Planning for the shipyard,the Fuzhou Naval College ( t船政學堂,s船政学堂,pChuánzhèng Xuétáng,wCh'uan-cheng Hsüeh-t'ang), and other facilities began in 1866.[4] Construction began in 1867. Two French Naval officers,Prosper Giquel and Paul d'Aiguebelle,both on leave from the French Imperial Navy,were contracted to recruit a staff of about forty European engineers and mechanics,and to oversee the construction of a metal-working forge,the creation of a Western-style naval dockyard,the construction of eleven transports and five gunboats,and the establishment of schools for training in navigation and marine engineering—all within a five-year period.[5][6][7][8] Chinese authorities provided the materials and labour,[9] with the number of labourers rising from an initial figure of 1,600 to more than 2,000 by 1872.[10] The operating cost over five years was estimated at 3 million taels of silver,and the cost of maintenance of the ships produced was partly funded by revenue from duties on the import of opium.[11] The first ship produced at the Arsenal,the 150-horsepowerQing Forever( t萬年清,s万年清,pWànnián Qīng,wWan-nien Ch'ing), was launched in June 1869.[12]
The shipyard was severely damaged by French forces in 1884 during the Sino-French War of 1883–1885,[13] in the battle of Fuzhou. A modern shipyard was later rebuilt on the site.[14]
The Foochow Arsenal under construction,between 1867 and 1871. Three albumen prints joined to form a panorama.
See also
Chen Jitong,shipbuilder and diplomat trained at the Foochow Arsenal
↑ Shi, Xuanzhi. 2019. “The Roots of Bilingual Education in China: The Educational Practices of Fujian Naval College in the Late Qing Period, 1866-1911.” Language & History 62 (2): 119–39. doi:10.1080/17597536.2019.1641955.
Pong, David. "Keeping the Foochow Navy Yard Afloat: Government Finance and China's Early Modern Defence Industry, 1866-75". In Modern Asian Studies, vol. 21, no. 1 (Cambridge University Press, 1987).
Seltzer, Leon E., ed. The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World (New York: Columbia University Press, 1952).
Thomson, John. China and its People in Early Photographs: An Unabridged Reprint of the Classic 1873/4 Work (reprint, New York: Dover Publications, 1982).
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