Chinese turret ship Zhenyuan

The Zhenyuan in Japanese service as Chin'en.
Career (China)
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
Career (Japan)
Name:	Chin'en
Acquired:	1895
Fate:	Scrapped 1914
General characteristics
Displacement:	7,220 long tons (7,336 t) standard 7,670 long tons (7,793 t) full load
Length:	98.89 m (324 ft 5 in)
Beam:	17.98 m (59 ft 0 in)
Draught:	6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)
Propulsion:	2-shaft reciprocating triple expansion steam engine, 7,500 shp 2 boilers 1,000 tons coal
Speed:	15.4 knots (17.7 mph; 28.5 km/h)
Range:	4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Complement:	363
Armament:	• 4 × 305 mm (12 in)/25 cal. Krupp breech-loading guns (2×2) • 2 × 150 mm (6 in)/35 cal. Krupp breech-loading guns (2×1) • 6 × 37 mm (1 in) guns • 3 × torpedo tubes
Armour:	• Belt: 355 mm (14 in) • Barbettes: 305 mm (12 in)

Zhenyuan (Chinese: 鎮遠; also romanized as Chen Yuen) was a German-built Chinese Beiyang Fleet turret ship of the 19th century. Her sister ship was the Dingyuan. Built with 14-inch (360 mm) thick armour and modern Krupp guns, they were superior to any in the Imperial Japanese Navy at the time.

Background

Zhenyuan displaced 7,670 tons loaded and had a speed of 15.4 knots (29 km/h). At 10 knots (19 km/h), she had a range of around 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km). Her armament consisted of four 12 inch (305 mm) Krupp 25 calibre 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 was added six 37 mm guns and three above the waterline torpedo tubes. Total crew was around 363 officers and men.

Zhenyuan was built by Stettiner Vulcan AG, in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland). The hull was laid down in March 1882, she was launched on 28 November 1882 and started her sea trials in March 1884.

Service Life

The Zhenyuan captured in Weihaiwei.

During the First Sino-Japanese War between the Japanese and Chinese, the Zhenyuan was commanded by Philo N. McGiffin. The ship saw action at the Battle of the Yalu River, which took place on 17 September 1894, during which she suffered severe damage.^[1] Captured by the Japanese after the Weihaiwei siege on February 17, 1895, she was rebuilt in 1896/7 and served throughout the Russo-Japanese War as a second-line battleship, under the name Chin'en - the Japanese rendition of the ship's original Chinese name. She was scrapped in 1914, being too old and too obsolete to participate in World War I.

References

1. ^ McGiffin, Philo N. "The Battle of Yalu, Personal Recollections by the Commander of the Chinese Ironclad 'Chen Yuen.'" The Century Magazine, Volume 50 Issue 4 (Aug 1895):585-605.

Further Sources

• Wright, Richard N. J., The Chinese Steam Navy 1862-1945, Chatham Publishing, London, 2000, ISBN 1-86176-144-9
• Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors), All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905, Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002, ISBN 0-85177-133-5

Japanese Chin'en at Naval Review.