Our Torpedo Boat Sinks the Enemy Warship Dingyuan (Waga suiraitei tekikan Teien gekichin su)

This print depicts the torpedo attack on the Dingyuan (Teien in the Japanese title), one of the two German-built ironclad battleships that formed the centerpiece of the Beiyang Fleet. The Dingyuan was struck by Japanese torpedo boats during the Battle of Weihaiwei (February 1895) and was ultimately captured and incorporated into the Japanese Navy. Kiyochika renders the moment of impact—a torpedo boat at close range, the explosion at the warship's waterline, and the massive bulk of the ironclad looming above. The dramatic disproportion between the small attacking vessel and the towering target structures the composition and underscores the audacity of the attack. Night setting allows Kiyochika to deploy the explosive flash as the primary light source, a technique refined in his fire and festival imagery.