Far East Squadron

The French Far East Squadron (French: escadre de l'Extrême-Orient) was an exceptional naval grouping created for the duration of the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885).

In 1882 French interests in the Far East were protected by two naval divisions, the Cochinchina naval division (based at Saigon) and the Far East naval division (based at Yokohama). The Cochinchina naval division (division navale de Cochinchine) was responsible for monitoring coastal navigation between Singapore and the Hainan Strait and along the rivers of Cochinchina and Cambodia, while the Far East naval division (division navale de l'Extrême-Orient) policed the China Coast and the seas around China and Japan.

Henri Rivière's intervention in Tonkin in April 1882 was made with vessels of the Cochinchina naval division. As France increased its commitment in Tonkin after Rivière's defeat and death at the Battle of Paper Bridge, a naval division was created at the end of May 1883 to patrol the Gulf of Tonkin. Command of this new Tonkin Coasts naval division (division navale des côtes du Tonkin) was given to Admiral Amédée Courbet. A Tonkin Flotilla (flotille de Tonkin), consisting of a number of despatch vessels and gunboats, was also created for inland operations in the summer of 1883, and placed under the command of général de brigade Alexandre-Eugène Bouët (1833–87), the French commandant supérieur in Tonkin.

The Far East squadron was formally constituted on 27 June 1884, in response to the news of the Bac Le ambush, by the amalgamation of the Tonkin Coasts naval division and the Far East naval division. The Tonkin Coasts naval division, under the command of Admiral Amédée Courbet since July 1883, consisted of the ironclads Bayard (the flagship) and Atalante, the cruiser Châteaurenault, the light frigates Hamelin and Parseval, the gunboats Lynx, Vipère and Aspic, the troopships Drac and Saône and Torpedo Boats Nos. 45 and 46. The Far East naval division, under the command of Admiral Sébastien Lespès since March 1884, consisted of the ironclads La Galissonnière (the flagship) and Triomphante, the cruisers d'Estaing, Duguay-Trouin and Volta, and the gunboat Lutin. The new squadron was placed under Courbet's command, with Lespès second in command.

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