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The Beiyang Fleet ( Pei-yang Fleet; l=Northern Ocean Fleet, alternatively Northern Seas Fleet) was one of the four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hongzhang, one of the most trusted vassals of Empress Dowager Cixi and the principal patron of the "self-strengthening movement" in northern China in his capacity as the Viceroy of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang Commerce (北洋通商大臣). Due to Li's influence in the imperial court, the Beiyang Fleet garnered much greater resources than the other Chinese fleets and soon became the dominant navy in Asia before the onset of the 1894–1895 First Sino-Japanese War. It was the largest fleet in Asia and the 8th largest in the world during the late 1880s in terms of tonnage.
Unlike the other Chinese fleets, the Beiyang Fleet consisted mostly of battleships imported from Germany and Great Britain. When the flagships and were purchased from Germany, the superiority in strength of the Beiyang Fleet became evident, as Germany was the emerging world power, rivalling Britain (which dominated the ocean) in new naval construction.
The Qing Chinese navy at its peak consisted of 78 ships, with a total tonnage of 83,900 tons. However, construction of new ships almost completely stopped in 1888 owing to the Qing dynasty's high expenditures in other fields. Grand Tutor Weng Tonghe advised the Guangxu Emperor to cut all funding to the navy and army, because he did not see Japan as a true threat, and there were several natural disasters during the early 1890s which the emperor thought to be more pressing to expend funds on. Because of the lack of funding, the training of the fleet and personnel essentially came to a standstill, which eventually contributed to its defeat in the Battle of the Yalu River against Japan. Much of the diverted funding was re-directed to the renovation and repairs of the New Summer Palace and construction of a marble boat; a total of $12mil was diverted from the naval fund between 1889 and 1894.
Prior to 1888 the budget of the Beiyang fleet was two million taels. However, in 1888 the Beiyang fleet was formally subordinated to the Navy Yamen (the Qing equivalent to a naval ministry). This saw the budget reduced to 1.3 million taels and in 1891 the Hubu recommended against the purchasing of large guns for the navy and in favour of the reduction of naval personnel. This made any effort of modernisation or even maintenance extremely difficult and meant that many of the Chinese ships went into action in the first Sino-Japanese war in a state of disrepair and unmodernised. The state of disrepair was so acute that when the Dingyuan fired its 10-inch guns at the beginning of the battle of the Yellow Sea its flying bridge flew sending Admiral Ding and Tyler flying along with it. (1994). 9781563242427, M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 9781563242427
The British naval officer Captain William Lang was recruited by Hart and Li Hongzhi in 1882 to advise the Chinese in naval matters.
Other foreign officers hired included:
Senior command of the fleet however went to Ding Ruchang, an army officer without any formal training who was noted for his courage and capability in land affairs therefore William Lang was appointed as Chief Inspector of the Beiyang navy in 1882 and re-appointed for another term in 1885 however Lang resigned following the Flag-hoisting incident where Beiyang officers refused to hoist the Admiral's flag due to Ding Ruchang's absence Lang felt insulted when Li did not support him and Lang resigned in anger. (1994). 9781563242427, M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 9781563242427
In late June 1884, when the news of the Bắc Lệ ambush broke, the French admiral Sébastien Lespès, commander of the Far East naval division, was cruising off Che-foo in the Bohai Sea with the French warships , , Volta and Lutin, while the Beiyang Fleet lay at anchor in Che-foo harbour. Although war was clearly imminent, France and China remained technically at peace, and Lespès was forbidden to attack the Beiyang Fleet pending the outcome of diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis. On 3 July 1884 the Beiyang Fleet's commander, Admiral Ding Ruchang (丁汝昌), withdrew his ships from Che-foo to Pei-ho, where a strong bar across the harbour protected them from the French ships. The fleet remained at Hai River in almost complete idleness throughout the Sino-French War.Loir, 26–9, 37–65.
