Battle of Fuzhou 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 ( 馬尾 ) harbour , 15 kilometres 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 China ' s four regional fleets . Background . On 11 May 1884 French and Chinese negotiators concluded the Tientsin Accord , an agreement designed to end several months of undeclared hostilities between France and China in Tonkin . On 23 June 1884 , French troops advancing to occupy Lang Son , in accordance with the terms of this agreement , clashed near the small town of Bac Le with a detachment of the Chinese Guangxi Army . The Chinese opened fire on the advancing French , precipitating a two - day battle in which the French column was seriously mauled . This incident , the Bac Le Ambush , was the proximate cause of the Sino - French War . When news of the Bac Le Ambush reached Paris , there was fury at what was perceived as blatant Chinese treachery . Jules Ferry ’ s government demanded an apology , an indemnity , and the immediate implementation of the terms of the Tianjin Accord . The Chinese 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 , fifteen kilometres downriver from Fuzhou at Mawei , and to attack the Chinese 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 ( 羅星塔 ) , which stood on a hill above the harbour . Negotiations between France and China 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 " Vigilant " , " Champion " and " Sapphire " and the American corvette " Enterprise " ) . 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 Jilong to join him off Fuzhou , but " La Galissonnière " had been detained at Jilong 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 . 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 . 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 " Fuxing " , 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 ( 張佩綸 ) , one of the leading members of China ' s war party . " Table 1 : French warships in the Min River actions , August 1884 " " Table 2 : Composition of the Fujian fleet , August 1884 " 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 . 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 p . m . 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 p . m . and to go into action at around 2 p . m . , on his signal . The battle would begin with an attack by Torpedo Boats No . 45 and No . 46 on " Yangwu " and " Fuxing " , the two closest Chinese ships of the main Chinese concentration . 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 . 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 p . m . , 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 p . m . , after eating their midday meal . The Chinese did not react to this obvious threat , and at 1 . 45 p . m . 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 p . m . At 1 . 55 p . m . 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 " Fuxing " was attacked less successfully by Torpedo Boat No . 45 ( " lieutenant de vaisseau " Latour ) , and was subsequently crippled by " Volta " ' s 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 . Their spar torpedoes expended , the two French torpedo boats drifted downriver after making their attack , towards the anchorage of the neutral vessels off Losing Island . Lieutenant Latour had been seriously wounded in the eye during the attack , but he refused an offer of medical assistance from American officers on USS " Enterprise " , explaining that he could not leave his post while the battle was still in progress . Meanwhile the French cruisers and the ironclad " Triomphante " , which joined the French squadron only minutes before the battle began , were making short work of the rest of the Chinese fleet . " Chenhang " , " Yongbao " , " Feiyun " , " Ji ' an " , " Fusheng " and " Jiansheng " were either sunk or set alight by shellfire from the cruisers " Duguay - Trouin " , " Villars " and " d ’ Estaing " . Only " Fupo " and " Yixin " survived the battle without serious damage , by escaping upriver before the gunboats " Lynx " , " Aspic " and " Vipère " had a chance to engage them . " Zhenwei " was blown up by a single shell from " Triomphante " . Before they were put out of action the outgunned Chinese vessels concentrated their fire on the French flagship " Volta " , hoping to kill Courbet and the officers of his entourage . Several sailors aboard the French cruiser were killed or wounded , and shortly after the start of the battle a roundshot ploughed through Courbet ' s command group on the flagship ' s bridge , killing the British pilot Thomas and only narrowly missing " capitaine de frégate " Gigon , " Volta " ' s captain . A few minutes later splinters from an exploding Chinese shell wounded " lieutenant de vaisseau " Ravel , Courbet ' s aide de camp . The fighting ended at 5 p . m . , but during the night of 23 August the Chinese made a number of unsuccessful attacks with fireships on the French warships , obliging some of them to shift their anchorages to evade them . Bombardment of the Foochow Navy Yard . On the morning of 24 August Courbet issued orders for his ships ' landing companies to go ashore with the naval engineers to destroy the Foochow Navy Yard . Preparations were made for a landing , but Courbet then changed his mind , after observing that the Navy Yard was defended by organised groups of Chinese infantry . The attack was cancelled as the French sailors were on the point of climbing into their launches . Instead , the French bombarded the Foochow Navy Yard , damaging a number of outbuildings and holing the sloop " Henghai " ( " Heng - hai " , 橫海 ) , still under construction and lying on the slips . A certain amount of damage was inflicted , but without the support of the heavy guns of " Triomphante " and " Duguay - Trouin " or the slightly lighter guns of the cruisers " Villars " and " d ' Estaing " , which drew too much water to enter the shallows off the Navy Yard except around high tide , Courbet was unable to destroy the Yard completely . He himself admitted in his official report that the damage done ' was not as much as I had hoped for ' . The French squadron remained off Fuzhou during the night of 24 August . Once again the Chinese tried to make a night attack . At 4 a . m . two Chinese torpedo launches tried to attack the gunboat " Vipère " , anchored at the head of the French line . Both launches were lit up by searchlights on the French ships and attacked with Hotchkiss fire by " Duguay - Trouin " . One launch was sunk instantly , while the crew of the other