Born in Fuzhou, he graduated from the Nanjing naval college in 1902. In July 1911, Du was appointed the commander of a vessel. His crew followed orders from Yuan Shikai to sail up the Yangtze and help put down the Wuchang Uprising later that year. However, when he saw that the Qing empire was collapsing, Du and his sailors mutinied, joining the Republican government. The uprising was what forced the Qing naval minister Sa Zhenbing to resign his post. After Yuan became the head of the government in Beijing, Du continued to serve him.

In 1922, he was made chief of the navy and helped the Zhili clique defeat Zhang Zuolin. In the spring of 1923, Shanghai's fleet rebelled and Du took responsibility by resigning but was recalled in November. In 1924, he commanded the Yangtze fleet of Jiangsu and defeated the Anhui clique's Zhejiang fleet led by Lin Jianzhang. Several ships defected to his side giving him control of Shanghai's waters.

In 1926, he served concurrently as acting president, premier, and minister of the navy.^[1] The Nanjing-based Nationalist government later employed him and sent him on an inspection tour of foreign navies.

• List of premiers of the Republic of China
• List of presidents of the Republic of China