, originally known as ''Pingyuan'' (), was an ironclad coastal battleship that served with the Imperial Chinese

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 ...

and later the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

. It was built by the Mawei Navy Yard near

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 ...

. Previous transliterations of its Chinese name include ''Ping Yuen'' and ''Ping Yuan'', and an alternative transliteration of its Japanese name was ''Heiyen''.

Service record

Beiyang Fleet

As part of the Beiyang Fleet, ''Pingyuan'' was at the Battle of the Yellow Sea/Yalu River during the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the po ...

. It was a Chinese armored cruiser built by the Mawei Navy Yard, modelled on the French . ''Pingyuan'' was firstly named ''Longwei'' (), and was the first Chinese-built ironclad, though some of its components were imported from abroad. ''Pingyuan'' was part of the

. ''Pingyuan'' fought in the Battle of the Yalu River, damaging the Japanese

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

, and was later captured as a prize of war in the siege of

Weihai Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popula ...

wei.

Imperial Japanese Navy

After its capture in February 1895, by the Imperial Japanese Navy, ''Pingyuan'' was placed into active combat service as the ''Pingyuan-go'' on 16 March 1895 and served with the Japanese fleet through the remainder of the First Sino-Japanese War. On 21 March 1898, she was re-designated as a first-class gunboat and was officially renamed ''Heien'' in 1900 based on the Japanese language pronunciation of its original Chinese name. During the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

, ''Heien'' was assigned to the 3rd Squadron and was part of the blockading force against the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from a ...

at the

Battle of Port Arthur The of 8–9 February 1904 marked the commencement of the Russo-Japanese War. It began with a surprise night attack by a squadron of Japanese destroyers on the neutral Russian fleet anchored at Port Arthur, Manchuria, and continued with an en ...

. ''Heien'' was disabled by a

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...

at Pigeon Bay (Piegen Bay), located to the west of Port Arthur on 18 September 1904 and foundered in heavy weather later that day. It was struck from the

navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 21 May 1905.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Wright, Richard N. J., ''The Chinese Steam Navy 1862-1945'', Chatham Publishing, London, 2000, * Corbett, Sir Julian. ''Maritime Operations In The Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905''. (1994) Originally classified, and in two volumes, * Chesneau, Roger and Eugene M. Kolesnik (editors), ''All The World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905'', Conway Maritime Press, 1979 reprinted 2002, * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heien 1888 ships Cruisers of the Beiyang Fleet Ships built in China First Sino-Japanese War naval ships of China First Sino-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Captured ships Naval ships of China Gunboats of the Imperial Japanese Navy Russo-Japanese War naval ships of Japan Ships sunk by mines Shipwrecks in the Sea of Japan Shipwrecks of the Russo-Japanese War