MV Hsuan Huai (Xuan Huai Lun, Chinese 宣 懷 輪) - a cargo ship crashed in 1948, resulting in the deaths of about 6,000 people belonging to the nationalist forces in China [1] .
Ship
Hsuan Huai belongs to the type of cargo steamers N3-S-A2. Built in 1945 in New Orleans (USA). At the time of the wreck, the ship belonged to China Merchants Steam Navigation Co. The previous owners were the US Maritime Commission - War Shipping Administration - WSA.), Washington DC (1945), MOWT - Ministry of War Transport (WWII), London (1945 - 1947), Chinese Nationalist Government (1947 - 1948) .) [1]
Holocaust
By November 1948, the Nationalist Army of China in the northeast was destroyed. The only resistance force was Army Corps 52, which at that time was located in the port of YingKou . To save the military, it was decided to transport them by ship by sea to a place safer for them. The steamer MV Hsuan Huai was used for this purpose. The steamer was loaded with 3,000 barrels of gasoline, ammunition and rescued people. An explosion and fire occurred on the ship near YingKou Port. According to the recollections of one of the eyewitnesses, the fire occurred through the fault of soldiers who smoked under the deck. Sailors and soldiers failed to cope with the fire. According to an interview from the Australian press, "More than 2,000 Chinese Nationalist soldiers died in a fire that occurred on the HSUAN HUAI ship in Manchurian port" [1] . According to historical notes of 52 army corps, the death toll was 3,000.
This story is not very well known because the Chinese authorities are trying to hide the details of the incident. However, there are video footage of the disaster [2]
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 SS Hsuan Huai (+1948) . WRECKsite .
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLJDUT_bGsE .