SS Tai Hing

SS Tai Hing (Chinese: 大興) was a river steamer built in 1927. In 1940, she was given to the Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (HKRNVR) and replaced HMS Cornflower as the headquarters of the unit. She was renamed HMS Cornflower (Chinese: 禾花) after its predecessor. To avoid confusion, the ship was sometimes referred to as HMS Cornflower II.

Tai Hing
United Kingdom
Name:
  • 1927–1940: SS Tai Hing
  • 1940–1941: HMS Cornflower
  • 1941–1944: SS Chuko Maru
Builder: Kwong Tak Cheong
Launched: 13 March 1927
Fate: Sunk on 20 August 1944
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: River steamer
Tonnage: 1,068 GRT
Length: 178.0 ft (54.3 m)
Beam: 32.1 ft (9.8 m)
Draught: 10.1 ft (3.1 m)
Installed power:
  • Single shaft engine
  • 96 nhp
Propulsion: 2 x Screws

History

She was built by Kwong Tak Cheong Shipbuilding Engineering and Dock Co. Ltd. (Chinese: 廣德昌船塢) of Hong Kong in 1927.[1] She was operated by Kwong Wo S.S. Co. (Chinese: 廣榮輪船公司) departed on her maiden voyage for Wuzhou on 13 March 1927,[2] and transferred to San Wo Co. Ltd. (Chinese: 生榮輪船公司) in around 1930.[1] Tai Hing continued to ferry passengers between Hong Kong and China. By 1940, the ship was acquired by Sir Robert Ho Tung, and the ferry route was disrupted by the Second Sino-Japanese War.[3]

Second World War

In March 1940, Tai Hing was turned over to the HKRNVR by Sir Ho Tung, where she would be loaned to for the duration of the war and three months thereafter.[3] She began to receive refitting as a training ship in the same month.[4] In June, she was used as a training ship by the unit.[5] The ship was to replace the older training ship HMS Cornflower, used by HKRNVR as their headquarters.[6]

In September, refitting was completed,[4] and the ship was renamed HMS Cornflower after its predecessor.[6][7] On 26 September, Cornflower was formally transferred to the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in a ceremony attended by Sir Ho Tung and acting governor Edward F. Norton.[8]

During the Battle of Hong Kong in December 1941, the ship remained moored southwest of Kellet Island under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Richard J.D. Vernall. She was scuttled in Deep Water Bay on 19 December 1941. A launch from the ship was used to help survivors of the battle, led by Admiral Chan Chak, escape to China.[9][10][11]

The ship was later refloated by Japan as a cargo ship and renamed SS Chuko Maru (中興丸). On 20 August 1944, she was bombed and sunk in the South China Sea off Hong Kong by Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft of the United States Fourteenth Air Force.[12][13]

References
  1. Lloyd's Register of Ships - 1930 (PDF). Lloyd's Register. Lloyd's Register. 1930. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-01-24. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  2. "大興輪船開始行走" [Steamer Tai Hing Begins Sailing]. The Kung Sheung Daily News (in Chinese). Hong Kong. 1927-03-14. p. 10.
  3. "New Naval Quarters; H.M.S. Cornflower Is Replaced". Hongkong Telegraph. Hong Kong. 1940-09-02. p. 5.
  4. "大興輪船改為海軍義勇隊練習艦" [Steamer Tai Hing Refitting as Naval Volunteer Force Training Ship]. The Kung Sheung Evening News (in Chinese). Hong Kong. 1940-09-02. p. 4.
  5. "海軍義勇隊徵用練習艦" [Naval Volunteer Force Requisites Training Ship]. Ta Kung Pao (in Chinese). Hong Kong. 1940-06-07. p. 6.
  6. Spence, David O. (2012). "Imperialism and identity in British colonial naval culture, 1930s to decolonialisation" (PDF). pp. 247–248. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  7. The Navy List Containing List of Ships, Establishments, and Officers of the Fleet. H.M. Government. 2. 1943. p. 1244. Archived from the original on 2021-01-24. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  8. "何東爵紳送出之大興輪 代督昨日舉行接收禮" [Ship Tai Hing Given by Sir Ho Tung Received Yesterday at a Ceremony Hosted by the Acting Governor]. The Kung Sheung Evening News (in Chinese). Hong Kong. 1940-09-26. p. 4.
  9. "Escape from Hong Kong - the jetty next to Staunton's Creek". Escape from Hong Kong. Hong Kong Escape.org. 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-04-21. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  10. Kindell, Don (2012-08-04). "NAVAL EVENTS, DECEMBER 1941 (Part 2 of 2)". NAVAL-HISTORY.NET. Archived from the original on 2020-02-29. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  11. "Royal Navy & Royal Air force". Hong Kong War Diary. Archived from the original on 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
  12. "Verluste Japanischer Handelsschiffe 1941-1945". Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart (in German). Archived from the original on 2016-05-29. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  13. "Seekrieg 1944, August". Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-11-11. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
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