Yalu River, Battle of

In the first Sino–Japanese War, Chinese naval defeat by a Japanese fleet 17 September 1894 at the mouth of the Yalu River, the border between Korea and Manchuria. This was the first large-scale naval action in which breech-loading guns, quick-firing guns, and torpedoes were used.

The Chinese had two battleships and eight cruisers, while the Japanese had ten cruisers and two gunboats, though the Chinese were handicapped by a shortage of ammunition. The battle lasted for over four hours, at the end of which three of the Chinese ships had been sunk and a fourth run aground. The Japanese then retired, leaving the Chinese to limp into Port Arthur. Japanese losses were 96 killed and 208 wounded; Chinese losses were never known.

Yalu River, Battle of

The Japanese crossing the Yalu river during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. On 1 May 1904 the Japanese army, led by Count Tamesada Kuroki, defeated the Russians at the Battle of the Yalu River, a victory that allowed the Japanese to press westwards towards Port Arthur. This illustration compares the event to the crossing of the Uji river during the Japanese civil war in 1184.

During the Russo–Japanese War, Russian defeat by the Japanese 1 May 1904 in the vicinity of Antung (now Dandong), Manchuria.

The Yalu River formed the border with Korea, and a 40,000-strong Japanese army under Count Tamesada Kuroki forced a crossing against light opposition; the following day, they launched an attack at the Russian garrison near Antung, a force of about 30,000. The attack was carried through very quickly and the garrison driven out, leaving some 3,000 casualties, 500 prisoners, and 48 guns. The Russians retired north, while the Japanese secured their crossing and began to move off in two directions: north after the Russian field armies and to the west in order to besiege Port Arthur.