THE CHINO-JAPANESE WAR, 1894—93. 552 cruisers ofhighspeed,mostly armedwithmodern quick-firers, a weaponin which theChinese navy wasalmostentirelydeficient. There werebesides a numberof smallcruisersand gunboats,andtwo ships,theFuso Kongo andHiyei,classed by some as armoured cruisers, by others as third-class battleships, but in any case of no great value. They were old-fashioned ironclads, built some twenty years ago, slow inspeed and onlypartly protected by their thin armour. The modern swift cruiser squadron was the realfighting force of Japan upon the sea.

German advisers beseech the government to add ships, to procure sailors, coal, stores, oil. They pointed out that the Chinese engineers dared not use forced draught, and that the Chinese officers were so nervous whenhandling torpedoes that they fired them at 800 yards instead of 350. The Chinese seamen on occasiondisplayedboth coolness andcourage,though their gunnery left much to be desired, but they lacked that confidence in their leaders which is, after all, an essential of success."

The fleet had for its naval bases Port Arthur and Wei-hai-wei, on opposite sides of the entrance to the Gulf of Pe-chi-li. At Port Arthur there was a fortified dockyard ; at Wei-hai-wei a fortified harbour with stores and workshops for minor repairs. Themouth of the Peiho River at Taku was alsodefended by forts.

The officers wereprofessionally well educated, and, including the reserve, the fleet had a personnelof over13,000 trained officers and men.

There weregood dockyards at Yokosuka,Kure, Sasebo, and Nagasaki. The only weak point was the want of battleships, but the generally defectivecondition of theChinese navymore than outweighed this one advantageit possessed. The Japanese navy was divided into three squadrons, having their headquarters at Yokosuka, Kure, and Sasebo (near Nagasaki). But all three'were under a central direction and destined to act together. The principal ships available were eight armoured or protected Such were the forces available on both sides when, after fighting had already begun, war was mutually declared by China and Japan on August ist, 1894.

CHINESE LINE OF BATTLE WHEN AT DRILL