In the sea area 19 nautical miles southwest of Donggang City, Liaoning Province, stands a building with an area of about 6The 6-square-kilometer island resembles a sika deer lying in the Yellow Sea, hence the name "Big Deer Island". In the eastern part of the island, among the green pines and cypresses, there is a solemn cemetery, where stands a piece of 2The 5-meter stone tablet is engraved with the golden characters "Deng Shichang Tomb". In the word of mouth of the island's villagers, the soul of a hero rests here.
About 9 nautical miles southwest of Oshikashima is where the hero's remains came out of the water. Today, the sea is calm and unwavering, with only the occasional wind and waves breaking the tranquility. But more than 100 years ago, it was a battleground. On September 17, 1894, the Chinese Beiyang Navy and the Japanese Combined Fleet fought the first large-scale war of the steam ironclad fleet in human history in this sea area, known as the "Battle of the Yellow Sea". This battle had a decisive impact on the later stages of the Sino-Japanese War.
The two sides each dispatched more than 10 ** ships, with a "goose marching array" and a "word array" to confront each other, the cannon roared, and the sea water seemed to be boiled. The naval battle lasted five hours from noon to half past five in the afternoon. In the end, the Beiyang Navy lost five ** ships and retreated to Lushun and Weihai. One of the most heroic scenes occurred at about 3 p.m., when the Beiyang flagship Dingyuan ship was shot**, and the Japanese ship took the opportunity to approach and tried to sink it in one fell swoop. At this critical moment, the Zhiyuan ship rushed out and sailed towards the enemy formation with all its might. Although the ship had been wounded in many places and was seriously tilted, the captain Deng Shichang was still determined to die and wanted to die with the enemy. However, at a distance from the Japanese ship, the Zhiyuan ship suddenly had a violent ** and sank to the bottom of the sea.
Deng Shichang thus became a hero, and the Guangxu Emperor gave the couplet "this day is full of tears in the world, and there is a strong navy", which has been praised to this day. However, the sinking of the Zhiyuan left many mysteries. Li Hongzhang reported to the Qing court that the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese ship, while others recalled that a giant cannon caused the sinking. But neither torpedoes nor artillery were mentioned in the combat reports of the Japanese army. It wasn't until 2015 that the Zhiyuan, which had been sleeping at the bottom of the sea for 120 years, was rediscovered, and through the clues provided by the fragments and relics, the mystery gradually became clear. This excavation also marks the first official harvest of the "Underwater Archaeology of the Jiawu Shipwreck", which has been launched since 2013.
In the following decade, the plan continued to advance, and by 2023, almost all the remaining Beiyang Navy shipwrecks have been identified and investigated. The "Underwater Archaeological Survey Report of the Zhiyuan Ship" was also officially published in this year as the first comprehensive summary of the plan. From 2024 onwards, researchers will begin to concentrate on completing the archaeological report of the Dingyuan ship, and the reports of the Jingyuan ship and the incoming ship will also be put on the agenda one after another.
The search for the Beiyang shipwreck actually began as early as the 1980s. The two 210mm guns now on display in the Sino-Japanese War Museum came from the salvage of the relics of the Jiyuan ship in 1986. The Zhiyuan has also undergone several salvage plans, but has not been able to make substantial progress. Although these explorations were unsuccessful, they also reflected an indisputable fact: the investigation and even salvage of the shipwreck, including the Zhiyuan, is an extremely challenging task.
Zhou Chunshui, then a research librarian at the Underwater Cultural Heritage Conservation Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, told us that from a specific operational point of view, the archaeology of the Beiyang shipwreck faced many problems. The first is to find the location of the wreck, which is complicated, inaccurate, and even conflicting. In addition, the northern region has low sea temperatures, and the time available for searching is very limited each year. Secondly, how to recognize the face of the sunken ship is also a big problem. The traditional shipwreck archaeology is for wooden sailing ships, while the Beiyang Navy's ** is a steel giant ship, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of archaeology.
Despite the difficulties, we are still full of curiosity and awe about the history of the Beiyang Navy and the Sino-Japanese Naval War. The remains of those who are sleeping at the bottom of the sea and the heroes are waiting for us to uncover their secrets. We look forward to future archaeological excavations that will bring us more information and details to give us a deeper understanding of this tragic history.