World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe Fuzhou Arsenal (Postal Map romanization: Foochow), also known as Mawei Arsenal, was built in the Mawei district of Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China beginning in 1867. Two French Navy officers Prosper Giquel and Paul d'Aiguebelle oversaw the project; they would remain after the completion of the construction to oversee the building of eleven transports, the building of five gunboats, and the establishment of a school for navigation and marine engineering. The first ship launched, in Jun 1869, was transport Wannian Qing. On 23 Aug 1884, during the Sino-French War, a powerful French fleet which had sortied out of Indochina destroyed the Chinese Fuzhou Flotilla and damaged the shipyard, but the Chinese would fend off an attempt to occupy the shipyard. In the subsequent years, the shipyard would be modernized, and it would provide several light cruisers that would serve the navies of Qing Dynasty China and the Republic of China. Unprotected cruiser Tongji was one of the ships built at Fuzhou at the turn of the century that would remain in service to see action in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The training center, barracks, shipyard, and the naval hospital were damaged by Japanese aerial bombing prior to the entire arsenal's capture in 1938. Although Fuzhou would be recaptured by the Chinese in 1941 and that the Japanese would not return until 1944, Fuzhou Arsenal only played a minor role in the war.

Ships Constructed at Fuzhou Arsenal

Fuzhou Arsenal Interactive Map

Photographs