港口城市天津，作為京都的門戶，在設(shè)防軍隊(duì)中，水師的建立十分重要。清代水師在天津的建立，始于雍正四年(1762),在大沽建滿洲水師營(yíng)。設(shè)都統(tǒng)一員，協(xié)領(lǐng)6員，兵員3000名。據(jù)《雍正朝滿文朱批奏折全譯》記載： 雍正七年(1729),水師營(yíng)分為左右2營(yíng)，滿洲兵丁減至2000名，戰(zhàn)船32只，大炮48門，斗頭炮6門。該年四月八日，“初次入?？谧鏊吓R戰(zhàn)演習(xí)” 。水師營(yíng)還用銀行存款利息，在新城開設(shè)店鋪11處。
乾隆三十二年(1767),裁撤滿洲水師營(yíng)，改設(shè)大沽游擊公署。嘉慶二十二年(1817),恢復(fù)水師營(yíng)建制。道光六年(1826),以水師營(yíng)“歲糜帑金，無俾使用” ,又將水師營(yíng)裁撤。
鴉片戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)后，帝國(guó)主義屢犯大沽口，為了加強(qiáng)首都北京的軍事防務(wù)，清政府決定在港口城市天津，“先于北洋創(chuàng)辦水師一軍” 。清光緒元年(1875),清廷委派李鴻章督辦北洋水師。光緒五年 (1879),李鴻章在紫竹林設(shè)北洋水師營(yíng)務(wù)處，辦理海軍事務(wù)。以道員馬建忠負(fù)責(zé)“稽核功過，監(jiān)視操練” ; 并在天津設(shè)立海防支應(yīng)局，負(fù)責(zé)海軍奉餉及各廠塢經(jīng)費(fèi)。
光緒十年 (1884),北洋水師已經(jīng)初具規(guī)模，擁有軍艦14艘，分別泊駐大沽、旅順、營(yíng)口、煙臺(tái)，管轄奉天(遼寧)、直隸 (河北) 、山東海面。同年十月十一日，李鴻章帶北洋水師提督丁汝昌、海關(guān)道兼北洋行營(yíng)翼長(zhǎng)周馥，在大沽口查看驗(yàn)收購(gòu)自德國(guó)的 “定遠(yuǎn)” 、“鎮(zhèn)遠(yuǎn)” 、“濟(jì)遠(yuǎn)”3艘鐵甲艦。光緒十四年(1888),北洋海軍艦隊(duì)正式成軍，衙門設(shè)在威海衛(wèi)，隸屬駐津總衙門的北洋大臣李鴻章統(tǒng)轄。同年三月，北洋海軍艦船由管帶官鄧世昌統(tǒng)率，自廈門駛抵大沽口，李鴻章出海察看。
光緒十六年(1890)五月七日，李鴻章在水師營(yíng)務(wù)處臬司周馥、道員羅豐祿、海關(guān)道劉汝翼陪同下，查驗(yàn)福州造船廠制造的 “平遠(yuǎn)” 號(hào)兵船，后交水師提督丁汝昌統(tǒng)率。轉(zhuǎn)年四月十六日，在北洋海軍建軍3周年之際，李鴻章在周馥、劉汝翼陪同下，對(duì)北洋海軍進(jìn)行了第一次校閱視察，歷時(shí)18天，五月三日返抵大沽。
光緒二十年 (1894),中日甲午海戰(zhàn)中，北洋海軍全軍覆沒。

·北洋海軍章程總目

Tianjin,sitting by the seaside,is the door leading tothe capital Beijing. It`s important to build a strongnavy here to defend threats from the sea. The Qinggovernment started building navy in Tianjin from 1762(the fourth year of Emperor Yongzheng) in Dagu. Onesupervisor was appointed,assisted by six officials andallocated with 3000 soldiers. According to the recordsof memorials to Emperor Yongzheng,in 1729 (the7th year of Emperor Yongzheng),the navy camp wasdevided into the left camp and the right camp,while atthe same time,soldiers of Man nationality were reducedto 2000 men. The camp was disposed with 32 warships,48 cannons and 6 Doutou cannons. On August 8th ofthe same year,"the navy first sailed in the sea and wasdrilled for war". The navy camp also took advantage ofthe interest of the deposits in the banks and opened 11stores in Xin city.
In 1767 (the 32nd year of Emperor Qianlong),thenavy was removed and the Dagu Warfare GovernmentOffice was set up instead. In 1817 (the 22nd year ofEmperor Jiaqing),the navy was resumed. In 1817 (the6th year of Emperor Daoguang),the navy was onceagain removed for the reason of "wasting money anduseless".
After the opium war,Dagukou was frequentlyattacked by the invaders. To strengthen the defense of itscapital,the Qing Government decided to build BeiyangNavy in Tianjin. In 1875 (the first year of EmperorGuangxu period),Li Hongzhang was appointed to takecharge of the issue. In 1879,Li set up a preparatorybarrack at Zizhulin to deal with navy affairs. MagistrateMa Jianzhong was asked to organize training issues. Acoast defense sub-bureau was also set up in Tianjin fornavy expenditure and cost of the docks.
In 1884,Beiyang Navy had taken shape,owning 14warships stationed in ports like Dagu,Lvshun,Yingkouand Yantai to safeguard maritime space of Fengtian(Liaoning),Zhili (Hebei) and Shangdong provinces. OnOctober 11,Li,accompanied by Ding Ruchang,Prefectof the Beiyang Navy,and Zhou Fu,head of the TianjinCustoms and field headquarter,checked and acceptedthree imported armour warships from Germany,whosenames were "Dingyuan","Zhenyuan" and "Jiyuan"respectively. In 1888,the Beiyang Navy built its fleetand headquartered in Weihaiwei under the leadershipof Beiyang Grand Minister Li Hongzhang. In March,Captain Deng Shichang commanded the Northern Fleetsailing from Xiamen to the Dagu Emplacement. Deng`sfleet was received by Governor-General Li Hongzhangon the sea.
On May 7,1890,Li inspected the warship"Pingyuan" manufactured by the Fuzhou Shipyard. Thewarship was later commanded by navy prefect DingRuchang. On April 16,1891,Li,accompanied by ZhouFu and Liu Ruyi,launched an 18-day inspection tourto the Beiyang Navy for the first time to mark the thirdanniversary of its founding.
In 1894,the Beiyang Navy was overwhelminglydefeated by the Japanese navy during the China-JapanWar of 1894-95.

·北洋艦隊(duì) “靖遠(yuǎn)” 號(hào)鐵甲艦