The time was late 1905. Due to the fact that the Japanese main battle line seemed to be attempting to avoid direct action, the Imperial Chinese Navy was directed to assist army operations on Formosa, which had been secured early in the war but still faced guerilla operations by Japanese forces which had retreated to the interior. Much to the chagrin of the crews and captains of the battlewagons, these duties largely amounted to babysitting: convoy escort duty. Their wish was granted off Ningbo while escorting a convoy to Hangzhou, when the Chinese literally blundered into the main Japanese fleet in the pre-dawn gloom; the Japanese had finally decided to give battle. Unfortunately, while the Chinese had numbers, the Japanese had quality: Chinese Zhenyuan-class battleships were relatively light in displacement and had a primary armament of 10" guns of middling quality (and the Xihe-variants, forced to be built at home due to rising tensions with the French, had distinctly sub-par main guns due to the state of Chinese domestic industry), while the Japanese standard designs for their Fusos and Mikasas were over 3000 tons heavier with 12" guns. Fortunately, in a knife-fight, both sides were equally surprised, but superior Chinese gunnery soon showed the way. A magazine blast ripped apart the light cruiser Itsukushima in the opening volleys, lighting up the stunned Japanese fleet, and the Chinese fell to with a vengeance. After a full day's battle, the Japanese were completely routed without ever making contact with the transports, the IJN Fuso (lead ship of the Fuso-class battleship) left to sink beneath the waves and most of their remaining battleships fleeing northeast in states of disrepair. The Chinese pursuit was, unfortunately, stymied by the dual needs to protect the transports against any possible cruiser action and the fall of night, but this blow proved to be decisive. The Battle of Ningbo was the last major engagement of the Second Sino-Japanese War; the Japanese were compelled to withdraw all "interests" from southern Korea and Formosa as well as paying a minor indemnity, a complete reversal of Chinese fortunes ten years before. Unfortunately, in spite of now being three battleships lighter (two to the Chinese, one to their American allies) and facing unrest at home, the Japanese were bowed, but not broken.
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Topic: How did you last *own*? (Read 1350505 times)