History
The establishment of the Special Duties Unit can be traced back to an incident on March 13, 1971, when a Philippine Airlines flight was hijacked and was forced to land at Kai Tak Airport. Though the incident was resolved peacefully, the Hong Kong Police Force became concerned that a similar incident would occur in the future. The Sharpshooter Team (神槍手隊) was assembled in April 1974 and later reorganised into the Special Duties Unit.
The Special Duties Unit is modeled on and trained by the Special Air Service. In addition, Special Boat Service personnel assisted the SDU in developing its own marine counter-terrorist unit, the Water Team, (nicknamed: "Water Ghosts" 水鬼隊 ) after an incident in the early 1980s. A Water Ghosts sniper named Tsang Kwong-biu was seriously injured while undergoing joint training with SEAL Team Six in 1991, during a ship-boarding exercise where he suffered from a 30 foot fall. The Water Team was later disbanded in 2000, because all current officers of the Special Duties Unit are equally trained and proficient in maritime operations.
Up to now, the Special Duties Unit has not failed in any of its operations, earning it the reputation of being one of the world's finest in its role.
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