After 1860, the Chinese Empire made considerable efforts to acquire a modern navy to enable it to compete with the European colonial powers and the increasing threat from Japan. This book details the history of that development through the collapse of the empire and the Nationalist period up to the end of the Second World War. A full account is given of the acquisition of warships from abroad, the establishment of shipyards, naval bases and training academies in China, and the effect of complex and violent domestic politics on the fledgling service. The naval side of the Sino-French war of 1884, the disastrous war with Japan in 1894-5, and the role of the navy in the Warlord period of the early 20th century and the later Japanese war of 1937-45 are fully described.