Chinese cruiser Hai Chi
| Company type | Protected cruiser |
|---|---|
| Industry | Naval military vessel |
| Founded | 1898 |
| Headquarters | Low Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne , United Kingdom |
| Products | Warship |
Hai Chi (Template:Zh) was a protected cruiser of the Imperial Chinese Navy classified under the Hai Chi class. At the time of her commission, she was the largest warship in Imperial China, displacing approximately 4,300 tons and equipped with two eight-inch guns capable of firing at a maximum speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph).[1] Later, she served under the Republic of China Navy until her scuttling in 1937. The vessel’s hull was salvaged in 1960 and subsequently dismantled.
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History
Constructed by Armstrong Whitworth at Low Walker near Newcastle upon Tyne, Hai Chi was launched in 1898 and completed by mid-1899.[2]
In 1911, the cruiser took part in the fleet review in the United Kingdom, celebrating the coronation of King George V. During this period, she also underwent electrical upgrades at Armstrong Whitworth’s Newcastle facilities. The outbreak of the Torreón massacre in Mexico extended her deployment to include stops in the United States, Cuba, and Mexico. On 11 September that year, she became the first Imperial Chinese naval vessel to arrive in American waters.[2] While docked in Cuba, diplomatic negotiations led Mexico to meet Chinese demands for reparations and suppression of rebel forces, resulting in the cancellation of the final phase of her mission. Upon returning to China, Hai Chi encountered a transformed political landscape as the Qing dynasty had been replaced by the newly established Republic of China.
Following these events, Hai Chi continued service within the Republic of China Navy. In 1917, she aligned with Sun Yat-sen’s Constitutional Protection Movement, opposing the Beijing government. By 1923, she had returned north but later joined Zhang Zuolin’s Fengtian faction based in Manchuria during 1926. After Japan’s occupation of Manchuria following the Mukden Incident in 1931, Hai Chi, along with other vessels from the Fengtian navy, relocated to Qingdao and became part of the Republic's Third Fleet. In 1933, following disagreements concerning compensation with fleet leadership, she and two additional ships defected southward to join the Guangdong navy. Two years later, after a conflict with Guangdong’s provincial governor, Hai Chi and another ship broke through a blockade to reach Hong Kong, eventually proceeding to Nanjing where they were nominally reassigned to the Third Fleet but effectively placed under direct control of the ministry of defense.[3]
On 11 August 1937, during the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Hai Chi was deliberately sunk as a blockship within the Yangtze River to hinder Japanese advancement.[4][5] Prior to scuttling, her main artillery was removed and repurposed for river defense installations around Wuhan.[3]
References
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<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcitationneeded - ↑ Gray, Randal, ed., Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921, Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1985, p. 396.
- ↑ Chesneau & Kolesnik, Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860-1905, New York: Mayflower Books, 1979, p. 397.
External links