In February 1885 the Beiyang Fleet reluctantly released two of its ships, and , to join a sortie launched by a number of ships of the Nanyang Fleet to break the French blockade of Formosa. The two ships set sail for Shanghai to join the Nanyang vessels, but were almost immediately recalled by Li Hongzhang, who claimed that they were needed to watch the Japanese in Korea. The result was the loss of two Chinese warships from the Nanyang Fleet at the Battle of Shipu (14 February 1885). Li's selfish attitude was neither forgotten nor forgiven, and in the First Sino-Japanese War the Nanyang Fleet made little attempt to help the Beiyang Fleet.Lung Chang, 327–8.
Between 1881 and 1889 the Beiyang Fleet acquired a squadron of eight protected or , most of which were built in either Britain or Germany. The cruisers Chaoyong (超勇) and Yangwei (揚威), which joined the fleet in 1881 and which Li Hongzhang prudently kept far from the scene of action during the Sino-French War, were products of Cammell Laird, Birkenhead. Three German-built cruisers, Jiyuan, King Yuen (normally romanised as Kingyuan or King Yuen (經遠) to distinguish her from another, British-built, cruiser whose name was pronounced identically) and (來遠), were completed in 1887 in the Vulcan yard at Stettin. Another pair of protected cruisers, Chingyuan (靖遠) and Zhiyuan (致遠), were built by Armstrong Whitworth at its new Elswick yard in 1887. The latter pair were a class loosely known as the "Elswick Cruisers", ships built for export under a generally similar design. These cruisers were fast (25 knots) and heavily armed, but were not adopted by the Royal Navy because the Admiralty considered them to be "weak in structure". The Admiralty view proved correct when both Chinese ships were lost in the Sino-Japanese War. (So were the Japanese Elswick Cruisers Yoshino and Takasago during the 1904 Russo-Japanese War, though not for the design reasons – the first was accidentally rammed, and the second struck a mine and blew up.) These foreign-built ships were joined in 1889 by the armoured cruiser Pingyuan, a product of the Foochow Navy Yard originally named Longwei ( Lung-wei, 龍威).
The Beiyang Fleet also included six steel but unarmoured British-built gunboats, delivered in 1879. These gunboats, of identical specifications, were named respectively Zhenbei ("Guard the north"), Zhendong ("Guard the east"), Zhennan ("Guard the south"), Zhenxi ("Guard the west"), Zhenbian ("Guard the frontier") and Zhenzhong ("Guard the interior"). The first four ships were originally to have been allocated to the Nanyang Fleet, but Li Hongzhang was so impressed with their quality that he took them over for the Beiyang Fleet, compensating the Nanyang Fleet with four elderly gunboats that had served with the Beiyang Fleet since 1876.Wright, 43–6.
The Beiyang Fleet also possessed an array of small torpedo boats. Exact numbers are uncertain, because these craft were not systematically listed, but some details are known. Four 16-ton torpedo boats were built in 1883 at the Vulcan yard in Stettin for the use of the steel battleships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. These four craft, known respectively as Dingyuan No. 1 and No. 2 and Zhenyuan No. 1 and No. 2, were delayed in harbour by the Germans during the Sino-French War along with their mother ships, and joined the Beiyang Fleet in October 1885.Wright, 179 and 182
| Ting-yuen | 定遠 | steel battleship | 1882, Vulcan, Stettin | 7,430 tons, 14.5 knots, four 12-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, three 14-in torpedo tubes | |
| Chen-yuen | 鎮遠 | steel battleship | 1882, Vulcan, Stettin | 7,430 tons, 14.5 knots, four 12-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, three 14-in torpedo tubes |
