In the 100-year history of China's revolution, there are many people of insight who have done their best to save the country from turmoil. A Westernization movement led by Li Hongzhang with the slogan of "mastering the long skills of the master to control the country" lasted for 30 years.
In the past 30 years, under the leadership of these people, the political situation has undergone earth-shaking changes. China, an ancient country, is also gradually moving towards the world.
However, unfortunately, in 1894, Japan launched the First Sino-Japanese War, and the Beiyang Fleet was completely annihilated, and the process of China's modernization was interrupted. However, this obviously cannot stop the Chinese people from seeking a way to save the country and survive, and the construction of our navy has once again been put on the agenda.
On the stage of history, there is a protagonist - the Haiqi ship. Built by the British, it set sail from the Huangpu River in Shanghai in 1911 and crossed the Atlantic Ocean after more than 400 days, writing a strong stroke in China's maritime history.
However, to the surprise of everyone on the ship, when they left, they hung the green dragon yellow flag representing the Qing **, and when they returned, they were already the ** five-color flag.
The cruiser Haiqi is an important part of the modern navy fleet and represents the Beiyang fleet established by the Qing Dynasty. Since 1840, when the British army repeatedly provoked trouble along the coast of Guangdong and launched the First Opium War, China's national consciousness began to awaken.
The people of insight in the Qing Dynasty, represented by Lin Zexu, began to go to the world, and they realized that in order to restore the country's decline, substantial changes must be made. They went from purchasing advanced naval equipment from the West, to setting up the Tianjin Naval Master Hall, to establishing the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau and the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.
All these actions show that the idea of building up naval forces is gradually being formed in our country. The Qing Dynasty established four modern navies, of which the Beiyang Fleet was the most powerful and large-scale.
However, the fleet, which took more than three years to be formed in 1888, did not live long. In 1894, the Japanese Combined Fleet raided the Beiyang convoy without warning.
In the following year, the Beiyang Fleet fell into a bitter battle. In January 1895, with the landing of Japanese troops in Rongcheng Bay, Shandong, the Battle of Weihaiwei broke out. A month later, despite the desperate resistance of the Beiyang Naval Division, with the death of Ding Ruchang, the situation of the annihilation of the whole army could not be changed.
However, this does not mean that the road of naval construction of the Qing ** has come to an end. The Qing ** realized how important it was to have a strong navy, so they once again set off a rush to buy ** from the West.
Since the end of the First Sino-Japanese War, China has ordered about 40 cruisers and destroyers from countries around the world. However, today we are going to introduce the protagonist of the protective cruiser Haiqi, which Qing ** ordered from the British Armstrong Company in 1896.
Because the lessons of the failure of the Beiyang Fleet are still vivid, coupled with the opposition of the conservative forces at home, there has been controversy over whether a lot of manpower and financial resources should be spent on the purchase and construction of the navy.
And some small problems in the delivery process of the Haiqi also indicate that the future of this team will not be as smooth as imagined.
Let's take a closer look at the characteristics of this **, the Haiqi and its sister ship Haitian belong to the same Haitian-class dome cruiser, with a captain of 1292m, width 142m, with an estimated establishment of 360 people.
Although it is slightly inferior to Haitian in this point, it is still considered to be one of the largest tonnage in China at that time, and its strength should not be underestimated. The ship is equipped with two 45-fold T guns, 10 45-fold Y-shaped steel guns, 16 three-pounder Hatch Chase guns, and 5 torpedo tubes.
The first demonstration of the deterrent power of the Haitian and Haiqi cruisers occurred in 1899, when they had just been delivered to China. In the same year, Italy made an unreasonable request to Qing ** to lease Sanmen Bay, and if it refused, it might face a military threat from Italy.
But with the support of new ships such as the Haiqi, Qing ** is full of confidence. After a comprehensive consideration of the strength of the Italian navy, Qing ** believed that he had the ability to fight against it.
As a result, on the one hand, the Qing ** resolutely rejected Italy's demands, and on the other hand, made full combat preparations.
It turned out that because of the increase in naval strength and timely prevention plans, the Qing ** successfully prevented Italy's Lend-Lease request for Sanmen Bay. This victory once again proves the importance of strengthening coastal defense.
