Chaoyong
Encyclopedia

The Chaoyong 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 Qing Dynasty
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....

 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...

. The first of the Chaoyong class, its sister ship was the Yangwei
Chinese cruiser Yangwei
Yangwei was a cruiser in the Qing Dynasty Beiyang Fleet. Its sister ship was the Chaoyong, the lead ship of the class, and the Tsukushi built for Japan was of the same model....

, and the Tsukushi
Japanese gunboat Tsukushi
was an early steam gunboat, serving in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Navy. Its name is a traditional name for Kyūshū island. Its sister ship Chaoyong was acquired by the Chinese Beiyang Fleet, and was sunk at the Battle of the Yellow Sea.-History:...

built for Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 was of the same model.

Chaoyong was laid down on 4 November 1880, completed on 15 July 1881, and sailed back to Weihaiwei on 22 November 1881 with the Yangwei.

Together with the Yangwei, the Chaoyong was built by British shipbuilder Armstrong Whitworth
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...

 at a cost of 65 million tael
Tael
Tael can refer to any one of several weight measures of the Far East. Most commonly, it refers to the Chinese tael, a part of the Chinese system of weights and currency....

s of silver, though Armstrong later subcontracted part of the framework to Mitchell
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:* B-25 Mitchell, an American World War II-era bomber aircraft* Billy Mitchell Award, a Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program award* Mitchell , an automobile built in Racine, Wisconsin from 1903-1923...

.

The ship was 64 m long and 9.75 m wide, and displaced 1,350 tons. It had 2600 hp and could reach maximum speeds of 15-16 knots and cruising speed of 8 knots (15.7 km/h). The ship was an ironclad, with wood interior but had 0.27 in of steel plating outside. The crew was around 137-140 men.

Armaments consisted of two Armstrong Whitworth 254 mm cannons, four Armstrong Whitworth
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...

 120 mm cannons, two twin Armstrong Whitworth
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...

 nine-pounders, four 11 mm Gatling gun
Gatling gun
The Gatling gun is one of the best known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner of the modern machine gun. It is well known for its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s, which was the first time it was employed in combat...

s, four 37 mm Hotchkiss gun
Hotchkiss gun
The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch light mountain gun; there was also a 3-inch Hotchkiss gun...

s, two 4-barreled Nordenfeldt guns, and carried a torpedo boat.

The ship was sunk 17 September 1894 during the 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...

 at Yalu.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK