View source for SS Kiangya

{{Short description|Chinese passenger steamship}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}} <!-- commercial vessels -->
|+SS ''Kiangya''
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=SS Kiangya.jpg
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=Republic of China
|Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|Republic of China}}
|Ship name=
|Ship owner=
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=
|Ship completed= 1939
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship identification=
|Ship fate=Retired 1983
|Ship notes=Sank in 1948 after an internal explosion
}}
{{Infobox|child=yes
| label1 = Coordinates
| data1 = {{coord|31|15|N|121|47|E|source:kolossus-zhwiki|display=inline, title}}
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship type=[[Steamship]]
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=2,100 tons
|Ship length=
|Ship beam=
|Ship height=
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship crew=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''SS ''Kiangya''''' or '''''Jiangya''''' ({{Lang-zh|t=江亞輪|s=江亚轮|p=Jiāngyà Lún|first=t}}) was a [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|Chinese]] passenger [[steamship]] that was destroyed in an explosion near the mouth of the [[Huangpu River]] {{convert|50|mi}} north of [[Old Town of Shanghai|Shanghai]] on 3 or 4 December 1948. Her wreck was cleared from the channel in 1956 and her hull refurbished, re-entering service. She was renamed the {{nowrap|'''SS ''Dongfang Hong'' 8'''}} ({{Lang-zh|t=東方紅8|s=东方红8|p=Dōngfāng Hóng Bā|l=The East is Red #8|first=t|links=no}}) during the [[Cultural Revolution]] and retired during modernisations in 1983.

The ''Kiangya'' was one of eight ships operated by the [[Shanghai Merchants Group]] and the [[sister ship]] of the {{nowrap|[[SS Kiangking|SS ''Kiangking'']]}} ({{Lang-zh|s=江静轮|p=Jiāngjìng Lún|links=no}}). She had a [[displacement (ship)|displacement]] of 2,100 [[displacement ton|tons]]. At the time of her explosion during the [[Chinese Civil War]], she was bound for [[Ningbo]] from Shanghai's [[Shiliupu Dock]]. She was packed with refugees fleeing the advancing [[Chinese Communists|Communists]]. She probably hit a [[naval mine|mine]], possibly laid by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] during the [[Second World War]]. The exact death toll is unknown. Although her official capacity was 1,186 passengers, the manifest listed 2,150 and she was almost certainly carrying many additional [[stowaway]]s. Rescuers were unaware of the disaster for some hours.  With an estimated death toll of between 2,750 and 3,920 people,<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Jackson|first1=Joe|title=Unsafe at Sea: Asia's History of Deadly Ferry Disasters|url=http://world.time.com/2012/01/20/unsafe-at-sea-asias-history-of-deadly-ferry-disasters/slide/ss-kiangya-china-1948/|magazine=Time|date=January 20, 2012}}</ref> with 700 survivors being picked up by other vessels,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Blackmore|first1=David|title=Blunders & Disasters at Sea|date=2004|publisher=Pen & Sword Maritime|location=Barnsley|isbn=1-84415-117-4|pages=179–180|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7DgAwAAQBAJ&q=kiang-ya%201948&pg=PA180}}</ref> it remains the [[List of maritime disasters in the 20th century#Peacetime|second deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history]].

==SS ''Dongfang Hong 8''==
[[File:Sunk of SS Kiangya.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The wreck of SS ''Kiangya'']]
The hull of the ''Kiangya'' had broken in half but, in 1956, the two pieces were removed in order to dredge that area of the river. The process took 160 days, after which the pieces were moved to the Jiangnan Shipyard and refurbished. She re-entered service at Shanghai's Shiliupu Dock on 4 February 1959, after which she served as a local [[ferry]] and for shipping between Shanghai and [[Wuhan]]. She was renamed the ''Dongfang Hong''&nbsp;8 in November 1966 during the Cultural Revolution. She was retired in 1983. During [[shipbreaking]] operations in June 2000, a major oil fire broke out.

==Legacy==
[[File:Wheel of SS Kiangya.jpg|right|thumb|200px|The recovered wheel of the ''Kiangya'' at the [[Qing'an Guildhall|EZMAFCM]]]]
The ship's wooden steering wheel is preserved at the [[Qing'an Guildhall|East Zhejiang Maritime Affairs and Folk Customs Museum]]<!--sic--> in [[Ningbo]].

The ship gave her name to [[Jiangya Nansha]], one of the component [[shoal]]s of [[Jiuduansha]] off eastern [[Shanghai]].

==See also==
* [[List of maritime disasters]]

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite news |title=Chinese Shipping Disasters: Two Steamers Sunk by Explosions |newspaper=[[The Times]] |date=6 December 1948}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
*{{cite web |url=http://en.people.cn/200111/23/eng20011123_85196.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807140232/http://en.people.cn/200111/23/eng20011123_85196.shtml |title="Jiangya" Shipwreck in 1948 - A Tragedy More Serious Than Titanic |archive-date=2020-08-07 |access-date=2023-06-02 |website=[[People's Daily]] |last=Li Heng |date=23 November 2001}}
*{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799461,00.html?iid=chix-sphere |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024105124/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,799461,00.html?iid=chix-sphere |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 24, 2012 |title=Too Many of Us |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=13 December 1948 |url-access=subscription }}

{{1948 shipwrecks}}
{{Chinese Civil War}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiangya}}
[[Category:Steamships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1948]]
[[Category:1948 in China]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in rivers]]
[[Category:Ships of China]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by mines]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the East China Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in China]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of China]]
[[Category:Disasters in Shanghai]]
[[Category:Military history of Shanghai]]