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631:, the sortie was made in a mood of deep despondency. The Chinese captains had no confidence in their ability to meet the French in combat and were determined to avoid battle if they possibly could. The Chinese flotilla sailed south slowly and hesitantly, never out of sight of land, and with frequent halts to exercise the ships' guns. Before the flotilla reached the Taiwan strait Admiral Wu had already despaired of completing his mission. He proposed instead merely to announce that the Chinese flotilla was on its way to Formosa, in the hope that this false rumour would force the French to raise the blockade of Formosa and concentrate their warships for defence. The Chinese flotilla turned around and headed back to Sanmen Bay, close to the Chinese port of Ningbo.
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launches, painted black for camouflage, could mingle with these vessels and approach their targets unseen. (Arlington had warned the
Chinese captains to clear these small boats away from the two Chinese warships, but his advice had been ignored.) The two French launches, under cover of darkness, managed to approach to within 100 metres (330 ft) of their targets without being seen. But the Chinese sentries on both ships were on the alert, and the French launches were spotted some distance away from their objectives. Under heavy Chinese rifle fire, Duboc and Gourdon made an extremely dangerous approach and successfully exploded their spar torpedoes against
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The scene that now occurred almost beggars description. Some tried to lower the boats, some rushed between decks to try and save their possessions, many jumped overboard into the sea. It was, in fact, everyone for himself, and the devil take the hindmost. When I had time to realise what had really
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On 10 February the rest of the French squadron reached the Chusan
Islands and on 11 February entered the mouth of the Yangzi River, to the alarm of the Chinese batteries at Wusong. There was still no sign of the Chinese. Eventually the French established communications with the shore and combed the
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had passed the
Chinese cruisers on its voyage north, and that the enemy vessels were now lurking in Sanmen Bay. Courbet immediately headed southwards, and led the squadron at night through the hazardous passages of the Chusan Islands to close with the enemy as soon as possible. On 13 February, off
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The two French officers timed their attack to coincide with the start of the
Chinese Lunar New Year festival, in the hope of catching the Chinese off their guard. The bay was also full of junks and sampans which had taken refuge there from the French, and Duboc and Gourdon hoped that their small
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slowly settling down beneath the waters; she had been attacked by the same torpedo boat that had sunk us. Our own ship was gradually sinking, her guns just level with the water's edge. Along the shore and in the water about us were seamen, soldiers, chickens, ducks, geese and baggage of every
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when the frigate was attacked by the two French launches, and described vividly the panic that ensued after the explosion of the spar torpedoes, as the
Chinese crewmen abandoned ship and swam for the shore. During the confusion of the French attack the Chinese shore batteries opened fire. The
648:. The French, weary of the monotonous routine of the blockade and frustrated with their inability to get to grips with the Chinese, jumped at the chance of destroying half the Nanyang Fleet at sea. Courbet sailed north from Keelung in early February to hunt down the Chinese with the ironclads
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On the morning of 15 February the French scouted Shipu Bay and discovered that both
Chinese ships had been sunk. Gourdon and Duboc were feted on their return to the French squadron, and were both decorated for the heroism they had shown in pressing home their torpedo attack under fire.
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description. The fault rested entirely with the
Chinese—even at the last moment, had they made any attempt to repel the torpedo boat they might have warded off the catastrophe, and possibly sunk the enemy instead. No such attempt was made, and the French escaped scot-free.
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during the battle. Arlington assumed that the sloop had been struck by a French torpedo, but she seems rather to have fallen victim to a
Chinese shell. Duboc and Gourdon were insistent that they had only attacked
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took refuge in Shipu Bay. According to
Arlington, Admiral Wu had a grudge against the captains of these two ships, and deliberately sacrificed them in order to save the rest of the Chinese flotilla.
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had been deliberately scuttled to prevent her from falling into the hands of the French. However, both
Arlington and Duboc record seeing a bright flash and hearing a loud explosion aboard
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The French squadron immediately offered battle, and bore down on the Chinese. The Chinese flotilla initially advanced against the French in a 'V' formation, led by Admiral Wu's flagship
596:(澄慶), and sailed towards Formosa. The Chinese flotilla was under the command of Admiral Wu Ankang (吳安康). The Nanyang ships were originally to have been accompanied by
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Courbet's ships were unable to catch the faster Chinese cruisers, and on the evening of 13 February Courbet took his squadron back to Shipu Bay to deal with
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Uncertain where to find the enemy, Courbet first looked into the mouth of the Min River (7 February), then headed northwards along the China Coast.
