Constitutional Protection Movement
"Yongfeng" is the first ship of this class and one of the most famous Chinese warships, not only because it was a participant of many historical events in China, but also the name it was subsequently changed to: "Zhongshan". Originally stationed in Yuezhou (in modern Hunan) after it was commissioned, the ship was one of the ships led by Admiral Cheng Biguang that sailed to Guangzhou on July 22, 1917 to Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s side in the Constitutional Protection Movement. The ship was ordered to be renamed as "Zhongshan" after Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s death on March 30, 1925, with formal renaming ceremony held on April 13 of the same year. A year later, the ship became the center of the "Zhongshan" Warship Incident.