Beiyang Fleet | Vibepedia

The Beiyang Fleet was one of the four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty, sponsored by Li Hongzhang and becoming the dominant navy in Asia before the First Sino-Japanese War. It was the largest fleet in Asia and the 8th largest in the world during the late 1880s. The fleet's history is closely tied to the self-strengthening movement in northern China, led by Li Hongzhang as the Viceroy of Zhili and the Minister of Beiyang Commerce.