BAAG Naval Section Intelligence Summary, late February/early March 1943, ship repair, maintenance and movements
Elizabeth Ride has sent the Naval section of a British Army Aid Group (BAAG) Waichow Intelligence Summary (WIS No.22) dated 10th March 1943. This covers shipping movements in and out of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation in World War Two during late February nnd early March 1943.
These reports also describes time spent by vessels undergoing repairs and maintenance in a number of Hong Kong shipyards.
They also offer a wide range of other information including that concerning the Japanese Army and Air Force and other aspects of life in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation in which you may be interested. This is not usually included here. To see the full reports please refer to Further Information below.
HF: To aid research I have attempted to summarize and list the most salient points covered in the report under three sections:-
Firstly, Locations mentioned – both shipyards in HK and ports vessels have come from or are going to in South and East Asia.
Secondly, the names of Ships mentioned. This has not always been easy. My inability to read Chinese or Japanese is a clear hindrance. Plus even when in English whether typed or handwritten they are sometimes semi-legible. Any corrections or clarification would be helpful.
Thirdly, under Miscellaneous I have noted any items that I think might be of interest.
Further information regarding subjects mentioned in this report including images of the ships would be very welcome.
Locations: Stoncutters Island, Tikoo Dock, Kowloon Dock, Kai Tak Extension, Formosa, Naval Yard, Kwongchow, KOngmoon, Manila, Shamshuipo Boat Building Yard – junks, wooden boats, Canton
Ships mentioned: transports, Chinese custom cruisers, destroyer, merchantmen, Tai Lee Maru, Hoi Chu Maru, Hiu Tin Maru, Tin Sang Maru, Shun Tung Maru?, The Moller Ship, Ho Pau Maru, Red Cross Ship No.997, Iron Cutter, Put Hoi, Pak Hoi, Asusan Maru?, Hiu Tin Maru, Tin Sang Maru (Jardine Ship), fishing boat, trawler, Iron merchantman, Ting Sang, Yat Tai Maru, Hip Lik,
Miscellaneous: Iron, Kowloon Dock – 6,000 employed, Russian ships, Commander of the Naval Garrison of Canton port, Sailors Training Battalion, Battalion of the Marine, Li Pk Hoi, Kwok Pin
This article was first posted on 26th September 2017.
Further information:
- For general information about the Elizabeth Ride collection, her father Sir Lindsay Ride, and the British Army Aid group during WW2 a very useful introduction is through http://gwulo.com/node/13968
- The BAAG papers are kept at the Hong Kong Heritage Project https://www.hongkongheritage.org/Pages/FindingAids/LibraryCollection/Elizabeth_M_Ride_Collection.aspx
For the canton garrison the commander is San Fook To/Sa Fu Chu (薩福疇). Nephew of the last Qing dynasty minister of the navy Sa ZhenBing 薩鎮冰. He served in the ROC navy before serving as Wang Jingwei’s regime Guangdong Navy commander.
The gunboat “Hip Lik” (協力) hit a nationalist guerrilla mine in Canton the next month,March 1943, with him on it. He was captured with a few others and was sent to Chongqing for trial and execution.
The “Hip Lik” was ,at the time, the largest gunboat in the regime’s Guangdong navy. Possibly around 200-250 tons around109 ft in length and 19 ft wide. The others were smaller around 50-60 tons. I recognize (Kong Hing) 江興 and (Kong Tung) 江東 (wrong character in the report) but not “San Wing Chong”.
A much larger gunboat may have been repaired in Hong Kong (around 680 tons) before being handed over in 1943. Possibly the Hai Hu/ Hoi Fu海虎 of the Guangdong navy before the war. Which was maybe the Bramble class gunboat Britomart/ Shakuntala received in 1929.
It’s rare to find info on these boats, thanks to you and Elizabeth Ride for the information.