Battle of Pungdo
The Battle of Pungdo (Japanese: Hoto-oki kaisen (豊島沖海戦)) was the first naval battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 25 July 1894 off Asan, Chungcheongnam-do, Korea, between cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy and components of the Chinese Beiyang Fleet. Both China and Japan had been intervening in Korea against the Donghak Peasant Revolution. While China tried to maintain her suzerain relationship with Korea, Japan wanted to increase her sphere of influence.
Both countries had already sent troops to Korea as requested by different factions within the Korean government. Chinese troops from the Huai Army, were stationed in Asan, south of Seoul, numbering 3,000 men in early July, could be effectively supplied only by sea through the Bay of Asan. The Japanese plan was to blockade the entrance of the Bay of Asan, while her land forces moved overland to encircle the Chinese detachment in Asan before reinforcements arrived by sea.
Events during the Battle[edit]
Initial sighting[edit]
During the early morning of July 25, Rear-Admiral Tsuboi's squadron arrived at the rendezvous point near Pungdo island without sighting Yaeyama or Ōshima. Speculating that their commanders had mistakenly headed for the main Island of Pungdo, which was located just under 20 nautical miles (37 km; 23 mi) to the south, Tsuboi set course for the island. Approaching Pungdo at 6.30 am, the Japanese vessels spotted two warships heading south-west; they turned out to be the Chinese cruiser Jiyuan and the torpedo gunboat Kwang-yi. Tsuboi correctly assumed them to be the escorts of the Chinese troop transports. At the same time Tsuboi sought to continue to investigate why the two Japanese warships from Chemulpo had not arrived at the prearranged location. For these reasons, Tsuboi made a straight course for the Chinese warships, simultaneously sounding general quarters.[9]
The commander of Jiyuan, Captain Fang Boqian, had spotted the Japanese warships at approximately the same time and was alarmed by their appearance. The Chinese ships increased their speed and headed south-west in order to escape the closed waters of Asan Bay. Noticing the Chinese maneuver, the Japanese cruisers in turn increased their speed to 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), in line ahead formation with Yoshino leading Naniwa and Akitsushima. Tsuboi clearly desired to outmaneuver the Chinese and prevent their escape to open water; however, realizing that this would not be possible, he executed a turn to port bearing west, in order to converge with the Chinese.[10]
Engagement[edit]
At around 7.45 am the distance between the flagship Yoshino and Jiyuan was roughly three km (1.9 mi); for a short while the Japanese and Chinese warships were steaming on a convergent heading, observing each other, but at 7.52 am the cruiser Naniwa unexpectedly opened fire on Jiyuan. Immediately after Naniwa opened fire, Yoshino and Akitsushima followed suit.[10] Yoshino and Naniwa concentrated their fire on the leading Jiyuan, while Akitsushima concentrated its fire on the torpedo gunboat Kwang-yi, which was trailing over a kilometre behind the stern of the Chinese cruiser. Although the Chinese warships had not been caught by surprise and soon returned fire, the Japanese had gained the advantage.[10] The first projectiles fired by Yoshino and Naniwa hit Jiyuan's conning tower, demolishing it and damaging the steering mechanism. The next volley of shells then put both forward heavy barbette-mounted guns out of action.[10] Furthermore, the hail of Japanese shelling started numerous fires in the midship section, which, though relatively minor, caused panic among the Chinese gun crews on the upper deck. It was only through the intervention of some of the officers, armed with revolvers, that the gunners were rounded up and returned to their positions.[10] After getting the situation under control, Jiyuan managed to escape to the open sea; its crew soon repaired the steering mechanism, which allowed the cruiser to regain her manoeuvrability.[10]
Destruction of Kwang-yi[edit]
Kwang-yi, following Jiyuan, did not fare as well. Like Jiyuan, the vessel was hit at the beginning of the battle; however, the damage inflicted by the Japanese gunfire was much more serious. Shells fired by Akitsushima penetrated the hull of the warship below the waterline at least once and damaged her boiler room. The heavily damaged Kwang-yi was rapidly taking on water; as a result, Captain Lin Kuohsiang ordered the ship to be beached.[10] Enveloped in smoke and steam, and with fires raging on board, Kwang-yi turned southeast and stranded herself on the shore on some shoals, being fired upon by Naniwa all the while. After being abandoned by her crew, the wreck of Kwang-yi was destroyed by raging fires and internal explosions.[11] At least 37 crew members were killed, while another 71, including the captain, Lin Kuohsiang, reached the shore.[11] After a failed attempt to join Chinese troops at Asan, they were taken on board the Royal Navy torpedo cruisers Archer and Porpoise at the end of July and transported to Chefoo.[11]
Pursuit of Jiyuan[edit]
