Zhenyuan's grounding and command collapse

A reef tore a six-meter hole in Zhenyuan while she maneuvered through obstacles protecting Weihaiwei harbor. Flooding reached the port engine room, and the ship remained stranded for weeks before salvage crews could tow her into the anchorage. Because Weihaiwei lacked a dry dock, divers could only install a concrete patch that left the ironclad partly seaworthy. Her experienced captain was made to take responsibility through suicide, and another commander later died when the fleet was ordered to surrender or scuttle. The institutional cost was severe: hard-won expertise vanished and surviving crews lost confidence before the final siege.