Chinese cruiser Laiyuan Laiyuan ( ) was an armored cruiser in the late Qing Dynasty Beiyang Fleet . Its sister ship was the . Background . As part of his drive to create a modern navy following the Sino - French War , Viceroy Li Hongzhang turned to Vulcan shipyards in Stettin , Germany . " Jingyuan " and " Laiyuan " were called “ gunboat s ” by their designers , but were referred to as “ cruisers ” by the Chinese . In terms of displacement were similar in class to the Japanese " Matsushima " class . However , in terms of weaponry , they mounted large calibre guns in the manner of a coastal defense monitor , and lacked the speed or a higher muzzle velocity main battery typical of ships designed per the tenets of the then - popular Jeune Ecole theory promoted by French naval architect Emile Bertin . Design . " Laiyuan " had a steel housing , divided into 66 waterproof compartments filled with cork , a single smokestack , and single mast . Her belt armor had a thickness of 5 . 5 to 9 . 5 inches , but did not extend above the waterline or to the extremities of the hull , and was 8 inches at the conning tower and barbette s . Her deck armor had a thickness of 2 . 5 inches to 3 inches at the extremities . The prow was reinforced for ramming . The power plant was a double expansion reciprocating steam engine with four cylindrical boilers , driving two screws . The ship ’ s main armament was two breech - loading 8 - inch ( 209 mm ) Krupp cannon , paired in the forward barbette . Provision was made for only 50 rounds of ammunition per gun . The secondary armament consisted of two 6 - inch ( 149 mm ) Krupp guns mounted on sponsons on either side of the deck . The ship also had two 47 - mm long guns and five 37 mm Hotchkiss gun s , as well as two torpedo tube s . " Jingyuan " and " Laiyuan " were second in displacement after the Beiyang Fleet battleships and , but were deficient in speed and in firepower , where compared with temporary vessels , such as the British - built Elswick cruiser s . Although its armor belt gave " Laiyuan " an advantage over non - protected vessels , its two - inch lacquered teak deck made it flammable in the event of a battle . Service record . " Laiyuan " was laid down on 1 January 1885 , launched on 3 January 1887 , completed on 1 January 1888 . On arrival in China in 1880 , " Jingyuan " and " Laiyuan " were both assigned to the Beiyang Fleet . In the summer of 1889 , both vessels were part of the flotilla let by Admiral Ding Ruchang , calling on the Russian naval base of Vladivostok . In early 1894 , both vessels accompanied and on a visit to Singapore , but the flotilla was recalled to Weihaiwei on the eve of the First Sino - Japanese War with the Empire of Japan . " Jingyuan " and " Laiyuan " were both in the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894 . Early in the battle , the captain of " Laiyuan " moved aggressively against the Japanese squadron , pursuing the slower moving Japanese gunboat . " Laiyuan " was four times the size of the Japanese gunboat , and her guns killed the Japanese commander and ten crewmen , brought down the gunboat ’ s mast , destroyed the bridge and holed " Akagi " in eight locations . On the other hand , the quick - firing 120 - mm guns of the " Akagi " wreaked havoc on the " Laiyuan " , causing a large fire , and forcing her to break off the pursuit . The fire continued to burn through the remainder of the battle , despite the efforts of the crew to extinguish it , including flooding the powder magazine . Coming under attack by the Japanese flying squadron led by Admiral Tsuboi Kozo ( , , , and ) , " Laiyuan " took many more hits , but refused to sink and continued to burn almost down to her waterline . At the end of the battle , her engines still operational , " Laiyuan " escaped to the Beiyang Navy repair base at Lushunkou , under her own power . Repairs were not completed by the time of the Battle of Lushunkou , when the remnants of the Beiyang Fleet were ordered to retreat to Weihaiwei without giving battle . During the subsequent Battle of Weihaiwei , on 5 February 1895 , " Laiyuan " was attacked by two Japanese torpedo boat s . " Laiyuan " was struck by a torpedo fired by , rolled over , and capsized , with a loss of approximately 170 crewmen .