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Taiping was a Chinesesteamer that sank after a collision with a smaller cargo ship,Chienyuan, while en route from mainlandChina toTaiwan on 27 January 1949. With an estimated death toll of over 1,500 people, it ranks as one of theten deadliest maritime disasters in history.

Taiping was packed to nearly twice her rated capacity, carrying over 1,000 refugees fleeing advancingChinese Communist forces during theChinese Civil War, when she departedShanghai on 26 January 1949, bound forKeelung.^[1] Some estimates put the number of passengers on board at over 1,500,^[2] although the ship was only rated to carry 580 passengers.^[1]

After midnight on 27 January 1949,Taiping was steaming at night with her lights out, owing to acurfew, when she collided with the smallercargo shipChienyuan near theZhoushan Archipelago.^[2] She sank, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew members. Only 35 survived, including 2 people fromChienyuan. They were rescued byHMASWarramunga.

Taiping, which made many journeys between mainland China and Taiwan before her tragic end, has been compared to theMayflower for her role in bringing Chinese immigrants to Taiwan.^[3] She has also been compared toRMS Titanic, which sank in 1912, owing to the similar loss of life in her sinking.^[4] A memorial to the ship and those who died aboard her was established atKeelung Harbor naval base on Taiwan.^[3]

The Crossing, a 2014 film directed byJohn Woo, is about the sinking ofTaiping.^[4]

• 1949 in China
• Maritime incidents in 1949
• Ships sunk in collisions
• Shipwrecks in the East China Sea
• 1940s ships
• History of Zhoushan

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• Transport articles needing translation from Chinese Wikipedia