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy, firstly as "Ping Yuen Go" and later in 1900 as the "Heien".

Imperial Japanese Navy

In Japanese Service, "Heien" was assigned to the 3rd Squadron and was part of the blockading force at the Battle of Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. The "Heien" was disabled by mine in Pigeon Bay (Piegen Bay) West of Port Arthur 18 September 1904 and foundered in heavy weather later that day.

References

*Wright, Richard N. J., "The Chinese Steam Navy 1862-1945", Chatham Publishing, London, 2000, ISBN 1-86176-144-9
*Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors), "All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905", Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002, ISBN 0-85177-133-5
*Jentsura, Hansgeorg. Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945. Naval Institute Press (1976). ISBN 087021893X