On March 21 of the second year of the Republic of China (1913), the Navy Department (then Chief of the Navy Liu Guanxiong) submitted a plan for the construction of the Navy, namely, the First Plan for the Establishment of Ships by the Navy Department, which included two 2.6 10000-ton battlecruisers, equipped with 10 13.5 inches, 14 6-inch rapid-fire guns, 6 3-pound high-flat dual-purpose guns and 4 torpedo tubes. However, its dimensions changed to 590 feet long, 90 feet wide, 28 feet draught, 28 knots speed, 12 inches of armor, and 2.1 million pounds per ship.This plan is suspected to be derived from the existing Lion class battlecruiser program in Britain.