Battle of the Yalu River ( 1894 ) The Battle of the Yalu River ( ; Japanese : ) , was the largest naval engagement of the First Sino - Japanese War , and took place on September 17 , 1894 , the day after the Japanese victory at the land Battle of Pyongyang . It involved ships from the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Chinese Beiyang Fleet . The battle is also known by a variety of names : Battle of Haiyang Island , Battle of Dadonggou , Battle of the Yellow Sea and Battle of Yalu , after the geographic location of the battle , which was in the Yellow Sea off of the mouth of the Yalu River and not in the river itself . There is also no agreement among contemporary sources on the exact numbers and compositions of each fleet . Background . Even before the Battle of Pyongyang , Chinese Viceroy Li Hongzhang ordered reinforcements from the Beiyang Army to bolster the increasingly precarious Chinese position in Korea . As the roads were considered impassable , the only practical way to move a large number of men and equipment was by sea . However , he was constrained by orders from Beijing not to allow his ships to cross the line of the Yalu River , as the imperial authorities were reluctant to risk China ' s most modern western vessels in combat . The Chinese fleet was bigger and armed with bigger guns . The Japanese fleet was much faster . As a result the Japanese would have an advantage in open water . So as the Japanese fleet closed in , Li recommended the convoys be stopped , and that the Beiyang fleet be kept within its naval stronghold in Lushunkou ( Port Arthur ) . This narrow strip of water should minimize the Japanese fleet ' s speed advantage . This along with the stronghold ' s coastal defense should defeat the Japanese fleet . However Emperor Guangxu was enraged that the Japanese fleet was near Chinese territory , so he insisted that the convoys be continued and that the Japanese fleet be pushed back . The Beiyang fleet had completed escorting a convoy to the mouth of the Yalu River , and was returning to its base at Lushunkou ( Port Arthur ) when it was engaged by the Japanese navy . On paper , the Beiyang Fleet had the superior ships , included two pre - dreadnought battleships , " Dingyuan " and " Zhenyuan " for which the Japanese had no counterparts . The Beiyang Fleet could also call on the assistance of numerous military advisers , including Prussian Army Major Constatin von Hanneken , recently from Korea , was appointed as the naval adviser to Admiral Ding Ruchang . W . F . Tyler , a sub - lieutenant in the Royal Navy Reserve and an Imperial Maritime Customs officer was appointed as von Hanneken ' s assistant . Philo McGiffen , formerly an ensign in the U . S . Navy and an instructor at the Chinese Weihaiwei naval academy was appointed to " Jingyuen " as an adviser or co - commander . However , though well drilled , the Chinese hadn ' t engaged in sufficient gunnery practice beforehand . The lack of training was a direct result of a serious lack of ammunition . Corruption seems also to have played a major role ; many Chinese shells appear to have been filled with cement or porcelain , or were the wrong caliber and could not be fired . Philo McGiffin noted that many of the gunpowder charges were " thirteen years old and condemned . " What little ammunition was available was to be preserved for a real battle . Live ammunition training was rarely carried out . Li wanted to delay the battle against the Japanese fleet , so they would have more time to equip the ships with enough ammunition . However the royal court called him a coward and his recommendation was turned down . The battle . Admiral Sukeyuki Ito had his flag aboard the cruiser with two dispatch vessel s as escort ; the converted - liner " Saikyo Maru " , Swedish - born British Captain John Wilson commanding ; and the gunboat . The Japanese Chief of Naval Staff , Admiral Kabayama Sukenori was on a tour of inspection and aboard " Saikyo " . The rest of the main body consisted of the cruisers , , , and . A flying squadron , composed of the cruisers , , and , led the Japanese vessels . The Japanese advanced on the Beiyang Fleet in a column with the flying squadron leading in line astern formation with the dispatch vessels off to the port of the second squadron where the flagship was sailing . Admiral Ding attempted to form his fleet into a southward facing line abreast with the strongest ships ( " Dingyuan " , " Zhenyuan " ) in the center . Newer , Guangjia , , " Jingyuan " , " Laiyuan " , " Jingyuen " , and obsolete , , lined from left to right . The 4 - ship group led by had to catch up from having escorted a convoy upriver and only joined around 14 : 30 , in time to chase off the Saikyo . With his main squadron to the left of the Chinese , Admiral Itoh ordered the Japanese flying squadron to strike at the weak right Chinese flank . Observing his enemy ' s tactical movements , Admiral Ding realized that his formation prevented the Chinese battleships in the center from firing , because their smaller cruisers were between them and their opponents , and also exposed the smaller , more lightly armored ships to prolonged fire from the larger Japanese warships . In addition , with the Japanese squadrons split , the Chinese were forced to divide their fire between the two groups . Several different explanations have been put forward as to why the Beiyang fleet did not change their formation to react to the Japanese tactics more effectively . Per Royal Navy Lieutenant William Ferdinand Tyler , stationed on " Dingyuan " , Admiral Ding ordered his ships to change course in such a way that would have exposed his ship , the flagship , but put the rest of the squadron in a good position to fire on the Japanese fleet ; however , that " Dingyuan ’ s " captain out of cowardice deliberately did not acknowledge this order or pass it on to the rest of the fleet . Instead , he ordered " Dingyuan " to fire its main guns before the Japanese were in range . As captain , he was