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Deng Shichang
Captain of the Beiyang Fleet cruiser Zhiyuan who steered for the Japanese cruiser Yoshino at the Battle of the Yalu River and drowned after refusing rescue
Mural of the event “First Sino-Japanese War”, which this person took part in.
By the late nineteenth century, Qing China and Japan increasingly competed for political and strategic influence on the Korean peninsula. After the Donghak Peasant Movement in 1894, both states sent troops to Korea; diplomacy broke down and war followed.
Also known as Zi Zhengqing · Zhuang Jie
- Roles
- Naval Commanders
Deng Shichang, courtesy name Zhengqing, came from Panyu in Guangdong, learned mathematics from Westerners as a youth and then trained in navigation at the Fuzhou Navy Yard school. In the early Guangxu years he commanded the Haidongyun, the Zhenwei and other ships, and after moving north he went with Ding Ruchang to Britain to collect new warships, rising to brigade general as captain of the Zhiyuan. On 17 September 1894 the Beiyang Fleet met the Japanese Combined Fleet off Dadonggou near the mouth of the Yalu. The Qing History Draft (Qingshi gao) says the Zhiyuan was matched against the cruiser Yoshino and that Deng drove at her, meaning to sink with her, until a torpedo struck and his ship went down. In the water, wearing a life ring, he refused to be pulled aboard a rescuing boat and drowned. The court named him Zhuangjie, and the Draft pairs him with Zuo Baogui, killed at Pyongyang, as the two loyal dead.
Life and times
Dates 1849 CE–1894 CE
- 1894First Sino-Japanese WarTook partage 45
- 1894Battle of the Yellow Seaage 45