Beiyang leadership and training decline

Had the Beiyang Fleet declined in leadership and training by 1894?

Training had declined, but capable leaders remained initially; wartime officer suicides then made the leadership crisis much worse.

Prewar readiness and wartime collapse were different problems. The Beiyang Fleet still possessed capable leaders when the war began, so command quality had not disappeared by 1894. Training had declined because maintenance-intensive ships could not steam and exercise as often as a more serviceable fleet. Repeated wartime suicides then removed experienced officers after reverses and transformed a readiness problem into a severe leadership crisis.