In the eleventh year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, that is, in 1885 AD, a naval battle took place in Shipu Port, Xiangshan District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province. On one side of the war was the Nanyang Navy of the Qing Dynasty, and on the other side was the French Far East Fleet. During this naval battle, the ships of the Nanyang Navy were sunk. Let's figure out what's going on.
In October 1884, the French invading army attacked Keelung in Taiwan Province and was defeated at Huwei by Liu Mingchuan, the governor of Taiwan Province. The French Far East Fleet imposed a blockade on Taiwan Province, cutting off the Qing government's military reinforcements and material aid to Taiwan Province. A few months later, the Qing government decided to send warships of the Nanyang Naval Division south to Fujian to disperse the forces of the French fleet. On January 18, 1895, the Nanyang Navy sent the light cruisers "Nanchen", "Nali", "Kaiji", "Gunboat Yuyuan" and "Chengqing" led by Admiral Wu Ankang from Shanghai. The boats are chartered for safety. Foreign merchant ships explored their way forward, moving slowly, stop-and-stop, for fear of crashing into French ships, and the route was not far from land.
The news of the southward movement of the Nanyang Fleet was known by the French in Hong Kong and telegraphed to the French fleet in Keelung. When Cuba received the news, it immediately led seven ships north to intercept the killing. However, the French warships did not know the exact location of the Nanyang naval fleet, so they searched north along the Chinese coast. On February 9, the French ship Duitrouin ran out of coal and returned to Keelung, while the remaining six ships continued north. Finally, on February 11, the French fleet and the Nanyang Navy met near the port of Shipu in Xiangshan.
As soon as they saw the French warships, several warships in the Nanyang Fleet panicked. They were originally determined to complete this task, but now they have no interest in fighting and simply scatter. Nanchen sailed north with three other ships, and four French ships followed closely. Since the Nanchen and Kaiji had a speed of 15 knots and the Nari at 14 knots, the three ships were so fast that the French ships could not catch up. However, the Yuyuan and Chengqing had a speed of only 12 knots and could not keep up with the three ships at all. They have to go in the other direction. Because it was not far from Shipu Port, the two gunboats took refuge in Shipu Port. The French fleet surrounded them in front of the port. Go to the circle.
A few days later, on February 14, it was Chinese New Year's Eve night, and the French fleet decided to launch a sneak attack. At 23:00 that night, France sent two minesweepers to dive into Shipu Port under the cover of Chinese New Year's Eve firecrackers. This type of stick mine boat is a long stick with a mine in front of the speedboat. He approached the ship and hit it with a long-stick mine.
At 3 a.m. on February 15, French minesweepers successfully attacked the Yuyuan ship. The Yuyuan boat was damaged by a stick mine and caught fire. The ship's crew fired cannons at enemy mining ships, but because it was so close to Chengqing, Chengqing was accidentally injured and burned. Since both ships had wooden hulls with iron ribs, the fire spread quickly and almost burned the ammunition compartments. The captain of ship No. 2 had no choice but to open the bilge water gate, let the water enter the cabin to extinguish the fire, and let the gunboat sink on its own. The decision to sink the two ships was also necessary because there were more merchant ships in the harbor and more people living nearby. If the gunman's ammunition explodes, innocent people will be harmed. In addition, the ship's cannons and equipment can be preserved for later salvage. Seeing another ship sink, the French ship retreated. A few months later, naval artillery and other items were salvaged.
From the Battle of Shipo, we can understand how cowardly the Manchus were at that time. The warship was blocked in the harbor, harassed by the attackers, and finally had no choice but to sink. Really touching.