Battle of Fuzhou

23 August 1884, Mawei anchorage, Min River

Decisive French victory

Courbet's squadron had been allowed into the Min River while talks went on, and anchored beside the Fujian Fleet. When talks broke down he attacked at close range. French torpedo boats crippled the flagship Yangwu, and gunfire sank or burned most of the Chinese ships within an hour or so. Over the next days the French shelled the navy yard and fought their way back down the river past the forts.

French Navy

10 ships, none lost

Ship	Type	Outcome
Volta Courbet's flagship	Dispatch vessel	Survived
Triomphante	Ironclad	Survived
Duguay-Trouin	Cruiser	Survived
Villars	Cruiser	Survived
D'Estaing	Cruiser	Survived

Flotillas and other craft	Number	Lost
Gunboats Lynx, Aspic and Vipère.	3	0
Torpedo boats Nos. 45 and 46.	2	0

Flotillas and other craft

Number

Lost

Gunboats

Lynx, Aspic and Vipère.

Torpedo boats

Nos. 45 and 46.

Qing Chinese Navy

11 ships, 9 lost

Ship	Type	Outcome
Yangwu 揚武 Torpedoed and run aground	Corvette	Wrecked

Flotillas and other craft	Number	Lost
Other warships of the Fujian Fleet Sources agree China lost nine of its eleven warships, but differ on details. Fuxing, Fusheng, Jiansheng and Zhenwei were among those sunk; Fubo and Yixin escaped upriver. Some accounts add war junks, raising the total to over 20.	10	8

Flotillas and other craft

Number

Lost

Other warships of the Fujian Fleet

Sources agree China lost nine of its eleven warships, but differ on details. Fuxing, Fusheng, Jiansheng and Zhenwei were among those sunk; Fubo and Yixin escaped upriver. Some accounts add war junks, raising the total to over 20.

Map

Courbet enters the Min River July – August 1884
Fighting back down the Min 25–28 August 1884