Wreckage of sunken battleship found


The National Center of Underwater Cultural Heritage launched an archaeological program in 2014 to investigate the shipwrecks of the Beiyang Fleet. The Zhiyuan and the Jingyuan, two Chinese cruisers sunk in the Battle of the Yalu River on Sept 17, 1894, have been found off Liaoning province.
The two vessels were basically in good condition, according to Jiang Bo, an archaeologist at the center.
The Beiyang Fleet was hailed as the strongest in Asia on the eve of the Sino-Japanese War and Liugong was its main hub. Nevertheless, the fleet was annihilated during the conflict.
This year marks the 125th anniversary of the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War. Liugong Island, former office site of the Beiyang Fleet, has been developed into a "foundation for patriotic education" to remind young generations to learn from the bitter lessons of history.
Xinhua contributed to this story.