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SS Fatshan underway on the Pearl River
History
Hong Kong
Name	Fatshan
Namesake	City of Fatshan (now Foshan), Guangdong (Canton)
Owner	62.5% owned by Hong Kong, Canton & Macao Steamboat Company 37.5% owned by China Navigation Company
Builder	Ramage & Ferguson & Company, Leith
Yard number	Victoria Shipyard 76
Laid down	1887
Launched	31 March 1887
Sponsored by	Hong Kong, Canton & Macao Steamboat Company
Commissioned	1887
Decommissioned	1933
Fate	Full ownership acquired by the China Navigation Company in 1906.
Hong Kong
Name	Fatshan
Operator	China Navigation Company
Builder	Ramage & Ferguson & Company, Leith
Acquired	1906
Commissioned	1907
Identification	ID / IMO No. 88843 / 1088843
Fate	Scrapped in Q4, 1933
General characteristics (as Fatshan)
Class and type	Steam powered ferry
Tonnage	2,260 GRT 1,425 NRT
Length	280 ft (85.3 m)
Beam	54 ft (16.5 m)
Depth	10.2 ft (3.1 m)
Installed power	225 nhp
Propulsion	Triple expansion steam engines
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Capacity	Over 1,000 passengers
Armament	light arms

SS Fatshan (Chinese: 佛山輪) was a passenger ferry steamer operating on the Hong Kong-Canton Line between 1887 and 1933 when she was scrapped and replaced by her namesake, Fatshan (1933). Shortly before scrapping she was renamed Fatshan I.

Construction and commissioning

Fatshan was commissioned by the HongKong, Canton & Macao Steamboat Company as a passenger steamer to service the Hong Kong to Canton route. She was built in Leith at the Victoria Shipyard by the Ramage & Ferguson & Company and was launched on 21 March 1887. The ship was measured at 2,260 gross register tons and initially was powered by two triple-expansion steam engines capable of producing 173 nhp driving twin screws

Hong Kong Canton Line with the Hongkong Canton & Macao Steamboat Company

After her delivery, Fatshan commenced service with the Hongkong Canton & Macao Steamboat Company, the leading ferry company sailing in the area at the time. At the time of its introduction, Fatshan was well known in the China trade as one of the best passenger steamers sailing the Hong Kong to Canton.

The ship was divided between Chinese and European passengers and owing to the dangers faced by pirates, the ship was armed with small arms and a complement of guards.

Hong Kong-Canton Line with the China Navigation Company

On 18 September 1906, a typhoon struck Hong Kong catching Fatshan in the eastern part of Victoria Harbour near the Taikoo Dockyard. The storm drove Fatshan and several other ships onto the shore of northern Hong Kong island. The ship was refloated by the end of the year.

During the evening of 27 July and into the morning of 28 July 1908 another severe Typhoon struck Hong Kong. During the storm three steam ships were approaching Hong Kong from Canton: SS Ying King of the Sing On Steamship Company, Fatshan and SS Kwong Sai. The three ships sought shelter, dropping anchor at The Brothers north of Lantau Island. Tragically, during the storm, a sudden squall struck the anchored ships and it was reported that after this squall Ying King foundered and disappeared from the view of the other two ships. The sinking resulted in the loss of 421 lives, with only 42 survivors recovered on 28 July by the Customs launch Kowloon Sai.

Later, on 29 November 1908, Fatshan was the subject of a political crisis that took place in Hong Kong and Canton Province after the apparent murder aboard the ship of a Chinese passenger, one Ho Yiu-tiu (also referred to as Ho Tsoi-yin), allegedly perpetrated by a Portuguese crewman. The incident occurred when the steamer was en route to Canton from Hong Kong. Eyewitnesses alleged that they had seen the Portuguese crew member, one Mr. Noronha, a ticket collector, kicking the Chinese passenger following a dispute. Upon arriving at Canton, an autopsy was performed on the deceased by the Canton Red Cross Society which found that the deceased had died from wounds caused by the incident. Soon after, an official inquest was called for. Given that the incident had occurred on board British property, the British Consulate at Canton asserted their right to jurisdiction in the matter. British inquiry also called for a separate autopsy to be performed by a British doctor, who found that the deceased had suffered from heart troubles and that the death was likely due to natural causes; the charge of homicide against Mr. Noronha was to be dropped. These events coincided with a series of incidents of civil unrest ongoing at the time. Coincidentally, the incident caught the attention of the Self-Government Society who called for a boycott of Fatshan and its parent company and also for civic uprising in Canton and Hong Kong. The boycott was successful and eventually led to a private settlement with the Self-Government Society.

See also

• China Navigation Company

References

1. ^ "FATSHAN". clydeships.co.uk. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
2. ^ William (1890). Marine Engineer and Naval Architect. Vol. 11. London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. ISBN 1231212276.
3. ^ "Fatshan I". wikiswire.com. WikiSwire. 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
4. ^ HongKong Canton & Macao Steamboat Company (1914). Handbook to Canton, Macao and the West River. Hong Kong: HongKong, Canton & Macao Steamboat Company. p. 27.
5. The Directory & Chronicle For China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, &c. Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Daily Press Office. 1906. p. 1321.
6. Arnold, Julius (1910). In and Around Canton: Being a Short Description of the Chief Places of Interest to Tourists and Travelers in the City and Suburbs. Bolton, Lancashire: Tillotson & Son. p. 17.
7. Krout, Mary Hannah (1903). Two Girls in China. New York: American Book Company. pp. 183–187. ISBN 1333751176.
8. "The Calamitous Typhoon at Hong Kong, 18th September, 1906" (PDF). Hong Kong Daily Press. University of Hong Kong Library. 1906. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
9. The Register of Adelaide, South Australia (31 August 1908, page 6), quoting from the China Mail of 18 August 1908 regarding the details of an enquiry into the tragic loss of HK-Canton steamer Ying King.
10. Mellor, Bernard (1992). Lugard in Hong Kong: Empires, Education and a Governor at Work 1907-1912. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. pp. 78–84. ISBN 9622093167.
11. Rhoads, Edward J. M. (1975). China's Republican Revolution: The Case of Kwangtung, 1895-1913, Vol. 81. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 141–143. ISBN 0674119800.
12. Taikoo by Charles Drage published 1970, pages 170–2

• 1887 ships
• Cargo ships of China
• Ships built in Leith
• Steamships of Hong Kong