Russia with the General Admiral would appear to have inspired the idea
of the Hi-Yei[8] and Kon-go. The former of these was launched early in
1878 at Milford Haven, the latter at Hull towards the end of 1877. The
ships are sisters. Details are:—
Material of hull Composite.
Displacement 2250 tons.
Length 231 ft.
Beam 40¾ ft.
Draught 17½ ft.
Armament Three 6.6-in. Krupp.
Six 6-in. 2½-ton Krupp.
Four Nordenfelts.
Two torpedo tubes.
Horse-power Hi-Yei, 2270.
Kon-go, 2035.
Screws One.
Speed (nominal) Hi-Yei, 13 knots.
Kon-go, 13.7 knots.
Engines (by Earle) Horizontal compound.
[8] Pronounced “Hēē-Yey.”
The armour is a mere iron strip on the water-line, varying from 4½ to 3
ins. in thickness.
In 1876 a new Imperial yacht, the Jin-Jei, was launched. She is
a paddler, with swan-bow, two funnels, and two high pole masts—a
pretty-looking vessel.
Displacement 1464 tons.
Material of hull Wood.
Length 249 ft.
Beam 32 ft.
Draught 14½ ft.
Armament Two 4¾-in. Krupp.
Horse-power 1430.
Speed 12 knots.
In 1879 began what later events constituted the supplementary Japanese
shipbuilding programme. In 1879 Elswick built for China those once
famous “alphabetical gunboats,” a series of “flat-irons” of the Rendel
type, to carry one gun. Like a good many other Chinese vessels, they
were destined to fly the Japanese flag at a later period of their
existence. Altogether there were eleven of these craft, named after
letters of the Greek alphabet, but re-named by the Chinese. They were
named Lung-shang (Alpha), he-wei (Beta), Fei-ting (Gamma), Tche-tien
(Delta), the first two of 340 tons, the other two of 420 tons, and
which the Chinese still own. The remainder are a little larger, four,
Cheng-tung (Epsilon), Chen-Sei (Zeta), Chen-nan (Eta), Chen-pei
(Theta), of 490 tons, and Chin-pen (Kappa), Hai-chang-ching (Lambda),
and Chen-chung (Iota) of 500 tons. Japan now owns all of this last
batch, except the Hai-chang-ching.
Gamma and Delta carry a 38-ton Armstrong M.L.; all the others are armed
with the 11-in. 25-ton gun. Horse-power varies from 235 in the smaller
craft to 472 in the larger. There are slight differences in dimensions,
but the largest only runs to 125 ft. long by 29 ft. broad. Two other
rather smaller gunboats once existed, but these the French sunk at
Foochow in the early eighties. The development of small guns has long
since rendered this type of gunboat useless; but, apart from that,
the bad care taken of them by the Chinese would have made them of no
service.
China in 1881 was making some considerable efforts towards being a
naval power, efforts that continued till 1889, when they suddenly
died out, or resolved themselves into the building of small craft by
Chinamen. A Chino-Japanese war was a possibility in 1881 as much as
in 1890. Neither side was, however, ready for the conflict, and in
the early eighties Japan’s energies were concentrated on training
_personnel_, China’s on acquiring _materiel_. In 1881 the latter had
launched for her the big ironclad Ting Yuen at Stettin, followed a
little later by the Chin Yuen, now in the Japanese service. From the
time China first had them, Japan coveted these ironclads; by the irony
of fate, she did not secure them (or rather the one that was left) till
far superior ships of her own were on the stocks.
The Tung Yuen sank at Wei-hai-wei during the war; the Chen Yuen, her
sister, was taken at the same time. Her details are:—
Displacement 7350 tons.
Material of hull Steel.
Length 308 ft.
Beam 59 ft.
Draught 23 ft.
Armament (originally) Four 12-in. 20 cals. Krupp.
Two 6-in. Krupp.
Eight machine guns.
One torpedo tube in the stern;
one on each beam forward of barbettes.
Horse-power 6200.
Screws Two.
Speed (on first trials) 14.5 knots.
Engines Two sets, three-cylinder horizontal
compound.
Coal 1000 tons.
The arrangement of the heavy armament is upon the system that in 1880
was held to be the system of the future—four big guns able to fire
end-on or on the broadside. The ideal warship of those days was to
fight in line abreast. The advantages of that disposition were seen,
while its disadvantages were ignored. It was not realised how easily
an enemy could get round upon either flank and mask the fire of nearly
all the units in this cumbersome formation, the advantages of which lie
only in going into action against an enemy right ahead.
When the Chin Yen was the Chinese Chen Yuen she carried thin shields
over her big guns. The 6-in. pieces were in the extreme bow and stern,
each in a 3-in. turret. The big gun shields were removed before the
war. The Japanese captured these with Port Arthur, and have since
replaced them. They have also mounted a 6-in. Q.F. in the bow turret,
substituted a 6-in. Q.F. behind a shield for the after turret, and
mounted two additional Q.F.’s upon sponsons specially built near the
mainmast. Two 6-pounder Q.F. and a number of 3- or 2½-pounders have
also been added on the upper deck. The photograph shows the ship as she
now is.
The armour of the Chin Yen is distributed as follows: Amidships for
150 ft. is a 14-in. compound belt. Under-water and at the end of it
this belt thins to 10 ins. Forward and aft of it is a protective deck
3 ins. thick. The ends of the belt are joined by flat bulkheads of 14
ins. Rising from this redoubt are the barbettes, 12 ins. compound.
The starboard one is forward, the port somewhat aft of it.[9] The big
gun hoods are quite thin, 4 ins. or less; between the big guns in the
conning-tower, 8 ins. in thickness.
[9] In the plans generally published of these ships this order is, in
error, reversed.
[Illustration: [_Official photo._