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The Battle of Fuzhou, or Battle of Foochow, also known as the Battle of the Pagoda Anchorage (French: Combat naval de Fou-Tchéou, Chinese: , 馬江之役 or 馬尾海戰, literally Battle of Mawei), was the opening engagement of the 16-month
Sino-French War The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...
(December 1883 – April 1885). The battle was fought on 23 August 1884 off the Pagoda Anchorage in
Mawei Mawei (; Foochow Romanized: Mā-muōi) is one of 6 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian Province, China. The district spans an area of 319.66 square kilometers, of which, 275.66 square kilometers is la ...
() harbour, to the southeast of the city of
Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...
(Foochow). During the battle Admiral
Amédée Courbet Anatole-Amédée-Prosper Courbet (26 June 1827 – 11 June 1885) was a French admiral who won a series of important land and naval victories during the Tonkin Campaign (1883–86) and the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885). Early year ...
's
Far East Squadron The French Far East Squadron (french: escadre de l'Extrême-Orient) was an exceptional naval grouping created for the duration of the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885). Background In 1882 French interests in the Far East were pr ...
virtually destroyed the
Fujian Fleet The Fujian Fleet ( or ) founded in 1678 as the Fujian Marine Fleet was one of China's four regional fleets during the closing decades of the nineteenth century. The fleet was almost annihilated on 23 August 1884 by Admiral Amédée Courbet's Fa ...
, one of China's four regional fleets.


Background

On 11 May 1884 French and Chinese negotiators concluded the
Tientsin Accord The Tientsin Accord or Li–Fournier Convention, concluded on 11 May 1884, was intended to settle an undeclared war between France and China over the sovereignty of Tonkin (northern Vietnam). The convention, negotiated by Li Hongzhang for China an ...
, an agreement designed to end several months of undeclared hostilities between France and China in Tonkin. On 23 June 1884, French troops advancing to occupy Lạng Sơn, in accordance with the terms of this agreement, clashed near the small town of Bắc Lệ with a detachment of the Chinese Guangxi Army. The Chinese opened fire on the advancing French, precipitating a two-day battle in which the French column was seriously mauled. This incident, the
Bắc Lệ ambush The Bắc Lệ ambush (french: guet-apens de Bac-Lé, Vietnamese: ''trận Bắc Lệ'' or ''trận cầu Quan Âm'') was a clash during the Tonkin Campaign in June 1884 between Chinese troops of the Guangxi Army and a French column sent to occu ...
, was the proximate cause of the Sino-French War. When news of the Bắc Lệ ambush reached Paris, there was fury at what was perceived as blatant Chinese treachery.
Jules Ferry Jules François Camille Ferry (; 5 April 183217 March 1893) was a French statesman and republican philosopher. He was one of the leaders of the Moderate Republicans and served as Prime Minister of France from 1880 to 1881 and 1883 to 1885. He ...
's government demanded an apology, an indemnity, and the immediate implementation of the terms of the Tianjin Accord. The Chinese government agreed to negotiate, but refused to apologise or pay an indemnity. The mood in France was against compromise, and although negotiations continued throughout July, Admiral Courbet was ordered to take his squadron to Fuzhou (Foochow). Courbet was instructed to prepare to destroy the
Foochow Navy Yard The Foochow Arsenal, also known as the Fuzhou or Mawei Arsenal, was one of several shipyards created by the Qing Empire and a flagship project of French assistance to China during the Self-Strengthening Movement. The shipyard was constructed unde ...
, downriver from Fuzhou at Mawei, and to attack the Chinese fleet in Mawei harbour. Ironically, the Foochow Navy Yard represented a substantial French investment in China's future, having been built several years earlier under the direction of the French administrator
Prosper Giquel Prosper Marie Giquel (20 November 1835 – 19 February 1886) was a French naval officer who played an important role in the modernization of 19th century China. His Chinese name was 日意格 (). Career Prosper Giquel first arrived in China in ...
. During the second half of July and the first half of August Courbet gradually concentrated his squadron in Mawei harbour, at the Pagoda Anchorage—named for a conspicuous Chinese pagoda, the Luoxingta (), which stood on a hill above the harbour. Negotiations between France and China broke down in mid-August, and on the evening of 22 August Courbet was authorised by the French government to commence hostilities. He duly notified the foreign consuls, the governor-general of Fujian and Zhejiang, and the commanders of several neutral warships moored at the Pagoda Anchorage (the British gunboats , and and the American corvette ).


