SS Kiangya
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Republic of China | |
| Completed | 1939 |
| Fate | Retired 1983 |
| Notes | Sank in 1948 after an internal explosion |
| Coordinates: | 31°15′N 121°47′E / 31.250°N 121.783°E |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Steamship |
| Displacement | 2,100 tons |
SS Kiangya or Jiangya (
Shanghai on 3 or 4 December 1948. Her wreck was cleared from the channel in 1956 and her hull refurbished, re-entering service. She was renamed the SS Dongfang Hong 8 (traditional Chinese: 東方紅8; simplified Chinese: 东方红8; pinyin: Dōngfāng Hóng Bā; lit. 'The East is Red #8') during the Cultural Revolution
and retired during modernisations in 1983.
The Kiangya was one of eight ships operated by the
Second World War. The exact death toll is unknown. Although her official capacity was 1,186 passengers, the manifest listed 2,150 and she was almost certainly carrying many additional stowaways. Rescuers were unaware of the disaster for some hours. With an estimated death toll of between 2,750 and 3,920 people,[1] with 700 survivors being picked up by other vessels,[2] it remains the second deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history
.
SS Dongfang Hong 8
The hull of the Kiangya had broken in half but, in 1956, the two pieces were removed in order to dredge that area of the river. The process took 160 days, after which the pieces were moved to the Jiangnan Shipyard and refurbished. She re-entered service at Shanghai's Shiliupu Dock on 4 February 1959, after which she served as a local
shipbreaking
operations in June 2000, a major oil fire broke out.
Legacy
The ship's wooden steering wheel is preserved at the East Zhejiang Maritime Affairs and Folk Customs Museum in Ningbo.
The ship gave her name to
.See also
Citations
- ^ Jackson, Joe (January 20, 2012). "Unsafe at Sea: Asia's History of Deadly Ferry Disasters". Time.
- ISBN 1-84415-117-4.
References
- "Chinese Shipping Disasters: Two Steamers Sunk by Explosions". The Times. 6 December 1948.
External links
- Li Heng (23 November 2001). ""Jiangya" Shipwreck in 1948 - A Tragedy More Serious Than Titanic". People's Daily. Archived from the original on 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
- "Too Many of Us". Time. 13 December 1948. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012.
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