Battle of Foochow

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Battle of Foochow

The 1884 Battle of Foochow. 19th century painting.

Date	23 August - 26 August 1884
Location	Mawei Harbour, Fuzhou, China
Result	Decisive French victory

Belligerents

Commanders

Strength

22 ships

13 ships

Casualties and losses

796 dead
150 wounded
51 missing
9 ships sunk
10+ ships damaged

12 dead
15 wounded
3 ships damaged

v • d • e Sino-French War

Foochow – Shipu - Zenhai Tuyen Quang – Zhennan Pass

The naval Battle of Foochow or Battle of Fuzhou (馬江海戰, lit. Naval battle of Mawei) occurred on 23 August 1884 in the harbour of Foochow during the Sino-French War and resulted in a decisive French victory.

1 The battle
2 Ships involved
3 Notes
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] The battle

The Fukien Fleet, recently built by the Chinese, was utterly destroyed while at anchor by a French fleet commanded by Admiral Courbet, which opened fire without a declaration of war. The Qing commander fled in fear without his boat and the Fukien Fleet panicked in the resulting chaos. The Fukien Fleet was disarmed in a brief battle lasting a little over thirty minutes. The Foochow Arsenal shipyards were also destroyed in the battle.

The battle heralded a change in the balance of power in the region, and revealed the many inefficiencies that existed in the Chinese government and military at that time.

On the Chinese side the Dingyuan (7,144 tons, 14,5 kts, 4x 305mm cannons, 3x 150mm cannons, 355mm armour), a very powerful ship and vastly superior to any of the French ships, had recently been ordered from Germany, and could have been able to participate in the conflict. The French however, successfully enjoined Germany to delay the delivery of the ship until the end of the war.^[1]

[edit] Ships involved

France:

Volta (1,323t), flagship
Bayard (5,915t)
La Galissonniere (4,585t)
Triomphante (4,585t)

Duguay-Trouin (3,479t)
Villars (2,363t)
d'Estaing (2,363t)
Aspic (465t)

Lynx (465t)
Vipere (465t)
? (torpedo launch)
? (torpedo launch)

Bayard, flagship of the French China squadron.	Triomphante	Duguay-Trouin	La Galissonniere
French torpedo boat attacking a Chinese ship at Foochow.	Bridge of the Volta under attack.