This ship was the first steel armoured warship designed and built in China. In the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895, the ship participated in the Yellow Sea battle in which it damaged several Japanese warships. After the Beiyang Navy was defeated in 1895, the ship was captured by the Japanese and incorporated into the Japanese navy but kept her name ‘Ping Yuan’. She participated in the Russo-Japanese war in 1904 as part of the Japanese Third Fleet and implemented a blockade of the Russian Army along the coast of Lushun.
Admiral Ting Ruchang, shown in the b/w photo, a key figure in the First Sino-Japanese War, met a tragic end following the defeat of the Beiyang Fleet at the Battle of Weihaiwei in February 1895. After the fleet was overwhelmed by Japanese forces, Ding surrendered to Admiral Itō Sukeyuki of Japan to save the lives of his remaining men.
Shortly after his surrender, Ding Ruchang committed suicide by consuming poison. His actions were seen as a way to preserve his honour in the face of defeat, a gesture that earned him respect even among his adversaries. His death marked the end of the Beiyang Fleet and symbolized the Qing dynasty’s failure to modernize its military effectively.
