Chinese turret ship Dingyuan The Dingyuan ( ) was a pre - dreadnought battleship and the flagship of the Chinese Beiyang Fleet . Her 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 shipbuilders in Europe , notably in Great Britain and Germany for the latest technology . After extensive negotiations , a contract valued at 1 . 7 million taels of silver ( 6 . 2 million German Goldmark ) was signed with the German Vulcan shipyards in Stettin to build an enlarged version of their Sachsen class frigate s , which in terms of displacement , armor , and armament would raise the Beiyang Fleet to an equal status with the fleets of the European powers stationed in the Far East . The keel was laid on 31 March 1881 , and the ship launched on 28 December 1881 , under the supervision of the Qing Envoy to Germany , Xu Jingcheng . Sea trials began on 2 May 1883 . Design . " Dingyuan " was an " armoured turret ship " design , with a length of , width of and draught of . She was protected by an armoured belt thick , which was considered to be able to resist any naval artillery available at the time . " Dingyuan " was powered by a coal - fired reciprocating steam engine , with four cylindrical boilers , and with a rating of , which gave a speed of per hour , and a range of around at . Her main armament was four 305 mm Krupp guns paired in two barbette s . These barbettes were mounted asymmetrically forward of amidships – the one on the port side was mounted further forward than the barbette on the starboard side . These guns had a range of , firing with a muzzle velocity of 500 metres per second . Another two 150 mm Krupp guns were installed in turrets at the extreme bow and stern . These guns had a range of . The armament also included six 37 mm guns and three above the waterline torpedo tubes . The complete crew was around 363 officers and men . Two torpedo boat s were also carried on board , enlarging the " Dingyuan ' s " striking distance and battle effectiveness . To meet the demands on ship , 20 desalinators were installed which could serve 300 people fresh water daily . Service record . The delivery of the " Dingyuan " , sailed by a German crew , started in 1884 , but was stopped following a request from the French who were in the middle of a conflict with China which culminated with the Sino - French War ( 1884 – 1885 ) . " Dingyuan " was a very powerful ship and would have drastically altered the balance of power in China ’ s favor had it and her sister ship been available at the time of the conflict . After peace was concluded on 3 July 1885 , and " Dingyuan " , " Zhenyuan " and the cruiser finally received permission to transit the Suez Canal under a German merchant flag and arrived in Tianjin in China on 29 October 1885 . " Dingyuan " was based out of Lüshunkou , the chief naval station of the Beiyang Fleet . In 1886 , she participated in show of force , touring Hong Kong , the Japanese port of Nagasaki , Korean ports of Busan and Wonsan , and the Russian naval base of Vladivostok together with " Zhenyuan " and four cruisers . While in Nagasaki on 13 August 1886 , a number of drunken sailors from " Zhenyuan " became involved in a brawl in a local brothel , during which a Japanese police officer was fatally stabbed . Attributing the issue to lax discipline , Qing Admiral Ding Ruchang suspended shore leave for a day , but allowed 450 sailors to go ashore on 15 August . Contrary to an agreement with local authorities , many were armed . Anticipating trouble due to increasing anti - Chinese sentiment by the local population , the Japanese police deployed additional men , but were unable to prevent a riot from erupting between stone - throwing locals and the men from " Zhenyuan " . In what came to be called the Nagasaki Incident , 6 sailors were killed and 45 wounded , along with five Japanese policemen killed and 16 wounded . In handling the diplomatic incident , the British military advisor to the Qing military , Captain William M . Lang took a hard line against Japanese authorities , refusing to make any apologies or reparations , and reminding the Japanese of the overwhelming firepower of his fleet and threatening war . However , the incident was resolved through diplomatic efforts . " Dingyuan " served as Admiral Ding Ruchang ' s flagship from the start of the First Sino - Japanese War . At the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September 1894 , refused orders from Admiral Ding which would have exposed the ship to fire from the Japanese squadron , and opened fire from an extreme range . Due to a design defect , " Dingyuan " was unable to fire its main battery directly forward without destroying its flying bridge – a fact that the captain was well aware of . Admiral Ding and most of his staff were incapacitated by this incident . Japanese fire also damaged the " Dingyuan ’ s " ability to signal other ships in the fleet . Although " Dingyuan " was more powerful than any ship in the Japanese fleet at the time , ammunition for her main guns was in short supply , of the wrong size , or was defective through years of internal corruption , lack of funding and incompetence . At the end of the battle , " Dingyuan " was able to escape to Lüshunkou . She was then ordered to Weihaiwei when Lüshunkou was threatened during the Battle of Lushunkou . In early 1895 , the remnants of the Beiyang Fleet was based at Liugong Island within Weihaiwei . During the Battle of Weihaiwei , the Imperial Japanese Army seized the landward fortifications of the naval base , the Japanese navy attacked from seaward . On 5 February 1895 , the " Dingyuan " was seriously damaged after being hit by a Japanese torpedo and later cannon fire . Captain Liu Buchan ordered the ship scuttled , before committing suicide on the surrender of the Beiyang Fleet by Admiral Ding Ruchang . Reconstruction . To commemorate this period of history , the Weihai Port Bureau and local Weigao Group invested 50 million yuan ( approximately US $ 6 million ) to construct a replica " Dingyuan " . The replica ' s construction began on a scale of 1 : 1 on December 20 , 2003 . The duplicate " Dingyuan " is now a floating museum . Inside are records of " Dingyuan " , the Beiyang Fleet , the First Sino - Japanese War and life - at - sea exhibits .