Order of battle

Only a fraction of the Far East squadron was present off the Pagoda Anchorage on the morning of 23 August. In particular, none of the Far East squadron's four ironclads was immediately available. ''
Bayard Bayard may refer to: People * Bayard (given name) *Bayard (surname) *Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473–1524) French knight Places * Bayard, Delaware, an unincorporated community *Bayard (Jacksonville), Florida, a neighborhood *Bayard, ...
'', Courbet's flagship, was at Sharp Peak near the island of Matsu, guarding a vital telegraph station. ''Atalante'' was hunting down pirate ships in the Gulf of Tonkin. Courbet had summoned the ironclads ''Triomphante'' from Shanghai and ''La Galissonnière'' from Keelung to join him off Fuzhou, but ''La Galissonnière'' had been detained at Keelung by bad weather, and although ''Triomphante'' was approaching the Min River, it was not clear whether she would be able to cross the bar at its entrance. Courbet had under his immediate command the first-class cruisers ''Duguay-Trouin'', ''Villars'' and ''d'Estaing'', the third-class cruiser ''Volta'' (which he chose as his flagship during the engagement), the gunboats ''Lynx'', ''Aspic'' and ''Vipère'' and
Torpedo Boats A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
No. 45 and No. 46. The second-class cruiser ''Châteaurenault'' and the troopship ''Saône'' had been left at the Jinpai pass, at the entrance to the Min River, to stop the Chinese from laying a barrage to prevent the squadron's escape. The Chinese
Fujian fleet The Fujian Fleet ( or ) founded in 1678 as the Fujian Marine Fleet was one of China's four regional fleets during the closing decades of the nineteenth century. The fleet was almost annihilated on 23 August 1884 by Admiral Amédée Courbet's Fa ...
consisted of the wooden corvette '' Yangwu'' (the flagship), the scout-transports ''Chenhang'', ''Yongbao'', ''Fupo'', ''Feiyun'' and ''Ji'an'', the paddle steamer ''Yixin'', the wooden gunboats ''Zhenwei'' and , and the Rendel flatiron gunboats ''Fusheng'' and ''Jiansheng''. Twelve large junks were nearby, but did not take part in the battle. The French squadron displaced 14,500 tons and included 1,780 men, while the eleven warships in the Chinese fleet displaced 8,000 tons, and included 1,040 men. The French squadron was much better-led and better-armed than the Chinese fleet. Only a few of the Chinese ships were capable of offering serious resistance to Courbet's attack. The Chinese defence was under the command of the imperial commissioner
Zhang Peilun Zhang Peilun () (1848–1903) was a Chinese government official of the late Qing dynasty, who served as a naval commander during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). Early life Zhang Peilun was born in Hangzhou on November 24, 1848. Hi ...
(), one of the leading members of China's war party. ''Table 1: French warships in the Min River actions, August 1884'' ''Table 2: Composition of the Fujian fleet, August 1884''


