參與清法戰爭的法國巡洋艦､砲艦和杆雷艇

The French Cruisers, Gunboats, and Spar Torpedo Boats Involved in the Sino-French War 1884-1885

紀榮松(Rong-Song Jih)

《淡江史學》 22期 (2010/09) Pp. 147-188

https://doi.org/10.29712/THR.201009.0007

摘要

清法戰爭(1884-1885)因北圻宗主權糾紛而起。隨著戰火自越北逐步蔓延到福建、台灣、浙江，法國海軍也迭次增兵遠東。孤拔提督前後曾經動用的船艦合計多達五十艘，含鐵甲巡洋戰艦五、大小巡洋艦二十、運輸艦十二、砲艦九、及杆雷艇四。其規模甚至超越法國本土艦隊。當時法國駐外海軍均以「兵站」(station locale)、「支隊」(division navale)為單位，只有孤拔擁有「艦隊」(escadre)司令頭銜。本文描述孤拔屬下與台灣戰場較有關連的巡洋艦、砲艦、杆雷艇，依據美國海軍所珍藏的船艦圖片、史料、書籍，探討法國駐亞艦隊編組的演變消長，穿插相關的當代海軍史實，並評比部份法艦、清艦的性能與戰績。

關鍵字

清法戰爭 ； 台灣 ； 法國海軍 ； 巡洋艦 ； 砲艦 ； 杆雷艇

並列摘要

Long before the Sino-French War (1884-1885) broke out, there had been regional conflicts between the local ”Black Flag” units (黑旗軍) and the French Tonkin expeditionary forces dispatched from the Cochinchina. Two French commanders, Frances Garnier and Henri Riviere, were killed by LIU Yongfu (劉永福), the leader of the ”Black Flag”, in 1873 and 1883, respectively. The conflicts could no longer be confined in Tonkin when the French Government mis-perceived the Bac Lé (北黎) incident as a concrete proof that the Manchu Chinese Government in Beijing had no intention to honor the terms outlined in the Tiantsin Convention (天津簡約) of May 1884. As the war escalated and gradually propagated from Tonkin to Keelung (基隆, northeastern Taiwan), Mawei (馬尾, on River Min of Fujian), Tamsui (淡水, northwestern Taiwan), Shipoo (石浦) and Zhenhai (鎮海) (Zhejiang) and the Pescadores Islands (澎湖) off Taiwan (Formosa), the French Navy also significantly increased the number of men-of-war dispatched to Asia, in order to reinforce Vice Admiral Courbet's ”Far East Fleet” (Escadre de l'Éxtême-Orient). Though certainly not present at the same time and same place, there were in total 50 warships at his disposal, including 5 ”station battleship”-type ironclads, 20 cruisers-large and small, 9 gunboats, 12 transports, and 4 torpedo boats. The size of his fleet actually exceeded that of the home fleet (Escadre d'Évolutions), when other naval units in various French colonies of the time were either called ”naval division” (division navale) or ”local station” (station locale). Courbet was the only one who had ever been awarded the title of a ”fleet” commander-in-chief. Two months after his death on Pescadores Islands, the ”Far East Fleet” was downgraded to the ”Far East Division”. Based on the contemporary materials (photos, books, etc) available at several naval facilities and libraries in the eastern U.S., this paper describes the French cruisers, gunboats, and the spar torpedo boats that actively took part in the Sino-French War. Detailed interpretations are given to a couple of precious photos of Chinese and French warships standing off at the Pagoda Anchorage off Mawei that were taken by a young U.S. naval officer on-site just a week or two prior to the naval battle of 23 August 1884. Also worth noting is that Admiral Courbet commanded three successful attacks with standard and auxiliary spar torpedoe boats at Mawei and Shipoo; sinking or seriously damaging Chinese men-of-war ”Yang Wu” (揚武, 1608-ton), ”Fu Hsing” (福星, 515-ton), and ”Yu-Yuan” (馭遠, 2630-ton). This was unprecedented in the East Asia.

並列關鍵字

Sino-French War 1884-1885 ； Formosa Taiwan ； French Navy ； Cruiser ； Gunboat ； Spar Torpedo