| Ch'ao-yung | 超勇 | steel cruiser | 1881, Laird, Birkenhead | 1,350 tons, 15 knots, two 10-in guns, four 4.7-in guns, two 15-in torpedo tubes | |
| Yang-wei | 揚威 | steel cruiser | 1881, Laird, Birkenhead | 1,350 tons, 15 knots, two 10-in guns, four 4.7-in guns, two 15-in torpedo tubes | |
| Chi-yuen | 濟遠 | steel protected cruiser | 1884, Vulcan, Stettin | 2,440 tons, 15 knots, two 8-in guns, one 5.9-in gun, four 15-inch torpedo tubes | |
| Ching-yuen | 經遠 | steel protected cruiser | 1887, Vulcan, Stettin | 2,900 tons, 16 knots, two 8.3-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, four 18-in torpedo tubes | |
| Lai-yuen | 來遠 | steel protected cruiser | 1887, Vulcan, Stettin | 2,900 tons, 16 knots, two 8.3-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, four 18-in torpedo tubes | |
| Chih-yuen | 致遠 | steel protected cruiser | 1887, Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick | 2,355 tons, 18 knots, three 8.2-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, four 18-in torpedo tubes | |
| Ching-yuen | 靖遠 | steel protected cruiser | 1887, Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick | 2,355 tons, 18 knots, three 8.2-in guns, two 5.9-in guns, four 18-in torpedo tubes | |
| P'ing-yuen | 平遠 | steel armoured cruiser | 1889, Foochow Navy Yard | 2,150 tons, 10.5 knots, one 10-in gun, two 5.9-in guns, four 18-in torpedo tubes |
| Zhenbei | Chen-pei | 鎮北 | steel Rendel gunboat | 1879, Laird, Birkenhead | 440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns |
| Zhenbian | Chen-pien | 鎮邊 | steel Rendel gunboat | 1879, Laird, Birkenhead | 440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns |
| Zhendong | Chen-tung | 鎮東 | steel Rendel gunboat | 1879, Laird, Birkenhead | 440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns |
| Zhennan | Chen-nan | 鎮南 | steel Rendel gunboat | 1879, Laird, Birkenhead | 440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns |
| Zhenxi | Chen-hsi | 鎮西 | steel Rendel gunboat | 1879, Laird, Birkenhead | 440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns |
| Zhenzhong | Chen-chung | 鎮中 | steel Rendel gunboat | 1879, Laird, Birkenhead | 440 tons, 10 knots, one 35-ton Armstrong, two 22-pdr guns |
| Dingyuan No. 1 | Dingyuan yihao | Ting-yuen i-hao | 定遠一號 | torpedo boat | 1883, Vulcan, Stettin | 15.7 tons, two 14-in torpedo tubes in bow |
| Dingyuan No. 2 | Dingyuan erhao | Ting-yuen erh-hao | 定遠二號 | torpedo boat | 1883, Vulcan, Stettin | 15.7 tons, two 14-in torpedo tubes in bow |
| Zhenyuan No. 1 | Zhenyuan yihao | Chen-yuen i-hao | 鎮遠一號 | torpedo boat | 1883, Vulcan, Stettin | 15.7 tons, two 14-in torpedo tubes in bow |
| Zhenyuan No. 1 | Zhenyuan erhao | Chen-yuen erh-hao | 鎮遠二號 | torpedo boat | 1883, Vulcan, Stettin | 15.7 tons, two 14-in torpedo tubes in bow |
Training ships
Auxiliary ships
Transport
The marines saw action following the First Sino-Japanese War when it attempted to retake Nanbang Fort (南幫炮台) after it was attacked by Japanese forces on Christmas day of 1895 and fell on December 29 1895. However the marines failed to dislodge the Japanese from the fort. 清朝的海軍陸戰隊，戰鬥力極為強悍
Minor attempts to rebuild the fleet were made after the war, but the Beiyang Navy was never to reattain its former significance. From 1896 to 1899 the fleet received new ships from German Empire and the United Kingdom, including the s Hai Qi and Hai Tien that arrived in Taku Forts, where they became part of the reorganized Beiyang Fleet at the time of the Boxer Rebellion.
In 1909 the Beiyang and Nanyang fleets were merged and re-organised into the Sea Fleet and the River Fleet.
==Ships of the Beiyang Fleet==
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