Fleet deployments

The Chinese fleet was deployed into a northern group of eight ships and a southern group of three ships, with the French squadron lying in between. The wooden corvette ''Yangwu'', the wooden gunboat ''Fuxing'', the armed transport ''Fupo'', the Rendel flatiron gunboats ''Jiansheng'' and ''Fusheng'' and the small paddle steamer ''Yixin'' were deployed on the northwest curve of the river, between the French ships and the Foochow Navy Yard. A little behind them lay the unarmed transports ''Yongbao'' and ''Chenhang'', anchored just off the dockyard. The role of this northern group of ships was obviously to prevent the French from attacking the Navy Yard. Meanwhile, the armed wooden transports ''Ji'an'' and ''Feiyun'' and the wooden gunboat ''Zhenwei'' lay downstream of the French squadron, dangerously isolated on the southwesterly leg of the river, in front of the Customs building. Their job seems to have been to protect the Customs building and to block Courbet's exit from the Min River. Courbet's plan provided for overwhelming firepower to be deployed against the Chinese fleet. He had noticed that the Chinese ships swung with the tide, and determined to make his attack just before the top of the tide at 2:00 pm on the following afternoon, Saturday 23 August, when with luck the Chinese ships would have swung away from the French ships and would be presenting their vulnerable sterns to the attackers. This timing was also important for another reason. If ''Triomphante'' successfully ascended the Min River, it was about then that she would be making her appearance. Assuming that the Chinese fleet did not change its position, Courbet's orders provided for the French ships to be at action stations at 1:45 pm and to go into action at around 2:00 pm, on his signal. The battle would begin with an attack by Torpedo Boats No. 45 and No. 46 on ''Yangwu'' and ''Fupo''. This attack would be supported by cannon and rifle fire from ''Volta''. ''Volta'' would then concentrate on destroying a line of war junks and fireships drawn up just to the west of Losing Island. Once the attack by the torpedo boats had cleared the way, the gunboats ''Aspic'', ''Vipère'' and ''Lynx'' would sail upriver towards the Navy Yard and take on the other ships of the Chinese northern group. Four steam launches under the command of ''lieutenant de vaisseau''
Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère Augustin Manuel Hubert Gaston Boué de Lapeyrère (18 January 1852 – 17 February 1924) was a French admiral during World War I. He was a strong proponent of naval reform, and is comparable to Admiral Jackie Fisher of the British Royal Navy. ...
, the future French admiral, were given the job of protecting ''Volta'' and the three French gunboats from attack by the Chinese mineboats. To the east ''Duguay-Trouin'', ''Villars'' and ''d'Estaing'' were to reduce the three ships of the Chinese southern group, to engage the war junks from the flank, and to engage a battery armed with three Krupp cannon near the Pagoda, and three other batteries armed with Krupp cannon which protected the Arsenal. Their launches would be deployed to give protection against Chinese torpedo attacks.


The battle of Fuzhou

On the morning of Saturday 23 August, although the Chinese commanders knew that the French would launch their attack at around 2:00 pm, the sailors in both fleets went about their routine business. The ships of the Fujian Fleet made no attempt to redeploy or to anticipate the French attack by opening fire first. The French crews went to their action stations at 1:30 pm, after eating their midday meal. The Chinese did not react to this obvious threat, and at 1:45 pm the flurry of activity aboard the French ships died down. For the next ten minutes the tension grew aboard the French ships as the minutes ticked away towards 2:00 pm. At 1:55 pm a Chinese mineboat advanced towards the French squadron. Courbet immediately ordered the attack to begin, only five minutes short of his original timetable. At the outset of the battle the Chinese flagship ''Yangwu'' was successfully attacked with a
spar torpedo A spar torpedo is a weapon consisting of a bomb placed at the end of a long pole, or spar, and attached to a boat. The weapon is used by running the end of the spar into the enemy ship. Spar torpedoes were often equipped with a barbed spear at ...
by Torpedo Boat No.46 (''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Douzans) and grounded. The French torpedo boat suffered damage to her boiler during this attack. The despatch vessel ''Fupo'' was attacked less successfully by Torpedo Boat No.45 (''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Latour), and was subsequently crippled by ''Voltas torpedo launch and carried by boarding by Boué de Lapeyrère's sailors. She had already been set alight by French shellfire, and was eventually abandoned by the French prize crew and sank in the middle of the Min River. Their spar torpedoes expended, the two French torpedo boats drifted downriver after making their attack, towards the anchorage of the neutral vessels off Losing Island. Lieutenant Latour had been seriously wounded in the eye during the attack, but he refused an offer of medical assistance from American officers on , explaining that he could not leave his post while the battle was still in progress. Meanwhile, the French cruisers and the ironclad ''Triomphante'', which joined the French squadron only minutes before the battle began, were making short work of the rest of the Chinese fleet. ''Chenhang'', ''Yongbao'', ''Feiyun'', ''Ji'an'', ''Fusheng'' and ''Jiansheng'' were either sunk or set alight by shellfire from the cruisers ''Duguay-Trouin'', ''Villars'' and ''d'Estaing''. Only ''Fupo'' and ''Yixin'' survived the battle without serious damage, by escaping upriver before the gunboats ''Lynx'', ''Aspic'' and ''Vipère'' had a chance to engage them. ''Zhenwei'' was blown up by a single shell from ''Triomphante''. Before they were put out of action the outgunned Chinese vessels concentrated their fire on the French flagship ''Volta'', hoping to kill Courbet and the officers of his entourage. Several sailors aboard the French cruiser were killed or wounded, and shortly after the start of the battle a roundshot ploughed through Courbet's command group on the flagship's bridge, killing the British pilot Thomas and only narrowly missing ''capitaine de frégate'' Gigon, ''Voltas captain. A few minutes later splinters from an exploding Chinese shell wounded ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Ravel, Courbet's aide-de-camp. The fighting ended at 5:00pm, but during the night of 23August the Chinese made a number of unsuccessful attacks with fireships on the French warships, obliging some of them to shift their anchorages to evade them.


