 SSZhongshan | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Republic of China | |
| Ordered | 1910 |
| Builder | Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Nagasaki Dockyard |
| Laid down | 1910 |
| Launched | 1912 |
| Commissioned | 1913 |
| Maiden voyage | March 1913 |
| Renamed | 1925 |
| Fate | Sunk during theBattle of Wuhan on October 24, 1938 |
| Status | Recovered in 1997 and restored as amuseum ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Yongfeng-class gunboat |
| Displacement | 780 tons |
| Length | 65.873 m (216.12 ft) |
| Beam | 8.8 m (29 ft) |
| Draught | 3.048 m (10.00 ft) |
| Speed | 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement | 140 |
| Armament |
|
| SSZhongshan | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 中山艦 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中山舰 | ||||||||||||
| Postal | SSChung Shan | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| SSYongfeng | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 永豐艦 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 永丰舰 | ||||||||||||
| Postal | SSYung Feng | ||||||||||||
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SSZhongshan,[1]formerlyromanized asChung Shan,[2][3] was aChinesegunboat built inJapan in 1913. It was originally known asSSYongfeng[4] (romanized at the time asYung Feng[5] orWong Feng),[6] before being renamed in 1925 in honor ofSun Yat-sen.Zhongshan was sunk by theImperial Japanese Navy during theSecond Sino-Japanese War, but was later raised and restored as amuseum ship inWuhan.
SSYongfeng was the first of fourYongfeng-class gunboats ordered fromMitsubishi by theQing Empire in 1910.[7] Under the deal signed between the Qing naval ministerPrince Rui, his deputy AdmiralSa Zhenbing, and the Japanese, the first two ships (includingYongfeng) would be built in Japan, while the second two would be built in China atJiangnan Shipyard with Japanese technical assistance.
Yongfeng entered service as part of theBeiyang Fleet.[8] In March 1913, it sailed toShanghai, where it was based atYuezhou.[9]
It sailed south withSun Yat-sen in July 1917,[8][9] subsequently forming part of theNationalist navy atCanton (now known as Guangzhou).
Just prior toYe Ju's attack of thepresidential palace on 16 June 1922,Sun Yat-sen fled to the Guangzhou naval yard[5] and took refuge aboard thecruiserSSHaiqi (thenHai Ch'i). From there, he transferred to theSSYongfeng,[10] where he was joined byChiang Kai-shek around the 27th[5] or 29th.[11]Yongfeng and other ships then fought pastPearl River fortresses controlled byChen Jiongming[12] while launching assaults and negotiating with the Guangzhou leadership for about 50 days.[8] It avoided reprisals by anchoring offHuangpu, surrounded by foreign vessels Chen could not risk firing upon.[5] Finally, Sun and Chiang left aboard a British ship toHong Kong on 9 August,[11] whence they departed forShanghai.[8] TheYongfeng carried Sun andhis wife to Hong Kong in November 1924.[9]
On 13 April 1925, the ship was renamed in honor of Sun Yat-sen,[9]better known in China as "Sun Zhongshan", following his death the previous month.
In November 1925, the Nationalist navy was placed under the direction of theSoviet adviserAndrei S. Bubnov, who named theCommunistLi Zhilong as its head.[13] The voyage ofZhongshan andBaobi from Guangzhou toHuangpu (Whampoa) on 18 March 1926 set off theCanton Coup.[13]
She patrolled the southern coasts of China againstpirates after theNorthern Expedition, and she rescued the steamshipXinhua in 1928.[14]
In theSecond Sino-Japanese War,SSZhongshan participated in theBattle of Wuhan. On 24 October 1938, she was bombed and sunk in theYangtze River by theImperial Japanese Navy with 25 casualties, including Captain Sa Shijun, a nephew of Sa Zhenbing.
Hubei's provincial cultural department received permission to plan the recovery ofZhongshan in 1986,[9] and thewreck was salvaged from the Yangtze on 28 January 1997.[9] By 2001, it was restored to its appearancec. 1925, except for some of the damage which it sustained when the ship was sunk in 1938.[9] The restoredZhongshan is now located in the Zhongshan Warship Museum in Wuhan. The facility has been described as "China's first floating museum".[9]
The museum is located inJinkou Subdistrict of Wuhan's suburbanJiangxia District,[15] some 25 km southwest of downtownWuchang. In 2003, relics from the ship were also displayed atHong Kong'sMuseum of Coastal Defense.[9]
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30°20′54″N114°7′46″E / 30.34833°N 114.12944°E /30.34833; 114.12944
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1938 | |
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