Title

The Yellow Sea Battle of the 1894-95 Sino-Japanese War in New Light: A Case Study of Louis-Emile Bertin and the Building of the Japanese Sankeikan Cruisers

Author

Y.W.Ma

Genre

Article  

Pages

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Language

Key words

1894-95 Sino-Japanese, War, Battle of the Yellow Sea, Northern Squardon, Ironclads, protected cruisers

Abstract

      Among the instances of competition, conspicuous or otherwise, between the Chinese and Japanese navies before the 1894-95 Sino -Japanese War, the case of how the Japanese planned to subdue Ting-yüan and Chen-yü an, the powerful pair of German-built ironclads of China’s Northern Squadron, by building three cruisers of culcalatingly risky design (Itsukeshima, Matsushima, and Hashidata, collectively known as the Sankeikan for their being named after three scenic locations in Japan) under the guidance of the famed French naval architect Louis-Emile Bertin, is as complicated as it is revealing. The stupidity of those in charge of the Northern Squadron player right into the hands of the Japanese in making the whole job much easier for them. When hostilities broke out, the Chinese were defeated without knowing much about the state of the Japanese warships involved. This ignorance perpetuates in the still current exaggeration of the capacities of these faultily designed Japanese cruisers. This paper examines the related events, and explains the dreadful caliber of the Chinese naval leadership as a major reason for their being soundly routed.