Dingyuan-class ironclad
The Dingyuan class (simplified Chinese: 定远; traditional Chinese: 定遠; pinyin: Dìngyǔan; Wade–Giles: Ting Yuen or Ting Yuan) consisted of a pair of ironclad warships—Dingyuan and Zhenyuan—built for the Imperial Chinese Navy in the 1880s. They were the first ships of that size to be built for the Chinese Navy, having been constructed by Stettiner Vulcan AG in Germany. Originally expected to be a class of 12 ships, before being reduced to three and then two, with Jiyuan having been reduced in size to that of a protected cruiser.
Zhenyuan, following capture by the Imperial Japanese Navy at Weihaiwei | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dingyuan-class ironclad |
| Builders | Stettiner Vulcan AG, Stettin, Germany |
| Operators | |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | None |
| Cost | 1,000,000 silver taels |
| Built | 1881–1884 |
| In service | 1885–1912 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Scrapped | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ironclad turret ship |
| Displacement | 7,670 long tons (7,793 t) (deep load) |
| Length | 298.5 ft (91.0 m) |
| Beam | 60 ft (18 m) |
| Draught | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 15.4 knots (28.5 km/h; 17.7 mph) |
| Range | 4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 363 |
| Armament |
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| Armour |
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They were prevented from sailing to China during the Sino-French War, but first saw combat at the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894, during the First Sino-Japanese War. They were next in combat during the Battle of Weihaiwei in early 1895, where they were blockaded in the harbour. Dingyuen was struck by a torpedo, and was beached where it continued to operate as a defensive fort. When the fleet was surrendered to the Japanese, she was destroyed while Zhenyuan became the first battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy as Chin Yen. She was eventually removed from the Navy list in 1911, and was sold for scrap the following year.