They were the first ships of that size to be built for the Chinese Navy, having been constructed by Stettiner Vulcan AG in Germany.

Naval conflicts with Western powers earlier in the 19th century such as the First and Second Opium Wars, during which European warships decisively defeated China's traditional junk fleets, prompted a major rearmament program that began in the 1880s under the Viceroy of Zhili province, Li Hongzhang.

Britain was unwilling to sell China warships of this size for fear of offending the Russian Empire, despite having sold Japan similar vessels, so Li turned to German shipyards.

[4] The German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) was completing the four Sachsen-class ironclads, and offered to sell China ships built to a modified design.

Li wanted to buy up to 12 large ironclads, but tight finances prevented an order of three ships, of which the Jiyuan was reduced in size to that of a protected cruiser.

Each ship carried a pair of second-class torpedo boats astern of the funnels, along with derricks to unload them.

[5] Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were powered by a pair of horizontal, three-cylinder trunk steam engines, each of which drove a single screw propeller.

[15] Three 14 in (356 mm) torpedo tubes rounded out the armament; one was mounted in the stern, and the other two were placed forward of the main battery, all above water.

A 3 in (76 mm) armoured deck ran the entire length of the ships, leaving the ends undefended.

[4] Completed in early 1883 and 1884, respectively, Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were to be sailed to China by a German crew, but delays—primarily from France following the outbreak of the Sino-French War in 1884—kept the ships in Germany.

A German crew took Dingyuan out for a firing test at sea, causing glass to shatter around the ship, along with damage to a funnel.

[19] Dingyuan was the flagship of the new formation, and by the time of the First Sino-Japanese War, she was under the command of Commodore Liu Pu-chan, while Admiral Ding Ruchang was also stationed on board.

[20] With the war breaking out in 1894, both ships of the Dingyuan class first saw combat at the Battle of the Yalu River on 17 September.

A shot from Dingyuan at a distance of 6,000 yards (5,500 m) from the Japanese was the first attack of the Chinese fleet, which destroyed its own flying bridge and injured the Admiral and his staff.

Her signalling mast was also disabled, causing the Chinese fleet to operate purely in the preassigned pairs throughout the battle.

They were unable to prevent the capture of the port's fortifications by the Japanese, and underwent nightly attacks by torpedo boats.

[29][30] Zhenyuan was subsequently recommissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy as Chin Yen,[29] becoming the first true battleship in the fleet.

[32] The Chinese government built a replica of Dingyuan at Weihai, which is open as a museum ship.