Remembering maritime heroes from abroad(2)

A tablet set up in memory of Philo Norton McGiffin in Pennsylvania.

Between 1875 and 1895, when the Beiyang fleet was founded and came to an end, there were more than 200 naval officers and technicians from the US and Europe. They were known as Yang Yuan or foreign officers, who worked for the fleet to help China build a modern navy and fight the Japanese, according to Chen Yue, a historian who has been studying the First Sino-Japanese War for 15 years.

"Despite the defeat of the Beiyang fleet, foreign officers made a great contribution to the Chinese navy and China," Chen said. "They gave their best years and even their lives for a strange people under a strange flag."

Among the eight foreign officers who participated in the Battle of the Yalu River, two were killed and four were wounded.

"I saw a vivid glare in front, and a horrible feeling for about a billionth of a second ... I just thought 'this is death' and knew no more," McGiffin wrote about his experience in the battle.

British officer Alexander Purvis was supposed to return home for a vacation when the war broke out, but insisted on staying and joining the battle as head of the engine department of the battleship Zhi Yuan.

After their vessel had been severely damaged and burned, the Zhi Yuan crew attempted to ram a Japanese battleship but failed. Purvis, aged 29, went down with his ship.

The Chinese people erected two cenotaphs at the port to remember the sacrifice of Purvis and Thomas Nicholls, another British officer who died in the battle at the age of 45.

Li Hongzhang, one of the eight viceroys of China, wrote to the emperor after the battle and said: "They are from overseas, but fought and even died for China. They are brave, loyal and righteous."