SS Taiping (1926)

SS Taiping was a 4,324 ton steamship built by Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company, Hong Kong in 1926 for the Australian Oriental Line.

Operational history
Taiping was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a Victualling Stores Issuing Ship in 1941. She was returned to her owners in early 1947.

Fate
Taiping sank on 27 January 1949 after a collision with a smaller cargo ship, Chienyuan, killing over 1,500 passengers and crew, including over 1,000 refugees.

Of more than 1,500 aboard, only 35 survived (including 2 people from Chienyuan). They were rescued by HMAS Warramunga and fishermen from the Zhoushan Islands. One survivor later died from physical exhaustion after drifting in the cold sea for a period of time. A total of about 50 survived in the end (because of the unnamed passengers being rescued).

After the prolonged refit since 1947, the Taiping resumed service in September 1949. Eight years later, the ship's service was terminated in Hong Kong, it was sold for scrap in 1961.