Fulong torpedo boat

The Fulong torpedo boat (simplified Chinese: 福龙; traditional Chinese: 福龍; pinyin：Fulong) was a torpedo boat of the Chinese Beiyang Fleet.

Background
In 1884, after the Sino-French war (1884–1885), the Chinese Fujian Fleet signed a contract worth 57 thousand taels of silver (207 million German Goldmark) with the German Schichau shipyards in Elbing. The file number was S10, The boat was launched in 1886.

Design
Fulong was the first real torpedo boat of the Chinese Fleet, with a length of 42.75 metres, width of 5 metres and draught of 2.3 metres. The standard displacement is 115 long tons and the full load displacement is 120 long tons. Fulong has a coal-fired reciprocating steam engine, with 1 boiler, with single-shaft paddle, with a rating of 1,016 hp, which could reach a speed of 24.2 nautical miles per hour. Her main armament was 3 14 inch (356mm) torpedo tubes. Two of them were located in torpedo rooms which are on both sides of the bows. The third one was on the truck which located on the stern. There were 3 Schwartz Kopf torpedoes in store. The armament also included two 37mm guns. The complete crew team was formed by 20 officers and men.

Chinese service
Fulong was delivered by a German crew and started serving in the Chinese Fujian Fleet on 24 September 1886. In 1890, Because the Fujian Fleet was strapped financially, Fulong was been sold to the Chinese Beiyang Fleet to continue in service.

Fulong was introduced at beginning of the First Sino-Japanese War(1894-1895). At the Battle of the Yellow Sea on 17 September 1894, Fulong used her 3 torpedoes to attack Japanese cargo and transport ship Sei-Kyo Maru. It was carrying Viscount Admiral Kabeyama Sukenori. The first 2 torpedoes missed. The last torpedo ran under the Sei-Kyo Maru without exploding. The reason being that Sei-Kyo Maru was a cargo and transport ship, her draught is shallower than battleships. The depth keeping of Beiyang Fleet’s torpedo was set for battleships. For Sei-Kyo Maru, it is too deep. Fulong has lost her last chance.

In early 1895, the remnants of the Beiyang Fleet were based at Liugong Island within Weihaiwei. During the Battle of Weihaiwei, on 7 February 1895, Fulong tried to break out of encirclement but failed. On the same day, she was captured by the Japanese combined fleet.

Japanese service
Fulong was indexed in Japanese combined fleet on 27 February 1895. She was used as second-class torpedo boat. Moreover she was still named Fulong. Fulong attended the Naval Review in 1900. For 4 years, during the Russo-Japanese War, Fulong was used as a command boat of the fifth fleet until the war was over. She was sold for scrap on 1 April 1908.