SS Shuntien (1934)

Edit links
Coordinates: 32°04′N 24°28′E / 32.06°N 24.46°E / 32.06; 24.46
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
SS Shuntien in civilian service, 1934–41

The icebreaker shape of her bow is clearly visible

Photograph reproduced courtesy of WikiSwire
History
Hong Kong
NameShuntien
NamesakeShuntian, a
Ming Dynasty name for Beijing
Owner
China Navigation Co, Ltd[1][2]
Operator
John Swire & Sons, Ltd
Port of registryUnited Kingdom London[1]
RouteShanghai – Tianjin coastal service[4]
BuilderTaikoo Dockyard & Engineering Co[1][6]
Yard number264[3]
Completed1934[1]
In service1934
Out of service23 December 1941[5]
Identification
FateSunk by torpedo[3][5]
General characteristics
TypePassenger and cargo liner[4]
Tonnage
Length303.7 ft (92.6 m)[1]
Beam46.1 ft (14.1 m)[1]
Depth23.1 ft (7.0 m)[1]
Installed power3,400 shp[3]
PropulsionTwin
screw[6]
Speed
  • 12 knots (22 km/h)[6][3]
  • or 16 knots (30 km/h)[4]
Capacity
  • (in civilian service):
  • 39 saloon
  • 20 cabin
  • 52 2nd class
  • 60 3rd class[4]
Crew
  • 70 crew, plus (in WW2)
  • 18
    DEMS gunners[3][4]
Sensors and
processing systems		direction finding[1]
Armament
Notessister ship: Shengking[4]

SS Shuntien was a 3,059 

The China Navigation Company Ltd (CNC). She was built in Hong Kong in 1934 and sunk by enemy action in the Mediterranean Sea with great loss of life in 1941. A Royal Navy corvette
rescued most of Shuntien's survivors, but a few hours later the corvette too was sunk and no-one survived.

Peacetime service

John Swire and Sons Ltd, which is British-owned but based in Hong Kong.[10]

The new Shuntien's engines were steam turbines built by Taikoo Dockyard.[1] She was built to trade along the coast of China, where her relatively shallow draught enabled her to turn in the Hai River at Tianjin and her icebreaker bow equipped her against sea ice in northern waters.[4]

In 1937 Shuntien returned to Taikoo Dockyard for maintenance, and while she was there the

Great Hong Kong Typhoon of 1937 blew her ashore.[6] She survived, was refloated and returned to service.[4]

War service and sinking

SS Shuntien (1934) is located in Libya
SS Shuntien (1934)
class=notpageimage|
Approximate position of Shuntien's wreck: just off the coast of Cyrenaica east of Tobruk

In the Second World War the British government requisitioned Shuntien and converted her into a

Defensively-Equipped Merchant Ship (DEMS).[4] Photographs of Shuntien taken about that time by a US photographer, Harrison Forman, show Shuntien in the Port of Shanghai apparently being converted into a prison ship. Shuntien moved to the Mediterranean, where her British officers supplemented her Chinese crew with Arab and Maltese recruits.[11]

In the

Convoy TA 5 bound for Alexandria in Egypt. She was carrying between 800 and 1,000 Italian and German prisoners of war,[6][12][13] guarded by more than 40 soldiers of the Durham Light Infantry (DLI).[14]

At about 1902 hrs on the evening of 23 December the

Type VIIC German submarine U-559 torpedoed Shuntien,[11] blowing off her stern[4] and killing her captain, four officers and chief steward.[6][13] Her bow rose in the air and she sank within five minutes without having been able to launch any of her lifeboats.[4]

A convoy escort, the

DEMS gunners and DLI guards.[15] The total number of survivors that Salvia rescued was about 100.[12][16] The Hunt-class destroyer HMS Heythrop rescued a smaller number: between 11[16] and 19.[4]

A few hours later, at about 0135 hrs on 24 December,

Second Engineer John Hawkrigg.[4]

See also

  • RMS Nova Scotia — torpedoed November 1942 while carrying Italian prisoners of war and interned civilians

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Lloyd's Register, Steam Ships and Motor Ships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1937. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  2. ^ Mercantile Navy List. London: Board of Trade. 1935. p. 422. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e Lettens, Jan; Vleggert, Nico (1 August 2012). "SS Shuntien (II) [+1941]". WreckSite. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Shuntien II". WikiSwire. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2013. N.b. WikiSwire is a wiki with multiple authors. Unlike Wikipedia it does not generally cite previously published sources to verify its content.
  5. ^ a b c Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2013). "Shuntien British Steam passenger ship". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  6. ^
    ISBN 0-946378-42-8
    .
  7. Faber and Faber
    . p. 443.
  8. Clyde-built Ship Database. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  9. Clyde-built Ship Database. Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
    )
  10. School of Oriental and African Studies, London, http://www.soas.ac.uk/library/archives/
  11. ^ a b Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2013). "Shuntien British steam passenger ship Personnel associated with this vessel". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  12. ^ a b "23 December 1941: 700 Prisoners Killed". Malta: War Diary. WordPress. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  13. ^ a b Hocking, Charles (1969). Dictionary of Disasters at Sea During the Age of Steam. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. p. 644 (vol 2).
  14. ^ "For those in Peril on the sea". Durham Light Infantry 1920–1946. Archived from the original on 3 July 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  15. ^ a b c Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2013). "HMS Salvia (K97)". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  16. ^ a b Churchill, Michael (31 May 2005). "My Uncle Bill". WW2 People's War. BBC. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shuntien (ship, 1934).

32°04′N 24°28′E / 32.06°N 24.46°E / 32.06; 24.46

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SS_Shuntien_(1934)&oldid=1105574534"