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Flashcards by raniathadani, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by raniathadani
almost 9 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| The Battle of the Yalu was one of the first modern navy battles between ironclad ships armed with quick fire guns and torpedoes . | Admiral Ito was able to concentrate crushing through skillful maneuvers to sink five ships . However, the 14-inch armour belts of the battleships Chen Yuan and the Ding Yuan were proof against all the guns of the Japanese ; though their upper works were burnt and riddled with shot, they still floated and could continue to fight. Some months afterwards, a Japanese officer said that the resistance of these ironclads had shown their value to the Japanese navy, which could not feel safe until they were either captured or sunk. |
| The Chinese ship Lai- yuen caught fire and burned so fiercely that the vessel glowed nearly white hot ; many crew died from the heat. | The battle of the Yalu River has a variety of names: Naval battle of the Yellow Sea, Battle of Haiyang Island, Battle of Dadonggou... |
| The Battle did not take place in the Yalu River but at the mouth of the Korean Bay at close quarters to the Yalu River. | |
| The Chinese fleet contained two battleships and eight cruisers. Most of these ships were older than the Japanese cruisers, as they lacked modern rapid firing guns. The two battleships, Ting Yuen and Chen Yuen, were each armed with four 12in Krupp guns, but their layout made forward fire rather hazardous. | Many of the Chinese ships had their heavier guns mounted forward, so Admiral Ting decided to fight line-abreast, with his ten main warships fighting in pairs. |
| At the left of the Chinese line were the cruisers Tsi Yuen and Kuang Chia. The Tsi Yuen had an armoured deck and was armed with 8.2in guns. The Kuang Chia was at best a light cruiser, and was armed with one 5.9in and four 4.7in guns. | Next came the Chih Yuen and the King Yuen. The Chih Yuen was armed with 8.2in guns and had a protected deck and well-armoured barbette. The King Yuen carried the same gun but also had an armoured belt. |
| The two battleships were in the centre of the Chinese line. Admiral Ting was on his flagship, the Ting Yuen. | To the right of the battleships were the Lai Yuen and Ching Yuen. The Lai Yuen carried 8.2in guns and had an armoured belt. The Ching Yuen carried similar guns but only had an armoured deck. |
| Admiral Ito couldn't match the firepower of the Chinese battleships, especially as his three 12.6in guns proved to be extremely slow firing (averaging one shot per hour during the battle). However, he had a large number of modern quick firing guns, so the Chinese cruisers were terribly outgunned. | |
| The battle began at 12.50pm when the Ting Yuen opened fire. For some reason Admiral Ting was still on a vulnerable flying bridge at this point, and the Admiral was wounded by the blast from his own guns. | At the Japanese sailed across the front of the Chinese fleet they came under fire, but the Chinese failed to inflict significant damage during that time. |
| The Japanese opened fire at a range of 3,000 yards, concentrating their fire on the Chinese right. The lightly armoured Chao Yung and Yang Wei were both set on fire. The Chao Yung sank in shallow water. The Yang Wei ran aground on a reef and was later finished off by the Japanese. | At the same time the ironclad Hiyei and the two dispatch ships, had got caught up in the Chinese line of battle and were suffering heavy damage. |
| The ships at the rear of the Japanese line suffered some heavy casualties. The Hiei had to retreat. The Saikyo was hit by four 12in shells, and was nearly out of control. The Akagi suffered heavy casualties, but did manage to hit the cruiser Lai Yuen, starting a fire that caused heavy damage. | In the later stages of the battle the Japanese main force concentrated on the two Chinese battleships, while the flying squadron focused on the cruisers Chih Yuen and King Yuen. The Chih Yuen was to sink at 3.30pm, probably by a 10in hit. The King Yuen may have had to flood her main magazine, and eventually capsized. |
| The battleships did better. Their 14in armoured citadels performed as expected. The Matsushima was hit by one 12in shell at around 3.30pm and suffered heavy losses. | The battle came to an end at around 5pm. Darkness was beginning to fall, and Admiral Ito was aware that the Chinese torpedo craft were still intact and threatening. By the following morning the surviving Chinese ships had escaped, and they were able to reach Port Arthur. |
| The Chinese lost five of the ten ships in their main battleline, and suffered 850 dead and wounded (many on the Chih Yuen and King Yuen). Japanese losses were around 300, with the worst on the Matsushima, but all of their ships survived. | Admiral Ting was ordered to sail to Wei-Hei-Wei, which was fortified but lacked a suitable dockyard. The Chinese sailed from Port Arthur on 24 October. |
| The Chinese battleship Ting suffered 300 hits | The battle gave the Japanese control over the Eastern Seas. |
| Interested observers, especially the Europeans, considered the Battle of the Yalu River to have been a victory for the Chinese, for although the Japanese appeared to have won the day they failed to prevent the landing of Chinese troops, which was the primary object of their attack. |
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