Tsao Kiang was a 640-ton wooden (according to other sources: 600-ton composite-hulled) gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

, launched in 1869 by Jiangnan Shipyard

Jiangnan Shipyard

Jiangnan Shipyard is a historic shipyard located in Shanghai, China. The shipyard has been state owned since its founding in 1865 and is now operated by Jiangnan Shipyard Co. Ltd. Before 2009, the shipyard was located to the south of central Shanghi Jiangnan Shipyard is a historic shipyard...

, Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, for the Nanyang Fleet. Acquired in 1872 for Zhili

Zhili

Zhílì was a northern province in China from the Ming Dynasty until the province was dissolved in 1928 during the Republic of China era.-History:...

 by Li Hongzhang

Li Hongzhang

Li Hongzhang or Li Hung-chang , Marquis Suyi of the First Class , GCVO, was a leading statesman of the late Qing Empire...

 it served with 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...

 as a governor's yacht. It was captured by the on 25 July 1894 during 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 was renamed Soko; stricken in 1902, it was broken up in 1904.