aware of the consequences – when the German Navy took " Dingyuan " out for gun trials in 1883 , it was discovered that firing the main battery directly forward resulted in the destruction of the flying bridge . In what is now known as fragging , Admiral Ding ’ s legs were crushed under the wreckage of the flying bridge from the opening shot of his own vessel , and was thus out of combat for the remainder of the battle . Most of his staff officers on the bridge were likewise injured or killed . The situation was worsened when the Japanese destroyed " Dingyuan ’ s " foremast , making it impossible for the flagship to signal the rest of the fleet . The Chinese fleet , with some foresight , had anticipated something like this happening and formed into three pairs of mutually supporting vessels to carry the fight on . According to an account from James Allan , an officer aboard the U . S . - flagged supply ship " Columbia " , who witnessed the battle , rumors abounded that Admiral Ding deferred command to Major Constantin von Hannecken . He opined that it was not surprising that the Chinese had suffered such losses if an Army officer was directing a Naval fleet . The Chinese fleet opened fire on the Japanese fleet as they passed from port to starboard , across the bows of the Chinese vessels . They failed to score any significantly damaging hits on the Japanese with their 12 inch ( 305 mm ) and 8 . 2 inch ( 208 mm ) guns . At about 3000 yards ( 2700 m ) ( the Chinese had been steadily closing the range ) , the Japanese concentrated their fire on the right flank of the Chinese line , with devastating barrages poured into the " Chaoyong " and " Yangwei " . Both those vessels burst into flames , because of their heavily varnished and polished wooden surfaces . Burning fiercely , both tried to save themselves by beaching . As the Japanese ships opened fire , the Jiyuan turned and fled , followed by the Guangjia . The Jiyuan was hit only once , while the Guangjia got lost , ran aground and was scuttled a few days later by its own crew . The Japanese had intended on swinging the flying division around the right flank of the Chinese line in an encirclement but the timely arrival of the " Kuang Ping " and " Pingyuan " and torpedo boats " Fu Lung " ( built at Schichau ) and " Choi Ti " , a Yarrow built vessel diverted this maneuver . The Japanese fast cruisers veered to port and were then dispatched by Admiral Itoh to go to the assistance of " Hiei " , " Saikyo " and " Akagi " which had been unable to keep up with the main line , and had then been engaged by the left - hand vessels of the Chinese line when Saikyo tried to finish off the beached Yangwei . The Japanese fleet had tactical advantage in their more reliable , better - maintained ordnance ( especially outnumbering rapid - fire ordnance ) over the Beiyang fleet , which fought with limited stocks , consisting of older foreign ammunition and shoddy domestic products . Japanese shells set four Chinese vessels ablaze , destroying three . However , firefighting was well organized on the Chinese vessels . For example , the Laiyuan burned severely , yet kept firing . " Dingyuan " stayed afloat and had a casualties of 14 dead and 25 wounded , but a total of about 850 Chinese sailors were lost in the battle with 500 wounded . The Chinese severely damaged four Japanese warships and while two more were only lightly damaged . Japanese loses were roughly 180 killed , 200 wounded . The Japanese flagship " Matsushima " suffered the worst single - ship loss with more than 100 dead or wounded after being hit by a heavy Chinese round ; " Hiei " was severely damaged and retired from the conflict ; " Akagi " suffered from heavy fire and with great loss of life ; " Saikyo " , the converted liner , urged on by Admiral Kabayama Sukenori despite its lack of offensive armament , had been hit by four 12 inch ( 305 mm ) shells and was sailing virtually out of control as a result . The Aftermath . The remnants of the Beiyang Fleet retired into Lüshunkou for repairs , but was withdrawn to Weihaiwei to avoid a second encounter with the Japanese fleet during the Battle of Lushunkou . The Japanese did not pursue the retreating ships , as " Dingyuan " and " Zhenyuan " were only slightly damaged , and the Japanese had no way of knowing that the battleships suffered from a lack of ammunition . The Beiyang Fleet was finally destroyed by a combined land and naval attack during the Battle of Weihaiwei . The defeat of the Beiyang Fleet at the Battle of Yalu River was a major propaganda victory for Japan , with many major European newspapers , including the London Times , Le Temps and Sankt - Peterburgskie Vedomosti providing front page coverage and crediting the Japanese victory to its rapid assimilation of western methods technology . Many credited the prompt action of foreign advisers in the Beiyang Fleet ( most notably McGiffin ) from keeping the fleet from total annihilation , and for keeping even the most heavily damaged Chinese ships fighting till the very end of the engagement . Some military analysts , notably U . S . Secretary of the Navy , Hilary A . Herbert called the battle ‘ nearly a draw ’ – although the Chinese had lost several warships , the Japanese had suffered considerable damage , and if the Chinese ammunition had been of higher quality , the outcome might have been different . The Qing dynasty government , after initially denying that its fleet had been defeated laid the blame for the Chinese defeat on the shoulders of Viceroy Li Hongzhang and Admiral Ding Ruchang , both of whom were demoted and stripped of honors . Their subordinates and relatives also suffered from the same fate . However , both men remained in their posts , and would oversee the final destruction of the Beiyang Fleet at Waihaiwei . While it was not the first battle involving pre - dreadnought technology on a wide scale ( the Battle of Foochow in the 1884 Sino - French War predated it ) , there were significant lessons for naval observers to consider .