History Chinese cruiser Hai Chi

sailors hai chi on parade in new york.

hai chi built in 1897 armstrong whitworth in newcastle upon tyne.

in 1911, hai chi visited united kingdom participate in fleet review held mark george v s coronation. visited newcastle electrical refitting @ armstrong whitworth. due occurrence of torreón massacre in mexico, mission extended include visit united states, cuba , mexico. on 11 september 1911, first imperial chinese navy vessel in american waters. while ship in cuba, mexico agreed chinese demands reparations , action against rebels, , last leg of ship s mission cancelled. hai chi sailed home , arrived new government, republic of china having replaced qing empire while ship away.

hai chi served in republic of china navy thereafter. in 1917 part of fleet joined sun yat-sen s constitutional protection movement against beijing government. in 1923 returned north, in 1926 joined fengtian faction of zhang zuolin, in manchuria. after loss of manchuria japan in mukden incident in 1931, hai chi moved qingdao along rest of fengtian navy , became part of roc navy s 3rd fleet. in 1933, due dispute fleet commander on pay , expenses, hai chi along 2 ships travelled south , joined guangdong navy. in 1935, due dispute governor of guangdong province, hai chi ship fought way past blockade reach hong kong, , capital nanjing, (as compromise) nominally returned third fleet, in reality came under direct command of ministry of defence.

the ship destroyed on 12 august 1937 when scuttled in yangtze river block japanese naval advance in second sino-japanese war. main guns dismantled before scuttling , installed on river defences of wuhan.