Bombardment of the Foochow Navy Yard

On the morning of 24 August Courbet issued orders for his ships' landing companies to go ashore with the naval engineers to destroy the
Foochow Navy Yard The Foochow Arsenal, also known as the Fuzhou or Mawei Arsenal, was one of several shipyards created by the Qing Empire and a flagship project of French assistance to China during the Self-Strengthening Movement. The shipyard was constructed unde ...
. Preparations were made for a landing, but Courbet then changed his mind, after observing that the Navy Yard was defended by organised groups of Chinese infantry. The attack was cancelled as the French sailors were on the point of climbing into their launches. Instead, the French bombarded the
Foochow Navy Yard The Foochow Arsenal, also known as the Fuzhou or Mawei Arsenal, was one of several shipyards created by the Qing Empire and a flagship project of French assistance to China during the Self-Strengthening Movement. The shipyard was constructed unde ...
, damaging a number of outbuildings and holing the sloop ''Henghai'' (''Heng-hai'', 橫海), still under construction and lying on the slips. A certain amount of damage was inflicted, but without the support of the heavy guns of ''Triomphante'' and ''Duguay-Trouin'' or the slightly lighter guns of the cruisers ''Villars'' and ''d'Estaing'', which drew too much water to enter the shallows off the Navy Yard except around high tide, Courbet was unable to destroy the Yard completely. He himself admitted in his official report that the damage done 'was not as much as I had hoped for'. The French squadron remained off Fuzhou during the night of 24 August. Once again the Chinese tried to make a night attack. At 4:00 am two Chinese torpedo launches tried to attack the gunboat ''Vipère'', anchored at the head of the French line. Both launches were lit up by searchlights on the French ships and attacked with Hotchkiss fire by ''Duguay-Trouin''. One launch was sunk instantly, while the crew of the other abandoned ship and swam for the shore.


Descent of the Min River

On 25 August, after receiving the congratulations of the captains of the neutral warships on the professionalism displayed by the French squadron during the action of 23 August, Courbet began to lead his ships back down the Min River. The squadron's two heaviest ships, ''Triomphante'' and ''Duguay-Trouin'', led the way. On 25 and 26 August the French bombarded the Tianluowan () and Min'an () batteries, two Chinese shore batteries covering the approach to Fuzhou through the narrow Min'an Pass. The Chinese batteries, built to fire only on enemy ships approaching from the mouth of the river, were taken in reverse and destroyed by ''Duguay-Trouin'' and ''Triomphante''. On 27 and 28 August the French squadron bombarded and destroyed the Chinese defences at the Jinpai pass near the entrance to the Min River. The Jinpai () and Changmen () batteries, known to the French as Fort Kimpai and the White Fort (Fort Blanc), were put out of action, and the French also inflicted heavy casualties on a number of Chinese field batteries and infantry formations. However, before its guns were destroyed the White Fort was able to inflict moderate damage on the French ironclad ''La Galissonnière'', which had sailed up from Keelung to join Courbet's squadron and attempted unsuccessfully to fight its way into the Min River. Chinese infantry at the Jinpai pass also killed and wounded several French sailors aboard the gunboat ''Vipère'' on 27 August.


