Chinese coastal defense ship Zhongshan

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 the battle of Wuhan on October 24, 1938
  • Recovered in 1997, restored as a museum ship
General characteristics
Class and type: Yung Feng-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:
  • 1 × 4”/50 gun Armstrong
  • 1 × 3”/50 gun
  • 4 × 47 mm gun
  • 1 × 40 mm gun
  • 2 × 37 mm guns
  • 2 × 7.9 or 8 mm machine guns

Zhong Shan (中山)[1] (Chinese: 中山艦; pinyin: Zhōngshān jiàn), originally named Yung Feng (Chinese: 永豐艦; pinyin: Yǒngfēng jiàn), is a Chinese coastal defense ship[1] built in Japan in 1913 of 830 tons and later renamed in 1925 Chung Shan in honor of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China. This ship and other ships of the same class are also frequently classified as gunboats.

Construction

Coastal defense ship Yongfeng (永丰) is the first unit of a total of four Yongfeng-class coastal defense ship ordered by the government of the Qing dynasty in 1910 and was built by Mitsubishi. Under the deal signed between the Qing navy minister Zaixun, his deputy admiral Sa Zhenbing and the Japanese, the first two ships were built by Japan, and the last pair were built by Jiangnan Shipyard in China with technical help from Japan. All four ships differed slight from one another. Due to their small size (less than 1000 tons displacement), these ships are also frequently referred as gunboats.

Service

Model of the gunboat

In 1922 the Chung Shan fought its way past the Pearl River forts controlled by Chen Jiongming while carrying Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai Shek.[2] On April 13, 1925, the ship was renamed to its current name in honor of Sun Yat-sen. The ship was also involved in the Zhongshan Warship Incident in 1926.

She patrolled the coast of South China against pirates after Northern Expedition.[1]

In the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), she participated in the battle of Wuhan. She was bombed and sunk in the Yangtze River by Japanese invaders on 24 October 1938 with 25 casualties.

Aftermath

The shipwreck was salvaged from the river in January 1997. The salvaged and restored Zhong Shan gunboat is now located in its own museum in Wuhan. The museum is located in Jinkou Subdistrict of Wuhan's suburban Jiangxia District,[3] some 25 km southwest of downtown Wuchang.

See also

A Liberty ship, constructed in the United States, was named Sun Yat-sen. For details see List of Liberty ships (S–Z).

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "Ship Sink Off Waglan.". The Hongkong Telegraph. 1929-01-16.
  2. ↑ http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ppr_release_det.php?pd=20030123&ps=04
  3. ↑ Zhongshan Warship settled in Wuhan museum, Peoples Daily, May 28, 2008 http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90783/91300/6419821.html

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zhongshan Warship Museum.

Coordinates: 30°20′54″N 114°7′46″E / 30.34833°N 114.12944°E / 30.34833; 114.12944

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