g fourteen inches of iron armor, and
surpassing in size and strength anything that Japan had to show. These
vessels were all armed with the most effective of modern weapons, were
handled by men trained in the theories of European war, and seemed
capable of the most destructive results.

On the 17th of September, 1894, an epoch-making battle of these
iron-clads took place. It was a remarkably different event from the
first engagement of this sort, that between the Monitor and the Merrimac
in Hampton Roads, for the guns now brought into play would have pierced
the armor of those vessels as if it had been made of tin. The Japanese
squadron had just convoyed a fleet of transports, bearing ten thousand
troops and thirty-five hundred horses, to Chemulpo, near the Corean
capital. The Chinese squadron had similarly convoyed four thousand
troops to the Yalu River. These were landed on the 16th, and on the
morning of the 17th the fleet started on its return. On the same morning
the Japanese fleet reached the island of Hai-yang, leaving their
torpedo-boats behind, as there was no thought of fighting a battle.
About nine o'clock smoke was seen in the distance, and at eleven-forty
the Chinese fleet came into sight.

The Japanese fleet consisted of ten vessels, the First Flying Squadron,
consisting of four fine cruisers of high speed, and the Main Squadron,
composed of six vessels of lower speed. There were two smaller ships,
of no value as fighting vessels. The Chinese fleet was composed of
twelve vessels and six torpedo-boats, though two of the vessels and the
torpedo-boats were at a distance, so that the effective fighting force
on each side was composed of ten ships-of-war. The Chinese fleet
included the two great ships already named, the Ting-yuen and Chen-yuen.
The latter, as has been said, were heavily armored. The other Chinese
ships were lightly protected, and some of them not at all. None of the
Japanese vessels had external armor, their protection consisting of
steel decks and internal lining down to the water-line.

On perceiving the enemy's ships, Admiral Ito, of the Japanese fleet, at
once gave orders to his captains to prepare for action. Ting, the
Chinese admiral, did the same, drawing up his fleet in a single line,
with the large ships in the centre and the weaker ones on the wings.
Ito, who proposed to take advantage of the superior speed of his ships
and circle round his adversary, drew up his vessels in a single