SS Taiping (1926)
 Taiping in 1940.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Taiping |
| Owner | Australian Oriental Line |
| Builder | Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, Hong Kong |
| Launched | 1926 |
| Fate | Sunk after collision with the cargo ship Chienyuan in January 1949, wreck raised and went back into service on September 1949, sold for scrap in 1961. |
| General characteristics | |
| Length | 352.3 ft (107.4 m)[1] |
| Beam | 48.2 ft (14.7 m) |
| Draught | 23.7 ft (7.2 m) |
| Propulsion | Triple expansion engine |
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
SS Taiping was a 4,324 ton steamship built by Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, Hong Kong in 1926 for the Australian Oriental Line.[2]
Operational history[edit]
Taiping was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a Victualling Stores Issuing Ship in 1941. She was returned to her owners in early 1947.
Fate[edit]
Taiping sank on January 27, 1949 after a collision with a smaller cargo ship, Chienyuan, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew, including over 1,000 refugees.
Of more than 1,500 aboard, only 35 survived (including 2 people from Chienyuan). They were rescued by the HMAS Warramunga and fishermen from the Zhoushan Islands. One survivor later died from physical exhaustion after drifting in the cold sea for a period of time. A total of about 50 survived in the end (because of the unnamed passengers being rescued).
After the prolonged refit since 1947, the Taiping resumed service in September 1949. Eight years later, the ship's service was terminated in Hong Kong, it was sold for scrap in 1961.
Notes[edit]
- ^ "Lloyd's Register 1942-43" (PDF). plimsollshipdata. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "Australian Orient Line". Flotilla Australia. Retrieved 12 September 2011.