# SS Hsin Wah

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SS Hsin Wah History Hong Kong Name Hsin Wah Owner China Merchants Steam Navigation Company Builder Napier & Miller Yard number 235[1] Launched 8 June 1921[1] Completed 1921[1] Fate Sank 1929 Notes 401 fatalities, 20 rescued[1] General characteristics Type Steamship Tonnage 1940 grt[1] Length 82.3 meters[2] Height 6.4 meters[2] Depth 12.2 meters[2] Installed power 162 nhp[1] Propulsion triple expansion engine[1] Speed 10 knots[1] Capacity 329 passengers[1] Crew 100[1] Notes UKHO Wreck number 46569

SS Hsin Wah Traditional Chinese 新華輪 Simplified Chinese 新华轮 Postal SS Hsin Wah Literal meaning New China ship Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xīnhuá Lún Wade–Giles Hsin-wa Chien

**SS *Hsin Wah***, now [also known as](/source/Pinyin) the **SS *Xinhua***, was a [steamship](/source/Steamship) owned by [China Merchants Steam Navigation Company](/source/China_Merchants_Group), navigating between [Canton City](/source/Guangzhou), [Hong Kong](/source/Hong_Kong), and [Shanghai](/source/Shanghai).[3] She was built in 1921 by [Napier & Miller](/source/Napier_%26_Miller) in [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow). The ship was seized by pirates of [Bias Bay](/source/Bias_Bay) in 1928 and saved by the [SS *Zhongshan*](/source/SS_Zhongshan) (then written *Chung Shan*). She sank in 1929 when grounded on northern rocks of [Waglan Island](/source/Waglan_Island) south-east of [Hong Kong Island](/source/Hong_Kong_Island), with a loss of between 300 and 400 lives.[4][3]

## Construction and commissioning

*Hsin Wah* was built in 1921 by [Napier & Miller](/source/Napier_%26_Miller) of [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow) under commission by the [China Merchants Steam Navigation Company](/source/China_Merchants_Group). She had a triple expansion engine capable of a top speed of around 10 knots.[2]

## Sinking

*Hsin Wah* was on approach to Hong Kong after journeying from Shanghai under the command of Captain N. R. Jensen, a [Dane](/source/Netherlands), when she struck rocks in the early morning of 16 January 1929 off [Waglan Island](/source/Waglan_Island).[5] Jensen thereafter managed to free the vessel by moving the ship astern, however *Hsin Wah* began to take on water and list developed. In the chaos, only one lifeboat was able to successfully launch from the ship but the lifeboat capsized in due to the weather almost immediately.[5] The ship sank as a result around an hour after the initial crash. Of the ship's complement, only around 20 people were able to be saved by Chinese fishermen in the area with the survivors recounting the horrific scramble to escape the foundering vessel.[5]

*Hsin Wah* lies at a depth of 23 meters below the waters off northern Waglan Island at 22.19 Latitude, 114.3 Longitude where the wreckage remains visible as of the [Hong Kong Marine Department](/source/Hong_Kong_Marine_Department) survey of 15 October 2008.[2]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite2_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite2_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite2_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite2_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite2_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite2_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite2_1-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite2_1-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite2_1-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite2_1-9) ["SS Hsin Wah \[+1929\]"](https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?106238). *wrecksite.eu*. Wrecksite. 2019. Retrieved 22 October 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-HKUHGroup_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-HKUHGroup_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-HKUHGroup_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-HKUHGroup_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-HKUHGroup_2-4) ["852128: HSIN WAH"](http://www.hkuhgroup.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=228%3A852128-hsin-wah&catid=18%3Adatabase&Itemid=14&lang=en). *hkuhgroup.com*. Hong Kong Underwater Heritage Group. 27 July 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-hktelegraph_19290116_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-hktelegraph_19290116_3-1) "Ship Sink Off Waglan". *[Hongkong Telegraph](/source/Hongkong_Telegraph)*. 16 January 1929.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [300 die on Chinese ship](https://www.nytimes.com/1929/01/17/archives/300-die-on-chinese-ship-only-23-are-rescued-when-steamer-hsinwah.html), *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* (17 January 1929)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Wrecksite_5-2) Hervé, Levano, ed. (17 January 1929). ["Hsin Wah, Loss of 340 Lives"](https://www.wrecksite.eu/docBrowser.aspx?7405?5?1) (jpeg). *wrecksite.eu*. Adelaide, South Africa. Retrieved 22 October 2019. *Boats are still searching for possible survivors from the wreck of the Chinese coaster, Hsin Wah, which struck some rocks and sank outside Hongkong yesterday with a loss of life of 340. The steamer grounded early in the morning in a heavy sea. Captain Jensen, a Dane, managed to get her off the rocks by going astern, but an hour later his ship sank in deep water with great suddenness. It was possible to launch only one lifeboat, which immediately capsized. Twenty persons were picked up by Chinese fishermen. One officer, a Russian named Jacobsen, was saved. Many women and children were among the drowned and two British officers were lost. Patrick Campbell, Chief Engineer, and Harold Beveridge, Second Engineer, two of the survivors, declared that the scene aboard was one of utter confusion. Frenzied passengers fighting the crew and one another in the dark for the possession of lifebelts. So far no further survivors have been found. A later message states that all four foreign members of the crew, including the captain, are still missing. The latter was last seen on the bridge giving a distress signal. The survivors recount stories of a fierce panic in terrific seas, which prevented the successful launching of the lifeboats. The bodies of scores of dead have been recovered.*

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1929 Shipwrecks 2 Jan: Malakoff 16 Jan: Hsin Wah 12 Feb: Alloway 19 Feb: Kanowna 22 Mar: I'm Alone 25 Mar: Muggia 29 Mar: Selje 26 May: Aleutian 9 Jul: HMS H47 17 Jul: USS General Alava 1 Aug: Asakaze 30 Aug: San Juan 7 Sep: Kuru 9 Sep: Andaste 11 Sep: Acielle 2 Oct: Commandant Bultinck 22 Oct: Milwaukee 29 Oct: Wisconsin 31 Oct: Senator 4 Nov: Gilbert San 29 Nov: Norwich City 7 Dec: Ägir 18 Dec: Fort Victoria Unknown date: San Antonio Other incidents 5 Jan: Siboney 20 Jan: President Garfield 29 Jan: City of Cairo 28 Feb: Liberty Glo 7 Mar: Thétis 10 Mar: Pengreep 22 Mar: USCGC Dexter 25 Mar: Germaine L D 26 Mar: Europa 28 Mar: Libia 30 Mar: Naïade 6 Apr USS Childs 7 Apr Paris 18 Apr Paris 27 Apr: Duchess of Richmond April (unknown date) Franconia 15 May: Irwell May (unknown date): Duke of Lancaster, Duke of Rothesay 9 Jul: HMS L12 11 Jul: I-55, Kinugasa 3 Aug: Medway Queen 9 Aug: Viceroy of India 20 Aug Paris September (unknown date): Binnendijk, Eider 5 Oct: NRP Adamastor 12 Oct: USFS Widgeon 13 Oct: Empress of Canada 19 Oct: Bowes Castle 20 Oct: USAT Liberty 6 Nov: Barbana G 13 Nov: Ro-63 22 Nov: Parizhskaya Kommuna 7 Dec: Aba 18 Dec: Algonquin 24 Dec: Roosevelt 1928 1930

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [SS Hsin Wah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Hsin_Wah) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Hsin_Wah?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.