CHINA. 



131 



Yang and made prisoners of all who were not 

 killed of the army there. There were about 

 15,000 prisoners carried off to Japan, where they 

 were well treated. After repeated demands for 

 re-enforcements from the Foochow and Canton 

 fleets, which, like the Pei Yang squadron, were 

 rather the private establishments of individual 

 viceroys than parts of a national navy, some 

 good ships from the Foochow squadron finally 

 joined Admiral Ting's fleet at Wei Hai Wei. 

 The Chinese, relying on the strength of their 

 military position in northern Korea, finally sent 

 a detachment of their fleet to sea for the pur- 

 pose of guarding the route to the Yalu river, 

 land transport through Manchuria being exceed- 

 ingly slow and difficult. While fighting was go- 

 ing on before Ping Yang, Admiral Ting was in- 

 structed by the War Council sitting at Tientsin 

 to convoy a fleet of 6 transports to the Yalu 

 river, and to protect them while landing 4,000 

 troops, guns, and stores. The fleet sailed Sept. 

 14, and reached the mouth of the Yalu Sept. 17, 

 in the morning. A Japanese fleet cruising in 

 the Gulf of Pechili in search of the northern 

 squadron sighted the Chinese fleet as it lay out- 

 side the estuary, while the transports were steam- 

 ing up the river and beginning to unload. As 

 the Japanese approached at full speed, Admiral 

 Ting, instead of going out to meet them where 

 he would have sea room, thought it his duty to 

 form a line of battle at the entrance of the estu- 

 ary, so as to prevent a cruiser or torpedo boat 

 from getting among the transports. The fight- 

 ing line was formed in an obtuse angle, with the 

 strongest battle ships at the apex and two cruis- 

 ers at either end in the following order, from 

 port to starboard : " Yang Wei," " Chih Yuen," 

 "Chi Yuen," "King Yuen," "Ting Yuen," "Lai 

 Yuen," " Chen Yuen," " Ping Yuen." " Ching 

 Yuen," and " Chao Yung." A second line, to 

 meet any Japanese vessel that might succeed in 

 forcing the fighting line, was drawn up at the 

 mouth, composed of the cruisers " Kwang Kai " 

 and " Kwang Ting " and 4 torpedo boats. The 

 Japanese fleet advanced and manoeuvred at full 

 speed, forming a column composed of 9 cruisers 

 as the fighting line, and 3 gunboats and 5 tor- 

 pedo boats in a second line. The Japanese cir- 

 cled about the Chinese fleet, which preserved its 

 wedge formation, and turned as it slowly ad- 

 vanced, so as continually to face the attacking 

 column, the vessels of which went through a 

 series of intricate manoeuvres, approaching 

 nearer so as to attack the weaker vessels and 

 detach those at the end of the line, and enlarging 

 their radius when opposite the heavy battle 

 ships, but directing their fire against the " Chen 

 Yuen " and " Ting Yuen " from the outset. Aft- 

 er completing one circle the Japanese hauled off, 

 and at a distance of 8,000 yards formed 2 di- 

 visions, the first, consisting of the 7 best cruis- 

 ers, advancing to attack the " Chen Yuen " and 

 " Ting Yuen," while the other division became 

 engaged with 4 Chinese cruisers. The first di- 

 vision circled about the ironclads at a distance 

 of 4,500 yards, running in at times to 2,000 and 

 once to 1,200 yards, taking advantage of the su- 

 perior speed of the Japanese cruisers and of their 

 quick-firing guns, which riddled everything that 

 was not protected by armor, and several times 

 set the Chinese ships on fire. The Japanese had 



to put out fires that were started in their own 

 ships, but by quick manoeuvring they avoided 

 the shells of the heavy guns. The Chinese fired 

 197 rounds with 12-inch and 268 rounds with 

 6-inch guns, and toward the close of the action 

 ran out of shells, and had to continue the fight 

 with steel shot, which was ineffective. 



The principal battery of the "Ting Yuen" 

 flagship was early silenced by a bursting shell. 

 Later the big guns of the " Chen Yuen " were 

 disabled in like manner. Out of 460 men on this 

 vessel 350 were killed during the battle. In the 

 first evolution the " Chih Yuen '* was struck in 

 the hull, and Capt. Tang left the line and sped 

 at the attacking Japanese ship with the inten- 

 tion of ramming her, but his vessel foundered 

 before reaching the mark, with 250 men on board. 

 The " King Yuen " caught fire, but her captain 

 steamed after the same vessel, seeing her dis- 

 abled, and was -sunk by her only torpedo, with 

 270 men. Capt. Fong, who had been court- 

 martialed for his cowardice in deserting the 

 " Kow Shing," early took the " Chi Yuen " out of 

 action, running into the shallows, where he ran 

 down and sank the " Yang Wei," most of whose 

 crew of 250 were lost. When this poltroon re- 

 turned to Port Arthur he was beheaded by im- 

 perial decree. The " Kwang Kai " also deserted, 

 and the same evening her cowardly captain ran 

 her upon a reef in Talien Wan Bay, where the 

 wreck was found find destroyed by Japanese 

 cruisers a week afterward. The " Lai Yuen " 

 had her upper works entirely carried away. 

 When the " Akitsushima " and " Yoshino " made 

 sudden attack on the starboard side of the Chi- 

 nese line, followed by 3 torpedo boats, the " Ching 

 Yuen " and the " Chao Yung " backed into shal- 

 low water. The torpedoes were stopped by nets, 

 and the guns from the other vessels beat off the 

 Japanese cruisers, which were badly damaged, 

 but the " Ching Yuen " was pierced on the water 

 line several times, and her big guns were dis- 

 abled. The " Chao Yung " ran aground and was 

 set on fire by shells from the secondary Japanese 

 batteries before she could be got afloat. Two or 

 three attempts more were made to break through 

 the Chinese line, but they were unsuccessful. 

 Only once did the Chinese attempt an aggressive 

 manoeuvre, when they sent out their torpedo 

 boats, with no success. The battle lasted from 

 one o'clock till dusk, and the ships on both sides 

 were fought with dauntless valor. The Japanese 

 fleet was too much battered to follow up its vic- 

 tcry, and as night fell it drew off. The " Saikio 

 Maru," one of two swift merchant steamers that 

 had been converted into gunboats, was severely 

 hulled, but was kept afloat. The " Matsusima," 

 Admiral Ito's flagship, and the " Hi Yei," 

 " Akagi," and " Yoshino " were also badly dam- 

 aged. The remnants of the Chinese fleet made 

 for Port Arthur the next morning, and there 

 were laid up for repairs, most of them being unfit 

 to be sent into action again before another year. 

 The Japanese fleet consisted of the " Matsusima," 

 "Itsukushima," "Hashidate," " Yoshino," " N"a- 

 niwa," "Takachiho," "Akitsusu," "Chiyoda," 

 " Hi Yei," " Fuso," " Akagi," " Saikio Maru," and 

 5 torpedo boats. The torpedo boats, if they 

 had been in condition, would have been of great 

 assistance to the Japanese, but they had lately 

 been overworked, and instead of steaming 20 or 



