Wreck of HIJMS Nan-Yo (南洋)
China /
Fujian /
Tantou /
World
/ China
/ Fujian
/ Tantou
World / People's Republic of China / Fujian / Fuzhou
Second World War 1939-1945, military, navy, shipwreck
Laid down in 1931 at the Kiangnan Shipyard as a Ho Class Maritime Customs Cruise for the Chinese Navy, the Teh Hsing commissioned into service in 1933 and began her patrols of the Chinese Coastline. Serving in role similar to that of modern-day Coast Guard forces, the Teh Hsing conducted fisheries enforcement, boardings of suspicious vessels and offered protection of Chinese territorial waters through the mid-1930’s, however increasing tensions with the neighboring Empire of Japan as the 1930’s wore on began to alter the Teh Hsing’s mission more and more towards defense.
After the outbreak of the Second Sino Japanese War in July 1937, Teh Hsing and her crew began full-time combat operations against elements of the Japanese Navy and Army operating in Chinese waters and on Chinese soil. Providing artillery gunfire support during the pitched and bloody Battle of Shanghai, the Teh Hsing was forced to withdraw from Shanghai in September as the presence of large numbers of Imperial Japanese Navy ships and the steadily advancing Japanese troops threatened to trap the ship in the Yangtze River. Making good her escape under the cover of darkness, Teh Hsing and her crew made for the only friendly port in the immediate area; the British Colony of Hong Kong.
Impounded by the still-neutral British upon her arrival in Hong Kong, Teh Hsing remained anchored off Kowloon for the next few months while the British nervously watched the movements of the ever-encroaching Japanese forces. In concert with the Surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor taking place across the International Date Line, the British Colony of Hong Kong came under heavy air attack on December 8th, 1941, prompting much of the British Fleet at Hong Kong to weigh anchor and depart the bay. Now one of the few naval vessels left in the encircled city, the Teh Hsing was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and placed into service with the Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on December 13th. Splitting her duties between ferrying British forces around the myriad of islands and providing gunfire support on advancing Japanese troops, Teh Hsing once again found herself in a defensive position and in danger of being encircled by the enemy. This time however, there would be no escape for the Chinese Cruiser. Surrendered by the British along with all other British forces on December 25th, 1941 to the Japanese, the Teh Hsing began her career with the Imperial Japanese Navy tied up alongside the former Royal Navy Pier.
Inspected by the Japanese Navy and deemed fit for their use, the Teh Hsing was boarded by a volunteer crew and stood out of Hong Kong for Japan in February 1943. Arriving at Sasebo on the 1st of March, she underwent an overhaul and conversion to a Gunboat, which lasted less than a month. Commissioning into the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Second China Expeditionary Fleet on March 20th, 1943 as the HIJMS Nan-yo, she began regular patrol and convoy escort duties in the South China Sea. After safely escorting a merchant ship convoy to Fuzhou in late December 1943, the Nan-yo dropped anchor off Matsu Island and awaited her next orders. Still on the hook in the Matsu anchorage on the morning of December 23rd, the crew of Nan-yo were shaken from their daily routines by the sounding of air-raid alarms around mid-morning.
Racing to battle stations, the Nan-yo’s crew would have been greeted by several dozen American B-25 Mitchell bombers overhead, bombing Fuzhou and attacking any targets of opportunity along with their escorting P-40 Warhawks, all flying with MajGen Claire L. Chennault's 14th Air Force from Nationalist Chinese Airfields. Despite her crew mounting a tenacious defense of their still-stationary vessel, the Nan-yo came under repeated strafing fire by several American aircraft, which caused heavy casualties to her topside crew in their open gun mounts. Having lost much of her anti-aircraft defenses, the Nan-yo and her crew were all but powerless to stop two B-25’s from planting several 500lb bombs in her hull, causing fatal damage. With several large holes blown in her sides the Nan-yo began to flood uncontrollably, prompting the abandon ship order from her Captain. Surviving crew were able to scramble over her side and make it to shore, however an unknown number of the Nan-yo’s crew were taken to the bottom with her when she finally rolled over and sank at this location on December 23rd, 1943.
www.combinedfleet.com/nanyo_t.htm
After the outbreak of the Second Sino Japanese War in July 1937, Teh Hsing and her crew began full-time combat operations against elements of the Japanese Navy and Army operating in Chinese waters and on Chinese soil. Providing artillery gunfire support during the pitched and bloody Battle of Shanghai, the Teh Hsing was forced to withdraw from Shanghai in September as the presence of large numbers of Imperial Japanese Navy ships and the steadily advancing Japanese troops threatened to trap the ship in the Yangtze River. Making good her escape under the cover of darkness, Teh Hsing and her crew made for the only friendly port in the immediate area; the British Colony of Hong Kong.
Impounded by the still-neutral British upon her arrival in Hong Kong, Teh Hsing remained anchored off Kowloon for the next few months while the British nervously watched the movements of the ever-encroaching Japanese forces. In concert with the Surprise Attack on Pearl Harbor taking place across the International Date Line, the British Colony of Hong Kong came under heavy air attack on December 8th, 1941, prompting much of the British Fleet at Hong Kong to weigh anchor and depart the bay. Now one of the few naval vessels left in the encircled city, the Teh Hsing was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and placed into service with the Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on December 13th. Splitting her duties between ferrying British forces around the myriad of islands and providing gunfire support on advancing Japanese troops, Teh Hsing once again found herself in a defensive position and in danger of being encircled by the enemy. This time however, there would be no escape for the Chinese Cruiser. Surrendered by the British along with all other British forces on December 25th, 1941 to the Japanese, the Teh Hsing began her career with the Imperial Japanese Navy tied up alongside the former Royal Navy Pier.
Inspected by the Japanese Navy and deemed fit for their use, the Teh Hsing was boarded by a volunteer crew and stood out of Hong Kong for Japan in February 1943. Arriving at Sasebo on the 1st of March, she underwent an overhaul and conversion to a Gunboat, which lasted less than a month. Commissioning into the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Second China Expeditionary Fleet on March 20th, 1943 as the HIJMS Nan-yo, she began regular patrol and convoy escort duties in the South China Sea. After safely escorting a merchant ship convoy to Fuzhou in late December 1943, the Nan-yo dropped anchor off Matsu Island and awaited her next orders. Still on the hook in the Matsu anchorage on the morning of December 23rd, the crew of Nan-yo were shaken from their daily routines by the sounding of air-raid alarms around mid-morning.
Racing to battle stations, the Nan-yo’s crew would have been greeted by several dozen American B-25 Mitchell bombers overhead, bombing Fuzhou and attacking any targets of opportunity along with their escorting P-40 Warhawks, all flying with MajGen Claire L. Chennault's 14th Air Force from Nationalist Chinese Airfields. Despite her crew mounting a tenacious defense of their still-stationary vessel, the Nan-yo came under repeated strafing fire by several American aircraft, which caused heavy casualties to her topside crew in their open gun mounts. Having lost much of her anti-aircraft defenses, the Nan-yo and her crew were all but powerless to stop two B-25’s from planting several 500lb bombs in her hull, causing fatal damage. With several large holes blown in her sides the Nan-yo began to flood uncontrollably, prompting the abandon ship order from her Captain. Surviving crew were able to scramble over her side and make it to shore, however an unknown number of the Nan-yo’s crew were taken to the bottom with her when she finally rolled over and sank at this location on December 23rd, 1943.
www.combinedfleet.com/nanyo_t.htm
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 26°9'59"N 119°54'59"E
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