Yuan Naval Fleet

Timeline

1. c. 1280–1340Dadu grain transport and coastal defense system · North ChinaAfter the founding of the Yuan, the remnants of the Southern Song navy, grain-transport ships, and coastal patrol vessels were integrated, with institutions such as the Naval Commandery of Ten Thousand Households established. Tower ships, fast galleys, and sea-going vessels maintained Grand Canal grain transport and southeast coastal defense, and in the early 14th century they were a key force for the Yuan court's control of the Jiangnan economic lifeline.
2. 1351–1360Poyang Lake and middle Yangtze · JiangxiAfter the Red Turban uprising of 1351, the Yuan navy repeatedly fought naval battles against the rebels and local forces on the Yangtze River, Poyang Lake, and elsewhere, while also escorting grain transport. By around 1360 the Yuan court still possessed a considerable number of warships, but troop morale and logistics had severely deteriorated, and gaps appeared in the river defense system.
3. c. 1361–1368Jiangnan naval camps · JiangnanIn the 1360s, as Zhu Yuanzhang and other powers rose, Yuan naval vessels either surrendered, were captured, or dispersed. By 1368, when the Ming army campaigned northward and the Yuan court moved north, the Yuan naval establishment formally ended, with warships and craftsmen partly transferred into the early Ming naval system.