219.79.76.72 at 15:19, 14 July 2022

2022-07-14T15:19:38Z

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{{short description|River steamer}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin
|infobox caption= ''Tai Hing''
|display title=
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=
*1927–1940: SS ''Tai Hing''
*1940–1941: HMS ''Cornflower''
*1941–1944: SS ''Chuko Maru''
|Ship owner=
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder= Kwong Tak Cheong
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched= {{Start date and age|df=yes|1927|3|13}}
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|Ship decommissioned=
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|Ship fate= Sunk on 20 August 1944
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=<ref name="Lloyd1930">{{cite book |url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b1158.pdf |title=Lloyd's Register of Ships - 1930|work=[[Lloyd's Register]] |publisher=Lloyd's Register |year=1930 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124044703/https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b1158.pdf |archive-date=2021-01-24 |access-date=2021-01-24}}</ref>
|Ship class= River steamer
|Ship tonnage = {{GRT|1068}}
|Ship length= {{convert|178.0|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|32.1|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|10.1|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=* Single shaft engine
*96 [[nominal horsepower|nhp]]
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|Ship propulsion=2 x Screws
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'''SS ''Tai Hing''''' ({{zh|t=大興}}) was a river steamer built in 1927. In 1940, she was given to the [[Hong Kong Naval Volunteer Force|Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve]] (HKRNVR) and replaced {{HMS|Cornflower|1916|6}} as the headquarters of the unit. She was renamed '''HMS ''Cornflower''''' ({{zh|t=禾花}}) after its predecessor. To avoid confusion, the ship was sometimes referred to as '''HMS ''Cornflower II'''''.

==History==
She was built by Kwong Tak Cheong Shipbuilding Engineering and Dock Co. Ltd. ({{zh|t=廣德昌船塢}}) of [[Hong Kong]] in 1927.<ref name="Lloyd1930"/> She was operated by Kwong Wo S.S. Co. ({{zh|t=廣榮輪船公司}}) departed on her maiden voyage for [[Wuzhou]] on 13 March 1927,<ref name="KSDN1927">{{cite news |title=大興輪船開始行走 |language=Chinese |trans-title=Steamer ''Tai Hing'' Begins Sailing |work=[[The Kung Sheung Daily News]]|location=Hong Kong |date=1927-03-14 |page=10}}</ref> and transferred to San Wo Co. Ltd. ({{zh|t=生榮輪船公司}}) in around 1930.<ref name="Lloyd1930"/> ''Tai Hing'' continued to ferry passengers between Hong Kong and China. By 1940, the ship was acquired by Sir [[Robert Hotung|Robert Ho Tung]], and the ferry route was disrupted by the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]].<ref name="Telegraph1940">{{cite news |title=New Naval Quarters; H.M.S. Cornflower Is Replaced|work=[[Hongkong Telegraph]]|location=Hong Kong |date=1940-09-02 |page=5}}</ref>

===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.<ref name="Telegraph1940"/> She began to receive refitting as a training ship in the same month.<ref name="KSEN1940A">{{cite news |title=大興輪船改為海軍義勇隊練習艦 |language=Chinese |trans-title=Steamer ''Tai Hing'' Refitting as Naval Volunteer Force Training Ship|work=The Kung Sheung Evening News|location=Hong Kong |date=1940-09-02 |page=4}}</ref> In June, she was used as a training ship by the unit.<ref name="TKP1940">{{cite news |title=海軍義勇隊徵用練習艦 |language=Chinese |trans-title=Naval Volunteer Force Requisites Training Ship |work=[[Ta Kung Pao]] |location=Hong Kong |date=1940-06-07 |page=6}}</ref> The ship was to replace the older training ship HMS ''Cornflower'', used by HKRNVR as their headquarters.<ref name="Owen2012">{{cite web |url=http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20391/1/10701037.pdf |title=Imperialism and identity in British colonial naval culture, 1930s to decolonialisation |last=Spence |first=David O. |year=2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703005728/http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20391/1/10701037.pdf |archive-date=2020-07-03 |access-date=2021-01-24|pages=247–248}}</ref>

In September, refitting was completed,<ref name="KSEN1940A"/> and the ship was renamed HMS ''Cornflower'' after its predecessor.<ref name="Owen2012"/><ref>{{cite book|work=[[Government of the United Kingdom|H.M. Government]]|url=https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/93093054 |title=The Navy List Containing List of Ships, Establishments, and Officers of the Fleet |volume=2 |year=1943 |page=1244|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124022926/https://digital.nls.uk/british-military-lists/archive/93093054 |archive-date=2021-01-24 |access-date=2021-01-24}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="KSEN1940B">{{cite news |title=何東爵紳送出之大興輪代督昨日舉行接收禮 |language=Chinese |trans-title=Ship ''Tai Hing'' Given by Sir Ho Tung Received Yesterday at a Ceremony Hosted by the Acting Governor|work=The Kung Sheung Evening News|location=Hong Kong |date=1940-09-26 |page=4}}</ref>

During the [[Battle of Hong Kong]] in December 1941, the ship remained moored southwest of [[Kellett 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hongkongescape.org/Cornflower.htm |title=Escape from Hong Kong - the jetty next to Staunton's Creek |work=Escape from Hong Kong |publisher=Hong Kong Escape.org |date=2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421192802/http://www.hongkongescape.org/Cornflower.htm |archive-date=2019-04-21 |access-date=2021-01-24 }}</ref><ref name="NH">{{cite web |url=http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4112-39DEC02.htm |title=NAVAL EVENTS, DECEMBER 1941 (Part 2 of 2) |last=Kindell |first=Don |work=NAVAL-HISTORY.NET |date=2012-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229095705/http://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4112-39DEC02.htm |archive-date=2020-02-29 |access-date=2021-01-24 }}</ref><ref name="HKWD">{{cite web |url=http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/searchgarrison/rnandraf.html |title=Royal Navy & Royal Air force |work=Hong Kong War Diary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200217023253/http://www.hongkongwardiary.com/searchgarrison/rnandraf.html |archive-date=2020-02-17 |access-date=2021-01-25 }}</ref>

The ship was later refloated by Japan as a cargo ship and renamed '''SS ''Chuko Maru''''' ({{lang|ja|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]].<ref name=seekriegA>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/verluste/jap.merch.loss.a-c.htm |title=Verluste Japanischer Handelsschiffe 1941-1945 |access-date=2020-01-24|work=Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart |language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529102958/https://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/verluste/jap.merch.loss.a-c.htm|archive-date=2016-05-29}}</ref><ref name=seekriegB>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/44-08.htm |title=Seekrieg 1944, August |access-date=2020-01-24|work=Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart |language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111032703/https://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/44-08.htm|archive-date=2020-11-11}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tai Hing}}
[[Category:1927 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Ships built in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Steamships of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Battle of Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Steamships of Japan]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of Japan]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by US aircraft]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the South China Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1941]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in August 1944]]

SS Tai Hing - Revision history

219.79.76.72 at 15:19, 14 July 2022