- Chinese turret ship Zhenyuan
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The Zhenyuan in Japanese service as Chin'en.Career (China) Name: Zhenyuan Ordered: 1882 Builder: Stettiner Vulcan AG, Stettin, Germany Laid down: 1 March 1882 Launched: 28 November 1882 Completed: 1884 Commissioned: 1 March 1885 Fate: Prize of war to Japan, 1895 Career (Japan) Name: Chin'en Acquired: 1895 Fate: Scrapped 1914 General characteristics Displacement: 7,220 long tons (7,336 t) standard
7,670 long tons (7,793 t) full loadLength: 98.89 m (324 ft 5 in) Beam: 17.98 m (59 ft 0 in) Draught: 6.1 m (20 ft 0 in) Propulsion: 2-shaft reciprocating triple expansion steam engine, 7,500 shp
2 boilers
1,000 tons coalSpeed: 15.4 knots (17.7 mph; 28.5 km/h) Range: 4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) Complement: 363 Armament: • 4 × 305 mm (12 in)/25 cal. Krupp breech-loading guns (2×2)
• 2 × 150 mm (6 in)/35 cal. Krupp breech-loading guns (2×1)
• 6 × 37 mm (1 in) guns
• 3 × torpedo tubesArmour: • Belt: 355 mm (14 in)
• Barbettes: 305 mm (12 in)Zhenyuan (Chinese: 鎮遠; also romanized as Chen Yuen) was a German-built Chinese Beiyang Fleet turret ship of the 19th century. Her sister ship was the Dingyuan. Built with 14-inch (360 mm) thick armour and modern Krupp guns, they were superior to any in the Imperial Japanese Navy at the time.
Contents
Background
Zhenyuan displaced 7,670 tons loaded and had a speed of 15.4 knots (29 km/h). At 10 knots (19 km/h), she had a range of around 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km). Her armament consisted of four 12 inch (305 mm) Krupp 25 calibre breech-loading guns in two barbettes one either side with a secondary armament of two 5.9 inch (150 mm) 35 calibre Krupp breech-loaders placed fore and aft. To this was added six 37 mm guns and three above the waterline torpedo tubes. Total crew was around 363 officers and men.
Zhenyuan was built by Stettiner Vulcan AG, in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland). The hull was laid down in March 1882, she was launched on 28 November 1882 and started her sea trials in March 1884.
Service Life
During the First Sino-Japanese War between the Japanese and Chinese, the Zhenyuan was commanded by Philo N. McGiffin. The ship saw action at the Battle of the Yalu River, which took place on 17 September 1894, during which she suffered severe damage.[1] Captured by the Japanese after the Weihaiwei siege on February 17, 1895, she was rebuilt in 1896/7 and served throughout the Russo-Japanese War as a second-line battleship, under the name Chin'en - the Japanese rendition of the ship's original Chinese name. She was scrapped in 1914, being too old and too obsolete to participate in World War I.
References
- ^ McGiffin, Philo N. "The Battle of Yalu, Personal Recollections by the Commander of the Chinese Ironclad 'Chen Yuen.'" The Century Magazine, Volume 50 Issue 4 (Aug 1895):585-605.
Further Sources
- 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
Categories:- Battleships of the Imperial Beiyang Navy
- Ships built in Stettin
- 1882 ships
- Victorian era battleships of China
- First Sino-Japanese War battleships of China
- Battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy
- Russo-Japanese War battleships of Japan
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