Haichou
| Country | China |
| Ship Class | Hairong-class Protected Cruiser |
| Builder | Aktien-Gesellschaft Vulcan Stettin, Germany |
| Launched | 11 Dec 1897 |
| Sunk | 25 Aug 1937 |
| Displacement | 2680 tons standard; 2950 tons full |
| Length | 328 feet |
| Beam | 41 feet |
| Draft | 19 feet |
| Machinery | Four coal boilers, two turbines, two shafts |
| Bunkerage | 200-580 tons of coal |
| Power Output | 7500 SHP |
| Speed | 19 knots |
| Crew | 244 |
| Armament | 3x150mm Krupp QF guns, 8x105mm Krupp QF guns, 1x60mm Krupp gun, 6x37mm Hotchkiss guns, 6x8mm Maxim machine guns, 3x360mm torpedo tubes |
| Armor | 25-70mm deck, 51mm turret shields, 38mm conning tower |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
Haichou was built in Germany for the Chinese Navy at the cost of £163,000. In 1911, she was initially used to bombard revolutionary forces at Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, but would switch sides in Nov. In 1926, she participated in the Northern Expedition campaign, supporting Nationalist troops at Shanghai, China where she was damaged during an engagement with the Beiyang fleet. Although she went through modernization in 1930, which added an anti-aircraft gun, by the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937 she was obsolete, thus when the need rose to block the Yangtze River from Japanese use, Haichou became one of the older ships scuttled in the middle of the river at Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, China for this purpose.
Haichou Operational Timeline
| 11 Dec 1897 | Haichou was launched by AG Vulcan in Germany. |
| 24 Aug 1898 | Haichou arrived at Tianjin, China. |
| 26 Oct 1911 | Haichou fired on revolutionary forces at Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. |
| 28 Oct 1911 | Haichou fired on revolutionary forces at Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. |
| 14 Nov 1911 | At Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, Captain Huang Zhongying of protected cruiser Haichou switched sides in the Chinese revolution, declaring support for the revolutionaries. |
| 20 Nov 1911 | Haichou fired on the Qing troop concentration at the railroad station at Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, destroying 5 trains and killing many. |
| 14 Mar 1926 | Haichou supported Nationalist troops at Shanghai, China during the Northern Expedition campaign. |
| 27 Mar 1926 | Haichou was damaged by Beiyang warships off Wusong, Shanghai, China, which caused 9 killed and 10 to 20 wounded. |
| 25 Aug 1937 | Haichou was scuttled in the Yangtze River at Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province, China to block Japanese movement up river. |
Photographs
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Joachim von Ribbentrop, German Foreign Minister, Aug 1939