Losses

The losses of the French squadron in the course of the operations before Fuzhou and in the Min River were relatively light (10 dead and 48 wounded). Most of these casualties were inflicted not by shellfire during the engagement of 23 August but by sniper fire from Chinese infantry during the squadron's descent of the Min River. The French dead included ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Bouët-Willaumez, second-in-command of the gunboat ''Vipère'' and son of the noted French admiral Louis-Édouard Bouët-Willaumez (1809–71), who was shot dead on ''Vipères bridge during an exchange of fire with the defenders of Fort Kimpai on 27 August. With the exception of ''La Galissonnière'' and Torpedo Boat No. 46, none of Courbet's vessels suffered serious damage. The Chinese lost nine of the eleven ships of the Fujian Fleet. Some of the Chinese ships foundered where they were struck, sinking off the Pagoda anchorage and the Foochow Navy Yard. Others drifted downriver and either ran aground or sank between Losing Island and the Min'an pass. French officers aboard ''Châteaurenault'', anchored near the entrance to the Min River, saw three Chinese warships drifting downriver on the evening of 23 August, abandoned by their crews and blazing from stem to stern. One of the Chinese ships exploded in front of their eyes. Courbet estimated Chinese casualties at between 2,000 and 3,000 dead. The commemorative tablets in a shrine erected shortly after the war at the Pagoda Anchorage to honour the Chinese dead list the names of 831 sailors and soldiers killed on 23 August, but this list does not include the hundreds of Chinese soldiers killed by the French during their descent of the Min River. The Chinese imperial commissioner Zhang Peilun, who made no serious attempt to coordinate the resistance of the Fujian fleet, was degraded after the battle and replaced by the veteran general
Zuo Zongtang Zuo Zongtang, Marquis Kejing ( also spelled Tso Tsung-t'ang; ; November 10, 1812 – September 5, 1885), sometimes referred to as General Tso, was a Chinese statesman and military leader of the late Qing dynasty. Born in Xiangyin County ...
(). He Jing (), the governor-general of Fujian and Zhejiang, Zhang Zhaotong (), the governor of Fujian, and He Ruzhang (), the director-general of the Foochow Navy Yard, were also degraded. The
Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
General of
Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...
Mutušan (), who had directed the defence of the Jinpai pass on 27 and 28 August with skill and energy, kept his job. The Cantonese naval officer Zhang Cheng (), a graduate of the Foochow naval college and captain of the Chinese flagship ''Yangwu'', abandoned ship as soon as the battle started and was later beheaded for cowardice.


Factors in the French victory

One of the factors in the French victory at Fuzhou was that the French squadron had sailed up the Min River in time of peace. The Chinese claimed after the battle, with some justification, that the French would never have been able to ascend the river if the two countries had been at war. A second important factor was the absence from the battle of the modern battleships '' Dingyuan'' and '' Zhenyuan'', which had recently been completed in Germany for China's
Beiyang Fleet The Beiyang Fleet (Pei-yang Fleet; , alternatively Northern Seas Fleet) was one of the four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hongzhang, one of the most trust ...
(Northern Seas fleet). The Chinese battleships were more powerful than any of the ships under Courbet's command, and in December 1883, foreseeing that war with China was imminent, the French persuaded the German government to detain them in the event of hostilities. The German government invented a number of plausible excuses for keeping the two battleships in port, and they remained in Germany for the duration of the Sino-French War. They were finally released in July 1885, and joined the Northern Seas fleet in October of the same year. Some Chinese historians have asserted that disunity in the Chinese command structure was an important factor in the Chinese defeat. The Chinese regional fleets and armies represented a considerable 'personal' investment of revenue and prestige that was used to leverage influence at court, and the respective fleet commanders were often loath to see these important assets diminished by war damage. The result, at Fuzhou, was that the
Fujian Fleet The Fujian Fleet ( or ) founded in 1678 as the Fujian Marine Fleet was one of China's four regional fleets during the closing decades of the nineteenth century. The fleet was almost annihilated on 23 August 1884 by Admiral Amédée Courbet's Fa ...
received little help from China's three other regional fleets. Despite appeals from
Zhang Peilun Zhang Peilun () (1848–1903) was a Chinese government official of the late Qing dynasty, who served as a naval commander during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). Early life Zhang Peilun was born in Hangzhou on November 24, 1848. Hi ...
and direct orders from the
Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu people, Manchu Nara (clan)#Yehe Nara, Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese nob ...
, the commanders of the
Beiyang Fleet The Beiyang Fleet (Pei-yang Fleet; , alternatively Northern Seas Fleet) was one of the four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hongzhang, one of the most trust ...
, the
Nanyang Fleet The Nanyang Fleet () was one of the four modernised Chinese naval fleets in the late Qing Dynasty. Established in the 1870s, the fleet suffered losses in the Sino-French War, escaped intact in the Sino-Japanese War, and was formally abolished in ...
and the
Guangdong Fleet The Guangdong Fleet (Chinese: 廣東水師) was the smallest of China's four regional fleets during the second half of the nineteenth century. The fleet played virtually no part in the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885), but several of it ...
declined to send ships to reinforce the Fujian Fleet. ''Feiyun'' and ''Ji'an'', two Fujian vessels which had been loaned to the
Guangdong Fleet The Guangdong Fleet (Chinese: 廣東水師) was the smallest of China's four regional fleets during the second half of the nineteenth century. The fleet played virtually no part in the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885), but several of it ...
in 1882 to observe French movements in the Gulf of Tonkin, were sent back to Fuzhou in early August by
Zhang Zhidong Zhang Zhidong () (4 September 18375 October 1909) was a Chinese politician who lived during the late Qing dynasty. Along with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong was one of the four most famous officials of the late Qing ...
, the governor-general of the two Guangs, arriving just in time to share the fate of their comrades in the forthcoming battle. However, Zhang did not release any of his own Guangdong ships.
Li Hongzhang Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; 15 February 1823 – 7 November 1901) was a Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important ...
defied an order to send two ships from the
Beiyang Fleet The Beiyang Fleet (Pei-yang Fleet; , alternatively Northern Seas Fleet) was one of the four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hongzhang, one of the most trust ...
to Fuzhou, and the Zhejiang governor Liu Bingzhang () refused to release the Nanyang ship ''Chaowu''.Rawlinson, 113–16; Wright, 61


