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 (December 1883 – April 1885). The battle was fought on 23 August 1884 off the Pagoda Anchorage in Mawei () harbour, to the southeast of the city of Fuzhou (Foochow). During the battle Admiral Amédée Courbet's Far East Squadron virtually destroyed the Fujian Fleet, one of the Qing dynasty's four regional fleets.
Background
On 11 May 1884 French and Qing negotiators concluded the Tientsin Accord, an agreement designed to end several months of undeclared hostilities between France and the Qing 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 Qing Guangxi Army. The Qing 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, 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 Qing treachery. Jules Ferry's government demanded an apology, an indemnity, and the immediate implementation of the terms of the Tianjin Accord. The Qing 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, downriver from Fuzhou at Mawei, and to attack the Qing 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. 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.Thomazi, 205–6
Negotiations between France and the Qing 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 ).Loir, 123
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, 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 No. 45 and No. 46.These were two 27 meters torpedo boats built in Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranée (Graville – Le Havre) 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.Loir, 118–19
The Chinese Fujian fleet 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 (), one of the leading members of China's war party.Loir, 117–18; Lung Chang, 286
French squadron
Name Type Specifications Construction Captain Triomphante station ironclad (cuirassé de croisière) 4,585 tons 1879, Rochefort capitaine de vaisseau Baux La Galissonnière station ironclad (cuirassé de croisière) 4,645 tons 1874, Brest capitaine de vaisseau Fleuriais 1st class iron cruiser 3,479 tons 1879, Cherbourg capitaine de vaisseau Desnouy 1st class cruiser 2,363 tons 1881, Cherbourg capitaine de vaisseau Vivielle 1st class cruiser 2,363 tons 1881, Brest capitaine de vaisseau Coulombeaud 2nd class wooden cruiser 1,820 tons 1869, Normand capitaine de frégate Le Pontois 3rd class wooden cruiser 1,323 tons 1869, Cherbourg capitaine de frégate Gigon Saône transport 1,575 tons 1880, Toulon capitaine de frégate Monin Lynx composite gunboat 465 tons ~1870s, Cherbourg lieutenant de vaisseau Bonaire Aspic composite gunboat 465 tons ~1870s, Rochefort lieutenant de vaisseau de Fauque de Jonquières Vipère composite gunboat 465 tons ~1870s, Rochefort lieutenant de vaisseau Picard Destelan Torpedo Boat No. 45 torpedo boat 30,58 tons ~1879, Le Havre lieutenant de vaisseau Latour Torpedo Boat No. 46 torpedo boat 30,58 tons ~1879, Le Havre lieutenant de vaisseau Douzans
Chinese squadron
Name (pinyin) Name (Wade Giles) Characters Type Construction Specifications Captain Yangwu Yang wu 揚武 wooden corvette 1872, Foochow Navy Yard 1,393 tons, 15 knots, 13 British muzzle-loaders Chang Ch'eng Yongbao Yung-pao 永保 scout-transport 1873, Foochow Navy Yard 1,391 tons, 3 guns (in dock) Chenhang Ch'en-hang 琛航 scout-transport 1874, Foochow Navy Yard 1,391 tons, 3 guns (in dock) Fupo Fu-p'o 伏波 scout-transport 1870, Foochow Navy Yard 1,258 tons, 5 guns Lü Wen-ying Feiyun Fei-yun 飛雲 scout-transport 1872, Foochow Navy Yard 1,258 tons, 13 knots, 5 Prussian breechloaders Kao Teng-yün Ji'an Chi-an 濟安 scout-transport 1873, Foochow Navy Yard 1,258 tons, 12 knots, 5 guns ? Zhenwei Chen-wei 振威 wooden gunboat 1872, Foochow Navy Yard 572.5 tons, 10 knots, 6 guns Hsü Shou-shen Fu-hsing 福星 wooden gunboat 1870, Foochow Navy Yard 515 tons, 3 guns Ch'en Ying Fusheng Fu-sheng 福勝 Rendel flatiron gunboat 1875, Laird, Birkenhead 280 tons Yeh Chen Jiansheng Chien-sheng 建勝 Rendel flatiron gunboat 1875, Laird, Birkenhead 250 tons Lin Sen-lin Yixin I-hsin 藝新 river patrol boat 1876, Foochow Navy Yard No details available Lin Tse-yu +Qing Forts and their armaments on the Min RiverLocation210mm203mm178mm150mm-177mm120mmSmoothbore gunstotalCouding island (and vicinity)11415Mingan Pass1339 43Fork of the Min River163818Couding and Mingan region1919Northern Fork of the Min River1421522Wufou island251522Total221582110140
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.Loir, 119–20
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, 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.Courbet, 18-19Loir, 121–3
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 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.