, originally known as ''Pingyuan'' (), was an ironclad coastal battleship that served with the Imperial Chinese

Beiyang Fleet The Beiyang Fleet (Pei-yang Fleet; , alternatively Northern Seas Fleet) was one of the Imperial Chinese Navy#Fleets, four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hong ...

and later the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

. It was built by the Mawei Navy Yard near

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

. Previous transliterations of its Chinese name include ''Ping Yuen'' and ''Ping Yuan'', and an alternative transliteration of its Japanese name was ''Heiyen''.

Characteristics

Shortly after launch, Pingyuan was armed with one 263 mm Krupp rifled breechloading main gun. The secondary battery consisted of two 15 cm Krupp guns. There were 8 quick firing guns and facilities to launch 4 torpedoes.

Service record

Beiyang Fleet

As part of the Beiyang Fleet, ''Pingyuan'' was at the Battle of the Yellow Sea/Yalu River during the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

. It was a Chinese

armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a pre-dreadnought battles ...

built by the Mawei Navy Yard, modelled on the French . ''Pingyuan'' was firstly named ''Longwei'' (), and was the first Chinese-built ironclad, though some of its components were imported from abroad. ''Pingyuan'' was part of the

. ''Pingyuan'' fought in the Battle of the Yalu River, damaging the Japanese

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

, and was later captured as a

prize of war A prize of war (also called spoils of war, bounty or booty) is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 1 ...

in the siege of

Weihai Weihai ( zh, t=, p=Wēihǎi), formerly Weihaiwei ( zh, s=, p=Wēihǎiwèi, l=Mighty Sea Fort, first=t), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport city in the easternmost Shandong province of China. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow ...

wei.

Imperial Japanese Navy

After its capture in February 1895, by the Imperial Japanese Navy, ''Pingyuan'' was placed into active combat service as ''Pingyuan-go'' on 16 March 1895 and served with the Japanese fleet through the remainder of the First Sino-Japanese War. On 21 March 1898, she was re-designated as a first-class

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

and was officially renamed ''Heien'' in 1900 based on the Japanese language pronunciation of its original Chinese name. During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, ''Heien'' was assigned to the 3rd Squadron and was part of the blockading force against the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

at the

Battle of Port Arthur The of 8–9 February 1904 marked the commencement of the Russo-Japanese War. It began with a surprise night attack by a squadron of Imperial Japanese Navy, Japanese destroyers on the neutral country, neutral Imperial Russian Navy, Russian fl ...

. ''Heien'' was disabled by a

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

at Pigeon Bay (Piegen Bay), located to the west of Port Arthur on 18 September 1904 and foundered in heavy weather later that day. It was struck from the

navy list A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...

on 21 May 1905.

References

;Notes ;Sources * * * Corbett, Sir Julian. ''Maritime Operations In The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905''. (1994) Originally classified, and in two volumes, * Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors), ''All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905'', Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002, * * Wright, Richard N. J., ''The Chinese Steam Navy 1862-1945'', Chatham Publishing, London, 2000,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pingyuan 1888 ships Cruisers of the Beiyang Fleet Ships built in China First Sino-Japanese War naval ships of China First Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Captured ships Naval ships of Imperial China Gunboats of the Imperial Japanese Navy Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Ships sunk by mines Shipwrecks in the Sea of Japan Shipwrecks of the Russo-Japanese War