Battle of Pungdo

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Battle of Pungdo

Ukiyoe by Kobayashi Kiyochika dated August 1894

Date	25 July 1894
Location	off Asan, Korea
Result	Japanese victory

Combatants

Meiji Japan

Qing China

Commanders

Tsuboi Kozo

Fang Boqian

Strength

3 cruisers

1 cruiser, 2 gunboats

Casualties

0 (killed & wounded)

1,100 (killed & wounded)

First Sino-Japanese War
Pungdo (naval) – Seonghwan –Pyongyang – Yalu River (naval) – Jiuliangcheng (Yalu) – Lushunkou – Weihaiwei – Yingkou

The Battle of Pungdo (Japanese: 豊島沖海戦) was the first naval battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 25 July 1894 offshore Asan, Chungcheongnam-do Korea between cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy of Meiji Japan and components of the Beiyang Fleet of Qing China.

1 Background
2 The battle
3 Aftermath of the battle
4 References

[edit] Background

Both Qing China and Japan had been intervening in Korea against the Tonghak Rebellion. While China tried to maintain her suzerain relationship with Korean, Japan wanted to make Korea her own colony. Both countries had already had troops in Korea as requested by different factions within the Korean government. Chinese troops, stationing in Asan, south of Seoul, numbering 3000 at early July, was supplied only by sea through the Bay of Asan (Asan-Man). This presented a situation very similar to the beginning of the Yorktown campaign during the American Revolution.

The Japanese plan is to blockade the entrance of the Bay of Asan, while her land forces will move overland to encircle the Chinese army detachment in Asan before more Chinese troops arrived by sea.

Some amongst the Chinese Beiyang Fleet Command were aware of this dangerous situation and had advocated either the withdrawal of troops further north to Pyongyang (Captain of Cruiser Tsi-yuan, Fang Boqian, who will be the ranking officer in the Battle of Pungdo, among them), or the sailing with the entire Beiyang fleet to sea south of Inchon as a deterrent against Japanese intentions. However, the Qing leadership was split between Beiyang Commander Li Hongzhang’s basic instinct to protect his fleet from danger and Emperor Guangxu’s demand for a stronger stand. As a compromise, the detachment at Asan was to be re-enforced for the time being under escort by ships already on station in Korean waters. Inaction paralyzed the Chinese command on the eve of all-out war.

[edit] The battle

According to Japanese records, at 0700 on 25 July 1894, the Japanese cruisers Yoshino, Naniwa and Akitsushima, which had been patrolling in the Yellow Sea off of Asan, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea, encountered the Chinese cruiser Tsi-yuan (済遠) and gunboat Kwang-yi (広乙). These vessels had steamed out of Asan is ordered to meet another Chinese gunboat, the Tsao-kiang (操江), which was convoying a transport toward Asan. The two Chinese vessels did not return the salute of the Japanese ships as required under International Maritime regulations, and when the Japanese turned to the southwest, the Chinese opened fire.

According to Chinese battle records, The Chinese ships, Cruiser Tsi-yuan and Torpedo gunboat Kwang-Yi , in port in Asan since July 23rd, left on the morning of July 25th and were on their way to rendevous with the troop transport ships Kow-shing (高陞) and supply ship Tsao-kiang enroute from Tianjin. At 7:45am, Near Pundo, an island sitting next to both of the two only navigable channels out of Asan-Man (Bay of Asan),[1] in Korean territorial waters, the two Chinese ships were fired upon by three Japanese cruisers Akitsushima, Naniwa, and Yoshino. Chinese ships returned fire at 7:52am.

After an exchange of fire for over an hour, the Tsi-yuen broke off the engagement and escaped; however, the Kwang-yi was stranded on some rocks, and its gunpowder magazine exploded. In the meantime the Tsao-kiang and the transport vessel Kow-shing, flying a British civil ensign and conveying some 1200 Chinese troops and stores, had the unfortunate timing of appeared on the scene.

The Tsao-kiang was quickly captured, and the Kow-shing was ordered to follow the Japanese cruiser Naniwa to the main Japanese squadron. However, the Chinese soldiers on board revolted, and threatened to kill the English captain, Galsworthy, unless he took them back to China. After four hours of negotiation, when the Chinese troops were momentarily distracted, Galsworthy and the British crew jumped overboard and attempted to swim to the Naniwa, but were fired upon by the Chinese troops. Most of the sailors were killed，but Galsworthy and two crewmen were rescued by the Japanese. The Naniwa then opened fire on the Kow-shing, sinking her and her mutineers. A few on board (including German military advisor Major von Hanneken) escaped by swimming ashore.

Chinese casualties were approximately 1100, including more than 800 from the troop transport Kow-shing alone, against none for the Japanese.

[edit] Aftermath of the battle

The battle had a direct impact on the fighting on land. The one-thousand-strong Chinese enforcement onboard Kow-shing and military supplies on board Tsao-kiang failed to reach Asan. And the out-numbered and isolated Chinese detachment in Asan was attacked and defeated in the subsequent Battle of Seonghwan four days later. Formal declarations of war came only after the battle of Seonghwan.

The Naniwa was under the command of Captain (later Admiral) Togo Heihachiro. The sinking of the Kow-shing almost caused a diplomatic incident between Japan and Great Britain, but British jurists ruled that the action was in conformity with International Law regarding the treatment of mutineers.

The sinking was also specifically cited by the Chinese government as one of the “treacherous actions” by the Japanese in their declaration of war against Japan.

[edit] References

Chamberlin, William Henry. Japan Over Asia, 1937, Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, 395 pp.
Jane, Fred T. The Imperial Japanese Navy (1904)
Kodansha Japan An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1993, Kodansha Press, Tokyo ISBN 4-06-205938-X
Lone, Stewart. Japan's First Modern War: Army and Society in the Conflict with China, 1894-1895, 1994, St. Martin's Press, New York, 222 pp.
Paine, S.C.M. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perception, Power, and Primacy, 2003, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, 412 pp.
Warner, Dennis and Peggy. The Tide At Sunrise, 1974, Charterhouse, New York, 659 pp.
Wright, Richard N. J.The Chinese Steam Navy 1862-1945 Chatham Publishing, London, 2000, ISBN 1-86176-144-9