Archaeologists announced that the sunken warship known as Dandong No 1 was tentatively identified on Thursday as the cruiser Zhiyuan of the Beiyang Fleet at Dandong, Liaoning province.

Some 120 items ranging from ship components to ship-borne weapons and daily necessities were salvaged from the wreckage, said Zhou Chunshui with the National Center of Underwater Cultural Heritage, who led the 67-day underwater excavation that was completed on Tuesday.

The most crucial evidence for the ship's identity is three porcelain plates, featuring old Chinese characters "Zhi Yuan" surrounded by English words using the Wade-Giles spelling of Zhi Yuan: "Chih Yuan The Imperial Chinese Navy".