[3] The propulsion system consisted of a 250-horsepower (190 kW) steam engine, built by John Inglis and Company, equipped with four boilers and a retractable funnel.

[2] She was the seventh vessel built as part of a larger shipbuilding program at the Foochow Arsenal,[7] and cost 254,000 taels (353,000 silver dollars) for her construction.

Yangwu proved to be a spectacle for the inhabitants of the city, particularly the Chinese, some of whom had sailed out to greet her arrival in small boats and others who watched her from the mound on which the lighthouse sat overlooking the bay.

During the course of the meeting, the French demonstrated the firepower of their cruisers, which were nearly two and a half times the size of Yangwu, which in turn was the largest of the Chinese vessels.

[12] Afterwards, Yangwu headed to the naval yard at Foochow (now Fuzhou), while the remaining Chinese ships steamed to the port of Tianjin.

[13] On August 9, 1884, French naval forces attacked and captured Keelung on the island of Formosa in response to Chinese involvement in the Tonkin Campaign and specifically the Bắc Lệ ambush.

[12][14] Shortly afterwards, the French Navy's Far East Squadron under Rear Admiral Amédée Courbet, comprising the cruisers Duguay-Trouin, Villars, and d'Estaing along with a number of smaller vessels, was sent up the Min River to attack the arsenal at Foochow.

[14] Yangwu led the Fujian Fleet protecting Foochow under the command of Captain Chang Cheng,[15] which otherwise comprised three sloops in addition to a variety of gunboats, transports, launches and war junks.

[21] A report appeared following the battle of an interview with Mr. Yung, who claimed to have survived the Yangwu explosion having been stationed at the stern of the vessel.

As he swam away, Yung saw the Captain helping an engineer who had suffered severe burns but shortly afterwards the fore gunpowder magazine detonated, destroying the rest of the ship.

The bombardment of the arsenal lasted for two days before the French ships headed back down the river, destroying any forts they encountered on the way.