This ship were ordered by the Qing's China as a "Qin Shi Huang" in 1907, as part of large naval modernisation, but not completed until the 1911 revolution. Delivered in 1912, she was named "Yuan Shikai" in honour of the first president (dictator) of republic China.
Essentially, she was build by Vickers as a smaller and cheaper version of the "Invincible"-class battlecruiser, with steam machines instead of turbines and main armament of eight 254-mm/50 guns (the same that were made for the russian cruiser "Rurik II"). The Chinese made the same mistake as the Germans - they believed that British battlecruisers are armed with 234-mm guns, and wanted to get a "more powerful than that" ship. They failed.
![[ img ]](http://alternathistory.org.ua/files/IOCN%20Yuan%20Shikai.png)
Description:
Delivered in 1913, the cruiser had a displacement of about 15,400 tons. She was driven by three triple expansion steam engines with total power output a 32000 hp, with 32 Yarrow boilers. Maximum speed on a trial mile was 25.2 knots.
The ship was armed with eight 254-mm/50 guns in four turrets, and ten BL 4-inch Mk VII guns in casemate mounts. The armor belt has a constant thickness of 152 mm; barbettes were 178 mm and turrets were 152 mm. The main (and only) armour deck has a thickness of 57 mm with 75 mm slopes.
Service:
Despite all its shortcomings, "Yan Shikai" was still a strongest Chinese ship of its time (and before the completion of japanese battlecruiser "Haruna" - the most powerfull cruisers in East Asia). In August 1914, "Yuan Shikai" represented China at the opening of the Panama Canal. When the Great War began, the cruiser started patrolling the waters of Qingdao, protecting Chinese shipping from possible accidential attacks.
During the warlord era, "Yan Shikai" were seized by Anhui clique. She was used intensively against rival warlords, and later - against Nationalists. In 1922-1925, "Yan Shikai" raided southern coast, shelling the cities and harassing convoys. But in the May of 1927, the cruiser was attacked by two nationalist's blimps and five airplanes, and almost did not go out of the harbors.
In 1928, she was seized by the Nationalists during the Northen Expedition. The Kuomintang goverment used former "Yuan Shikai" (renamed "Honorable Sun Tszyaozhen") as artillery training and coastal defense ship until the second sino-japanese war in 1935. In January 1936, the ship was badly damaged in the battle with two Japanese heavy cruisers and later sunk in harbour by Japanese aircraft.
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