abandoned ship and swam for the shore . Descent of the Min River . On 25 August , after receiving the congratulations of the captains of the neutral warships on the professionalism displayed by the French squadron during the action of 23 August , Courbet began to lead his ships back down the Min River . The squadron ' s two heaviest ships , " Triomphante " and " Duguay - Trouin " , led the way . On 25 and 26 August the French bombarded the Tianluowan ( 田螺灣 ) and Min ' an ( 閩安 ) batteries , two Chinese shore batteries covering the approach to Fuzhou through the narrow Min ' an Pass . The Chinese batteries , built to fire only on enemy ships approaching from the mouth of the river , were taken in reverse and destroyed by " Duguay - Trouin " and " Triomphante " . On 27 and 28 August the French squadron bombarded and destroyed the Chinese defences at the Jinpai pass near the entrance to the Min River . The Jinpai ( 金牌 ) and Changmen ( 長門 ) batteries , known to the French as Fort Kimpai and the White Fort ( Fort Blanc ) , were put out of action , and the French also inflicted heavy casualties on a number of Chinese field batteries and infantry formations . However , before its guns were destroyed the White Fort was able to inflict moderate damage on the French ironclad " La Galissonnière " , which had sailed up from Jilong to join Courbet ' s squadron and attempted unsuccessfully to fight its way into the Min River . Chinese infantry at the Jinpai pass also killed and wounded several French sailors aboard the gunboat " Vipère " on 27 August . Losses . The losses of the French squadron in the course of the operations before Fuzhou and in the Min River were relatively light ( 10 dead and 48 wounded ) . Most of these casualties were inflicted not by shellfire during the engagement of 23 August but by sniper fire from Chinese infantry during the squadron ' s descent of the Min River . The French dead included " lieutenant de vaisseau " Bouët - Willaumez , second - in - command of the gunboat " Vipère " and son of the noted French admiral Louis - Édouard Bouët - Willaumez ( 1809 – 71 ) , who was shot dead on " Vipère " ' s bridge during an exchange of fire with the defenders of Fort Kimpai on 27 August . With the exception of " La Galissonnière " and Torpedo Boat No . 46 , none of Courbet ' s vessels suffered serious damage . The Chinese lost nine of the eleven ships of the Fujian Fleet . Some of the Chinese ships foundered where they were struck , sinking off the Pagoda anchorage and the Foochow Navy Yard . Others drifted downriver and either ran aground or sank between Losing Island and the Min ' an pass . French officers aboard " Châteaurenault " , anchored near the entrance to the Min River , saw three Chinese warships drifting downriver on the evening of 23 August , abandoned by their crews and blazing from stem to stern . One of the Chinese ships exploded in front of their eyes . Courbet estimated Chinese casualties at between 2 , 000 and 3 , 000 dead . The commemorative tablets in a shrine erected shortly after the war at the Pagoda Anchorage to honour the Chinese dead list the names of 831 sailors and soldiers killed on 23 August , but this list does not include the hundreds of Chinese soldiers killed by the French during their descent of the Min River . The Chinese imperial commissioner Zhang Peilun , who made no serious attempt to coordinate the resistance of the Fujian fleet , was degraded after the battle and replaced by the veteran general Zuo Zongtang ( 左宗棠 ) . He Jing ( 何璟 ) , the governor - general of Fujian and Zhejiang , Zhang Zhaotong ( 張兆棟 ) , the governor of Fujian , and He Ruzhang ( 何如璋 ) , the director - general of the Foochow Navy Yard , were also degraded . The Manchu General of Fuzhou Mutušan ( 穆圖善 ) , who had directed the defence of the Jinpai pass on 27 and 28 August with skill and energy , kept his job . The Cantonese naval officer Zhang Cheng ( 張成 ) , a graduate of the Foochow naval college and captain of the Chinese flagship " Yangwu " , abandoned ship as soon as the battle started and was later beheaded for cowardice . Factors in the French victory . One of the factors in the French victory at Fuzhou was that the French squadron had sailed up the Min River in time of peace . The Chinese claimed after the battle , with some justice , that the French would never have been able to ascend the river if the two countries had been at war . A second important factor was the absence from the battle of the modern battleships " Dingyuan " and " Zhenyuan " , which had recently been completed in Germany for China ' s Beiyang Fleet ( Northern Seas fleet ) . The Chinese battleships were more powerful than any of the ships under Courbet ' s command , and in December 1883 , foreseeing that war with China was imminent , the French persuaded the German government to detain them in the event of hostilities . The German government invented a number of plausible excuses for keeping the two battleships in port , and they remained in Germany for the duration of the Sino - French War . They were finally released in July 1885 , and joined the Northern Seas fleet in October of the same year . Chinese historiography tend to assert that disunity in the Chinese command structure was also an important factor in the Chinese defeat . The Chinese regional fleets and armies represented a considerable ' personal ' investment of revenue and prestige that was used to leverage influence at court , and the respective fleet commanders were often loath to see these important assets diminished by war damage . The result , at Fuzhou , was that the Fujian Fleet received little help from China ' s three other regional fleets . Despite appeals from Zhang Peilun and direct orders from the Empress Dowager Cixi , the commanders of the Beiyang Fleet , the Nanyang Fleet and the Guangdong Fleet declined to send ships to reinforce the Fujian Fleet . " Feiyun " and " Ji ' an " , two Fujian vessels which had been loaned to the Guangdong Fleet in 1882 to observe French movements in the Gulf of Tonkin , were sent back to Fuzhou in early August by Zhang Zhidong , the governor - general of the two Guangs , arriving just in time to share the fate of their comrades in the forthcoming battle . However , Zhang did not release any of his own Guangdong ships . Li Hongzhang defied an order to send two ships from the Beiyang Fleet to Fuzhou , and the Zhejiang governor Liu Bingzhang ( 劉秉璋 ) refused to release the Nanyang ship " Chaowu " . Ships involved in the Min River actions . France :