Ships involved in the Min River actions

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
: Image:Triomphante.jpg, ''Triomphante'' Image:Galissonniere.jpg, ''La Galissonnière'' Image:Duguay-trouin.jpg, ''Duguay-Trouin'' Image:Le_Volta_(1867-1892).jpg, ''Volta'' Image:Combat Naval de Fou-Tcheou Torpedo Boats 46 et 45.jpg,
Torpedo boats A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
No.46 and No.45.
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
: Image:ChineseFu-po.jpg, ''Fupo'' () Image:Fuxing.jpg, ''Fuxing'' () Image:Chien-sheng gunboat.jpg, ''Jiansheng'' () Image:Yixin Chinese patrol boat.jpg, ''Yixin'' ()


French naval uniforms, 1884

File:equipage.jpg, French sailor File:Branlebas de combat.jpg, 'Going into battle'


The battlefield today

File:Majiang 1.JPG File:Majiang 2.JPG File:Majiang 3.JPG File:Majiang 4.JPG File:Majiang 5.JPG


See also

*
Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...


Notes


References

* * Destelan, P., ''Annam et Tonkin: Notes de voyage d'un marin'' (Paris, 1892) * Duboc, E., ''Trente cinq mois de campagne en Chine, au Tonkin'' (Paris, 1899) * Ferrero, S., ''Formose, vue par un marin français du XIXe siècle'' (Paris, 2005) * Huard, ''La guerre du Tonkin'' (Paris, 1887) * Loir, M., ''L'escadre de l'amiral Courbet'' (Paris, 1886) * Lung Chang ''Yueh-nan yu Chung-fa chan-cheng'' 南與中法戰爭, Vietnam and the Sino-French War(Taipei, 1993) * Rawlinson, J., ''China's Struggle for Naval Development, 1839–1895'' (Harvard, 1967) * Rollet de l'Isle, M., ''Au Tonkin et dans les mers de Chine'' (Paris, 1886) * Thomazi, A., ''La conquête de l'Indochine'' (Paris, 1934) * Vienet, R., 'Devant le champ de bataille de Mawei (Chine)', ''La Géographie'', 1525 (June 2007), 31–53 * Wright, R., ''The Chinese Steam Navy, 1862–1945'' (London, 2001) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Fuzhou
Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...
Fuzhou 1884 Military history of Fujian 1884 in France 1884 in China August 1884 events