Dr. Terry Beckenbaugh discussed the significance of the first major battle between two all-steel fleets in the pre-dreadnaught era and its ramifications for the whole of naval warfare. The Battle of the Yalu River, fought September 17, 1894, was the decisive battle of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. The battle not only ushered in a new era of naval warfare, but marked Japan’s rise as a colonial power in Northeast Asia.
Dr. Terry Beckenbaugh is an Associate Professor of Military History within the Department of Military History at the US Army Command & General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth. He is currently working on a book focusing on the White River campaign in 1862 Arkansas, and the eventual defeat of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.