The Beiyang Fleet was the most important of four nominally modern Qing fleets and included ironclads, armored and protected cruisers, gunboats, and torpedo craft. On paper, that inventory made China appear to possess the premier navy in Asia. Dingyuan and Zhenyuan carried four formidable 12-inch guns in an experimental arrangement intended to fire heavily forward and across the deck. In practice, blast threatened the bridge and funnels, the ships maneuvered poorly, and their machinery demanded difficult maintenance. Their specifications advertised national power, but the operating burden prevented that paper strength from becoming reliable combat power.
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The Beiyang Fleet's paper strength
China possessed Asia's apparent premier fleet, including two ironclads, but its experimental ships were difficult to operate and sustain.