Chinese turret ship Zhenyuan
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Zhenyuan in Japanese service as Chin'en.
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| History | |
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 China
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| 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 |
 Empire of Japan
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| Name: | Chin'en |
| Acquired: | 1895 |
| Struck: | 1912 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 1914 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Dingyuan-class ironclad |
| Displacement: | 7,670 long tons (7,793 t) (deep load) |
| Length: | 93.9 m (308 ft) |
| Beam: | 18.3 m (60 ft) |
| Draught: | 6.1 m (20 ft) |
| 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 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 363 |
| Armament: |
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| Armour: |
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Zhenyuan (Chinese: 鎮遠; Wade-Giles: Chen Yuen) was a German-built Chinese Beiyang Fleet turret ship of the 19th century. Her sister ship was Dingyuan. Built with 356-millimetre (14 in) thick armour and modern Krupp guns, they were superior to any in the Imperial Japanese Navy at the time.
Zhenyuan displaced 7,670 tons loaded and had a speed of 15.4 knots (28.5 km/h; 17.7 mph). At 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph), she had a range of around 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi). Her armament consisted of four 12-inch (300 mm) 25 calibre Krupp 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 were added six 37 mm guns and three above the waterline torpedo tubes. The total complement was around 363 officers and ratings.
Zhenyuan was built by Stettiner Vulcan AG, in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland). The keel was laid in March 1882, she was launched on 28 November 1882 and started her sea trials in March 1884.
Zhenyuan was based out of Lüshunkou, the chief naval station of the Beiyang Fleet. In 1886, she participated in show of force, touring Hong Kong, the Japanese port of Nagasaki, Korean ports of Busan and Wonsan, and the Russian naval base of Vladivostok together with Dingyuan and four cruisers. While in Nagasaki on 13 August 1886, a number of drunken sailors from Zhenyuan became involved in a brawl in a local brothel, during which a Japanese police officer was fatally stabbed. Attributing the issue to lax discipline, Qing Admiral Ding Ruchang suspended shore leave for a day, but allowed 450 sailors to go ashore on 15 August. Contrary to an agreement with local authorities, many were armed. Anticipating trouble due to increasing anti-Chinese sentiment by the local population, the Japanese police deployed additional men, but were unable to prevent a riot from erupting between stone-throwing locals and the men from Zhenyuan. In what came to be called the Nagasaki Incident, six sailors were killed and forty-five wounded, along with five Japanese policemen killed and sixteen wounded. In handling the diplomatic incident, Qing military advisor Captain William M. Lang took a hard line against Japanese authorities, refusing to make any apologies or reparations, and reminding the Japanese of the overwhelming firepower of his fleet and threatening war. However, the incident was resolved through diplomatic efforts.
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Wikipedia