China's major archaeological finds in last five years (part 2)

Archaeologists measure shipwreck of the Zhiyuan, which was sunk by the Japanese navy during the first Sino-Japanese War in 1894, in Liaoning province. [File photo/Xinhua]

Warship sunk during Sino-Japanese War in the Yellow Sea

Significant discoveries of the shipwreck "Dandong No.1" of Qing Dynasty in Liaoning province have been made in 2015.

The shipwreck found in the Yellow Sea was finally confirmed to be the cruiser Zhiyuan, sunk by the Japanese navy 122 years ago during the Sino-Japanese War in the Dandong sea area of north part of the Yellow Sea.

The 50-meter wreck was about 10 nautical miles southwest of Dandong Port in Northeast China's Liaoning province, at a depth of around 20 meters.

Zhiyuan, built in Britain in 1887, was one of the most advanced warships in the Beiyang Fleet, defeated in 1894 by the Japanese navy.

Severely damaged in the battle, the ship was not well preserved. Divers have retrieved more than 120 items from the seabed, including a porthole, machine gun, shells, and dinnerware bearing the characters "Zhiyuan", strong evidence pointing to the ship's identity.

It was an important underwater archaeological discovery in China, which provided precious archaeological materials for the investigation of the history of the Sino-Japanese War and the world naval history.

Warship sunk during Sino-Japanese War in the Yellow Sea was listed as one of China's top 10 archaeological discoveries in 2015.