Steamboats On The Yangtze River - Chinese Ships On The Yangtze

Chinese Ships On The Yangtze

Yichang or Ichang, 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from the sea, is the head of navigation for river steamers; oceangoing vessels may navigate the river to Hankow, a distance of almost 1,000 km (almost 600 mi) from the sea. For about 320 km (about 200 mi) inland from its mouth, the river is virtually at sea level.

The Chinese Government, too, had steamers. It had its own naval fleet, the Nanyang Fleet, which fell prey to the French fleet. The Chinese rebuilt its fleet, only to have it ravaged by another war with Japan in 1895, the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, and ongoing inefficiency and corruption. Chinese companies ran their own steamers, but were second tier to European operations at the time. With the Japanese advance into the east coast of China in 1938, enterprises and numerous people withdrew from Wuhan to the west and Sichuan. The Kuomintang navy undertook the responsibility of defending the Yangtze River and covering the withdrawal. On 24 October, while patrolling the waters of the Yangtze River near the town of Jinkou, in Wuchang (Jiangxia, Wuhan), the Zhongshan was bombed by six Japanese aircraft . The aircraft dived, strafed and bombed the Zhongshan. Despite shooting down two of the aircraft, the Zhongshan eventually sank due to the serious damage she had sustained. Twenty-five Chinese officers and soldiers were killed in the battle.