Battle of The Yalu River (1894) - The Battle

The Battle

Admiral Sukeyuki Ito had his flag aboard the cruiser Matsushima with two dispatch vessels as escort; the converted-liner Saikyo Maru, British Captain John Wilson commanding; and the gunboat Akagi. The Japanese Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Kabayama Sukenori was on a tour of inspection and aboard the Saikyo. The rest of the main body consisted of the cruisers Chiyoda, Itsukushima, Hashidate, Fusō and Japanese corvette Hiei. A flying squadron, composed of the cruisers Yoshino, Takachiho, Akitsushima and Naniwa, led the Japanese vessels. The Japanese advanced on the Beiyang Fleet in a column with the flying squadron leading in line astern formation with the dispatch vessels off to the port of the second squadron where the flagship was sailing.

Admiral Ding attempted to form his fleet into a line abreast with the strongest ships (Dingyuan, Zhenyuan)in the center.Newer Jiyuan,Guangjia, Chih Yuen,Jingyuan, Laiyuan,Jingyuen,and obosolete Chaoyong, Yangwei,lined from left to right.Meanwhile a 4-boats group led by the Pingyuan stayed nearby; however, due to mixed signals and the differing speed of his ships, the formation disintegrated into a loose wedge shape.

Admiral Itoh ordered the Japanese flying squadron to strike at the weak Chinese flank. On observing the movement, Admiral Ding realized that his formation prevented the Chinese battleships in the center from firing because their smaller companions were between them and their opponents and also exposed the smaller, more lightly armored ships to prolonged fire from the larger Japanese warships. Also, with the Japanese squadrons split, the Chinese were forced to divide their fire between the two groups.

Several different explanations have been put forward as to why the Beiyang fleet did not change their formation to react to the Japanese tactics more effectively. Per Royal Navy Lieutenant William Ferdinand Tyler, stationed on the Dingyuan, Admiral Ding ordered his ships to change course in such a way that would have exposed his ship, the flagship, but put the rest of the squadron in a good position to fire on the Japanese fleet; however, that Dingyuan’s captain out of cowardice deliberately did not acknowledge this order or pass it on to the rest of the fleet. Instead, or ordered the Dingyuan to fire its main guns before the Japanese were in range. As captain, he was aware of the consequences – when the German Navy took Dingyuan out for gun trials in 1883, it was discovered that firing on an ahead bearing resulted in the destruction of the flying bridge. In what is now known as fragging, Admiral Ding’s legs were crushed under the wreckage of the flying bridge from the opening shot of his own vessel, and was thus out of combat for the remainder of the battle. Most of his staff officers on the bridge were likewise injured or killed. The situation was worsened when the Japanese destroyed Dingyuan’s foremast, making it impossible for the flagship to signal the rest of the fleet. The Chinese fleet, with some foresight, had anticipated something like this happening and formed into three pairs of mutually supporting vessels to carry the fight on.

According to an account from James Allan, an officer aboard the US-flagged supply ship Columbia, who witnessed the battle, rumors abounded that Admiral Ding deferred command to Major Constantin von Hannecken. He opined that it was not surprising that the Chinese had suffered such losses if an Army officer was directing a Naval fleet.

The Chinese fleet all opened fire on the Japanese fleet as they passed from port to starboard across the bows of the Chinese vessels. They failed to score any significantly damaging hits on the Japanese from their 12 inch (305 mm) and 8.2 inch (208 mm) guns. At about 3000 yards (2700 m) (the Chinese had been steadily closing the range), the Japanese concentrated their fire on the right hand end of the Chinese line, with devastating barrages poured into first Chaoyong and then Yangwei. Both those vessels burst into flames, which some have attributed to too much paint and varnish applied over the years. In any case, these obsolete vessels were wooden hull ships covered with just a layer of metal. They were no match for the modern gunnery. The Japanese had intended on swinging the flying division around the right flank of the Chinese line in an encirclement but the timely arrival of the gunboats Kuang Ping and Pingyuan along with the two 'alphabetical' gunboats and torpedo boats Fu Lung (built at Schichau) and the Choi Ti, a Yarrow built vessel diverted this maneuver.

The Japanese fast cruisers veered to port and were then dispatched by Admiral Itoh to go to the assistance of the Hiei, Saikyo and Akagi which had been unable to keep up with the main line and had then been engaged by the left-hand vessels of the Chinese line.

The Japanese fleet, for its part, ravaged the Beiyang Fleet with outnumbering rapid-fire ordances and Beiyang fought with a very limited ammo storage,consisting of foreign products and shoddy domestic products. Japanese shells set many Chinese ships aflame, and were responsible for sinking or seriously damaging eight warships, either during the battle or during later mopping up operations. Dingyuan stayed afloat and had a casualties of 14 dead and 25 wounded, but a total of about 850 Chinese sailors were lost in the battle with 500 wounded.

The Chinese severely damaged four Japanese warships — the Japanese flagship Matsushima suffered the worst single-ship loss with more than 100 dead or wounded after being hit by a heavy Chinese round; Hiei being severely damaged and retired from the conflict; Akagi suffering from heavy fire and with great loss of life; Saikyo, the converted liner, urged on by Admiral Kabayama Sukenori despite its lack of offensive armament, had been hit by four 12 inch (305 mm) shells and was sailing virtually out of control as a result — did cosmetic damage to two more, and killed about 180 Japanese sailors and wounded 200 more.