 To make matters worse for the defenders of Lüshunkou, the Beiyang Fleet had received orders from Viceroy Li Hongzhang (based in Tianjin) to withdraw to Weihaiwei rather than risk engagement with the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was thus not able to play any role in the defense of their base.Worse still, when withdrawing from Lüshunkou, the flagship of the Beiyang Fleet, the battleship , struck rocks at the entrance of Weihaiwei harbor and had to be beached.As the only docks capable of making repairs were at Lüshunkou, this effectively put it out of commission for the remainder of the war.