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diverted these two Beiyang ships to Korean waters. (Tension between China and Japan over Korea was running high at the period, following
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s hull, crippling the Chinese frigate. Both launches then made their escape from Shipu Bay and were recovered the following morning by
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De Lonlay, 67–90; Duboc, 274–93; Huard, 570–83; Loir, 245–64; Lung Chang, 327–8; Thomazi, 220–25; Wright, 63–4
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The Chinese sortie was duly reported in the Hong Kong newspapers at the end of January 1885. Captain Baux of
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Embarrassed by the loss of one of their ships to friendly fire, the Chinese authorities later claimed that
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Chinese artillery fire was wildly inaccurate and at least one shell seems to have hit the composite sloop
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According to L. C. Arlington, an American naval officer serving as a 'foreign adviser' aboard the frigate
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Arlington has left a valuable description of the battle from the Chinese viewpoint. He was aboard
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https://web.archive.org/web/20091026141041/http://geocities.com/Athens/Agora/8088/ShipuB.html
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caught sight of the Chinese flotilla and signalled 'Five steamships in view to the south'.
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Palma Gourdon, the commanders of the French torpedo launches at the battle of Shipu.
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happened, a strange scene was unrolled before me. Just ahead of us lay the little
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L'amiral Courbet et le « Bayard »; récits, souvenirs historiques
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804:(20 August 1883), and Duboc had fought heroically at the
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The battle arose from an attempt by part of the Chinese
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French torpedo launch attacking the Chinese frigate
1069:China's Struggle for Naval Development, 1839–1895
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1027:Trente cinq mois de campagne en Chine, au Tonkin
935:(scale model on display at Toulon naval museum)
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109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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523:) was a French naval victory during the
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134:This article includes a list of general
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579:(開濟) left Shanghai, accompanied by the
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1492:Naval battles of the Sino-French War
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1306:Pescadores campaign
1271:Battle of Đồng Đăng
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1034:La guerre du Tonkin
624:in December 1884.)
1332:Marc-Edmond Dominé
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54:Find sources:
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32:This article
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26:
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1434:Fujian Fleet
1403:Zhang Peilun
1393:Li Hongzhang
1260:
1236:Kép campaign
1219:developments
1100:
1082:
1081:Wright, R.,
1075:
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980:Randier, 387
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614:Li Hongzhang
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476:2nd Lạng Sơn
451:1st Lạng Sơn
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278:Qing dynasty
249:Belligerents
193:Part of the
167:
161:January 2014
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99:January 2024
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33:
1352:Jules Ferry
1122: /
1110:121°54′50″E
1032:Huard, L.,
1025:Duboc, E.,
971:Loir, 248–9
962:Loir, 246–8
905:Triomphante
843:Ching-ching
656:Triomphante
637:Triomphante
622:Gapsin Coup
618:Yuan Shikai
466:Phu Lam Tao
441:Tuyên Quang
318:2 ironclads
153:introducing
16:1885 battle
1486:Categories
1388:Feng Zicai
1373:Liu Yongfu
1171:Background
1107:29°11′06″N
1063:2352610222
1039:Loir, M.,
1006:References
757:The battle
535:Background
498:Pescadores
325:3 cruisers
320:3 cruisers
136:references
69:newspapers
36:references
1398:Zeng Jize
1055:La Royale
933:Éclaireur
869:Chengqing
860:Chengqing
856:Chengqing
834:Chengqing
751:Chengqing
740:Chengqing
725:Éclaireur
700:Éclaireur
690:The chase
667:Éclaireur
602:(超勇) and
594:Chengqing
590:composite
575:(南瑞) and
531:, China.
456:Đồng Đăng
327:1 frigate
322:1 gunboat
308:Wu Ankang
229:Shipu Bay
599:Chaoyong
588:and the
568:Nan Chen
564:cruisers
426:Hưng Hóa
339:1 killed
313:Strength
224:Location
818:Yuyuen'
646:Keelung
605:Yangwei
581:frigate
517:Chinese
488:Keelung
471:Bang Bo
461:Hòa Mộc
446:Núi Bop
420:Vietnam
414:Zhenhai
329:1 sloop
149:improve
83:scholar
1061:
890:Bayard
867:, not
865:Yuyuen
829:Yuyuen
767:Yuyuen
747:Yuyuen
736:Yuyuen
661:Nielly
651:Bayard
629:Yuyuen
592:sloop
585:Yuyuen
573:Nanrui
551:Hai'an
545:Yuyuen
529:Ningbo
519::
492:Tamsui
482:Taiwan
404:Tamsui
399:Fuzhou
275:
264:France
261:
237:Result
138:, but
85:
78:
71:
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941:Notes
822:Saône
732:Kaiji
684:Saône
679:Aspic
577:Kaiji
436:Yu Oc
409:Shipu
231:(石浦灣)
90:JSTOR
76:books
1059:ISBN
749:and
738:and
670:and
654:and
521:石浦海戰
511:The
216:Date
62:news
644:at
431:Kep
38:to
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