The destruction of Kwang-yi took the Japanese squadron no more than a quarter of an hour and did not hinder the pursuit of Jiyuan. The plight of the single Chinese cruiser seemed dire, largely because the Japanese had the advantage of speed.[11] At about 8.10 am, Yoshino and Naniwa were almost abeam of the escaping Chinese cruiser, and when Naniwa turned to close on her, Captain Fang contemplated surrendering his vessel, considering further combat to be pointless.[11] At this moment, however, an unexpected turn of events took place: Yoshino spotted smoke from on the horizon from two unknown vessels which were probably heading towards Asan. It later turned out that they were the transport ship Kowshing, which had sailed from Taku carrying Chinese troops, and the gunboat Tsao-Kiang, which had departed from Weihaiwei with mail and orders.[11] Their arrival turned Japanese attention away from Jiyuan, which took the opportunity to increase to full speed and escape heading west, away from the Japanese squadron.[12] At the same moment, after spotting the Japanese warships, Tsao-Kiang also turned and headed back to Weihaiwei. Whereas, Kowshing continued on course to Asan.[12]
In light of the appearance of the two new vessels, Rear-Admiral Tsuboi relinquished his chase of Jiyuan[12] and decided to instead investigate the unknown vessels approaching from the north-west.[12] Tsuboi had correctly suspected that Kowshing was carrying reinforcements for the Chinese forces at Asan, the prevention of which was the Flying Squadron's main objective.[12]
Re-engagement of the pursuit[edit]
The three Japanese cruisers intercepted Kowshing, and there was a break in the pursuit which lasted until 9.50 am.[13] While Naniwa started to search the ship and the events surrounding the sinking of Kowshing unfolded, Yoshino and the Akitsushima re-engaged and began to pursue the remaining two ships. Both Japanese cruisers headed at full speed after the Chinese warships which were trying to escape to Weihaiwei. The gunboat Tsao-Kiang was caught at 11.37 am and surrendered without a fight to Akitsushima.[13] After 11.40 am, only Yoshino continued the chase after the remaining ship, Jiyuan. Yoshino, due to the advantage of speed, quickly closed the distance and at 12.05 pm, the Japanese cruiser commenced firing at Jiyuan with her forward guns at a distance of approximately 2.5 km (1.6 mi).[13] Captain Fang Boqian steered the cruiser among some shoals, which were dangerous and poorly-charted,[13] however this risky move saved the ship from destruction as the Japanese were not in possession of accurate maps of the area and they feared risking running aground on the shoals. Consequently, at 12.43 pm, Yoshino turned back towards the Korean coast and Jiyuan reached Weihaiwei in the morning of July 26.[14]
Aftermath of the battle[edit]
Jiyuan arrived in Weihaiwei with news of the encounter and immediately underwent two weeks of repair work, as the damage the ship had sustained was quite serious. Sixteen of her crew had been killed and 25 wounded.[13]
Yoshino and Akitsushima, along with the captured gunboat Tsao-Kiang, returned to the vicinity of Pungdo Island, where they made rendezvous with Naniwa and Yaeyama, Musashi and Ōshima, which had just arrived from Chemulpo.[14] Later that day, Rear Admiral Tsuboi ordered Yaeyama, Musashi and Ōshima, along with Akitsushima andTsao-Kiang, to join the main fleet at Kunsan under Vice-Admiral Itō.[14]
The battle had a direct impact on the fighting on land. The reinforcements, together with twelve pieces of artillery on board Kowshing, and other military supplies on board Tsao-kiang, failed to reach Asan. The outnumbered and isolated Chinese detachment in Asan was attacked and defeated in the subsequent Battle of Seonghwan, four days later. Formal declarations of war came only on August 1, 1894, after the battle.[17]
Naniwa was under the command of Captain (later Fleet Admiral) Tōgō Heihachirō. The owners of Kowshing launched protests against the sinking in the press and demanded compensation from the Japanese government. The response of the British public to Japan having fired upon a vessel flying the Red Ensign was negative, and the sinking almost led to a diplomatic incident between the two nations. Japan came under criticism for having failed to make any effort to rescue any of the Chinese survivors of the sinking. However, calls for Japan to pay an indemnity quickly ceased after British jurists ruled that the action was in conformity with international law regarding the treatment of mutineers.[18] The sinking was also specifically cited by the Chinese government as one of the "treacherous actions" by the Japanese in their formal declaration of war against Japan.
One major result of this battle was the introduction of Western maritime prize rules into Japanese law. On August 21, 1894, a new Japanese law provided for the establishment of a Japanese prize court at Sasebo to judge on such matters.
In 2000, a Korean salvage company tried to salvage the wreck of Kowshing, claiming to investors that the ship contained a treasure of gold and silver bullion. The wreckage was destroyed in the operation, and only a few artifacts of little monetary value were discovered.[19]