After the turmoil subsided, the voices questioning the construction of the navy of the Qing ** almost disappeared. In fact, at that time, the Qing Dynasty put a lot of effort into coastal defense. This time, the scale of the Beiyang Fleet has doubled, from the original 25 to 43, and the combat effectiveness of each ship has also been significantly improved.
Most of these ** came from Britain and Germany, and were purchased by the Qing ** after the First Sino-Japanese War.
When Qing ** was facing the dilemma of declining national strength, a warship named Haiqi was dressed in Western-style clothing, but it was brought"Back to light"of the moment. In 1908, the conflict between Portugal and the Qing Dynasty escalated, and the Qing Dynasty sent the most well-equipped and was called"**The first ship of the Navy"of Haiqi.
The deterrent effect of the Haiqi caused the Portuguese to flinch in the face of the Qing ** for the first time, which marked the expansion of the Qing**'s international vision. However, this is only a prelude to the glorious history of the Haiqi ship.
In 1910, the Haiqi embarked on its round-the-world journey, which gave the world a new understanding of the Chinese Navy. The Haiqi is not only"**The first ship of the Navy"It is also the first round-the-world warship of the Chinese Navy, and its voyage is amazing.
In 1910, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom died, George V succeeded to the throne, and countries around the world have sent missions to participate in the coronation ceremony of George V.
Although the history of the Haiqi is in the past, its voyage story is still evocative. It is a milestone in the history of the Chinese Navy and an important symbol of China's march to the international stage.
In order to demonstrate the strength of the Qing navy, the Qing emperor sent the prince Aixin Jueluo Zaizhen to the United Kingdom to congratulate and visit the United States on the Haiqi. Serving as the captain of the Haiqi ship was Cheng Biguang, a veteran seaman with extensive experience in navigation.
Cheng Biguang was born into a peasant family in Xiangshan County, Guangzhou Prefecture, and due to the difficulty of making ends meet, he learned the art of navigation by mistake under the guidance of his brother-in-law, which became a major turning point in his life.
On July 25, 1894, the Japanese Navy provoked war in the northern waters of the Yellow Sea in China. Over the next two months, China's main naval force, the Beiyang Fleet, clashed with the provocative Japanese forces.
Cheng Biguang was the pipe band of the Guangbing ship at that time, and he asked his superiors to stay in the Beiyang Fleet to prepare for war, and Li Hongzhang approved it. Guangdong Sanfune was then incorporated into the Beiyang Naval Division.
After the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in the First Sino-Japanese War, Cheng Biguang angrily threw himself into battle.
Although Cheng Biguang suffered the defeat of naval ships in the First Sino-Japanese War, he was not defeated. On the contrary, with his rich experience in naval warfare, he successfully enabled the ships to cross the East China Sea, the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca, the Indian Ocean, the Suez River, etc., into the Atlantic.
In the process, Cheng Biguang also submitted a surrender document to the Japanese Navy, and then came into contact with the Xingzhong Society founded by Mr. Sun Yat-sen, and gained a deeper understanding of Western thought.
Therefore, in 1911, Cheng Biguang had the opportunity to lead the Haiqi to England, which was a bold attempt for him.
After Cheng Biguang took office, he took it as his responsibility to promote China's integration with the international community, and immediately ordered all the ship's crew to shave their hair. The Haiqi took this opportunity to go back to the "mother's home" for hull maintenance, and at the same time, Cheng Biguang also returned to this familiar place again with the "Haiqi" born here.
Navigation conditions in China were not ideal at the time, and accidents often killed people when they walked on the sea. Yuan Peifu, Gu Shizhong, Lian Jinyuan, Chen Chengkui, and Chen Shoufu, the five pioneers, died because of the water and soil.
As was customary at the time, they were buried in St. John's Cemetery. In order to remember their contributions, Cheng Biguang decided to renovate the cemetery. He wrote the origins, names and identities of the five people "the old courage of the Qing Dynasty" on the tombstone, and the inscription was "Xuantong three years old Xinhai leap June auspicious day rebuilt".
This is the first recorded visit by the Chinese Navy since the death of the five men. On September 10, 1911, the ship left England and after more than ten days of sailing, the "Statue of Liberty" finally appeared in the field of vision of all the crew, and everyone forgot the fatigue of the voyage.
This time, the fleet successfully completed the first Atlantic voyage in the history of the Chinese Navy, reaching the port of New York in the United States.