©2007-2010 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
Revision 1
1932:
Shanghai, China. Laid down at the Kiangnan ship yard.
1933:
Completed and placed in service as Maritime Customs Cruiser TEH HSING.[1]
7 July 1937: The Marco Polo Bridge (The First "China") Incident:
Lugouqiao, China. Japanese troops conduct night maneuvers at the bridge. In the morning, they discover a soldier missing and demand entry to Beijing suburb to look for him, but the Chinese refuse. The Japanese then shell the city and an undeclared war on China begins.
9 October 1937: The Conquest of Shanghai:
The city falls to Japanese forces. At an earlier unknown date, TEH HSING escapes to the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong.
8 December 1941:
The Japanese open their offensive on Hong Kong by moving troops across the New Territories frontier and.attacking Kai Tak airport on Kowloon by air. At 2100, old British destroyers HMS THANET and SCOUT clear Hong Kong and head for Singapore.
13 December 1941:
Major General Christopher M. Maltby, British Indian Army, orders the evacuation of Kowloon Peninsula. Auxiliary patrol boat TEH HSING, under the command of Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve LtCdr Bernard J. Morahan, probably assists in ferrying troops across the bay to Hong Kong Island. By 0930, all British and Commonwealth troops are evacuated from the Mainland to Hong Kong Island. In the meantime, Royal Engineers destroy anything useful on the north side.
25 December 1941: The Fall of Hong Kong:
Gen Maltby advises Governor Sir Mark A. Young to surrender the outnumbered garrison because of lack of food and water. At 1800, in Japanese headquarters in the Peninsula Hotel at Kowloon, Young surrenders the Colony to LtGen Sakai Takashi, CG, 23rd Army. That night, nearly 6,500 British and Commonwealth troops go into captivity.
1 March 1943:
Hong Kong. TEH HSING is officially requisitioned by the IJN, registered as an auxiliary gunboat and attached to the Sasebo Naval District. Begins conversion to a gunboat at the IJN’s No. 2 Repair Facility. Assigned to Admiral Yoshida Zengo's (32)(former CO of MUTSU) China Area Fleet in Vice Admiral Hara Kiyoshi’s (38) (former CO of IWATE) Second China Expeditionary Fleet.
20 March 1943:
The conversion is completed. TEH HSING is renamed NANYO, call sign JFQQ.
23 December 1943:
South China Sea. Matsu (Mazu) Island anchorage, off Foochow. MajGen Claire L. Chennault's 14th Air Force North American B-25 “Mitchell” medium bombers sink NANYO at 26-10N, 119-55E.
5 February 1944:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors' Notes:
[1] The Chinese Maritime Customs Marine Department, headquartered in Shanghai, was responsible for maintenance of lighthouses on the China coast, conservation of various rivers including the Yangtze and coastal patrols against smugglers. The Marine Department also provided pilots in certain ports. Customs’ large fleet was manned by Chinese and foreign nationals.
Various secondary sources also state NANYO (sometimes shown as NANYO MARU) was the ex-British Bangor Class Minesweeper LYEMUN seized while building at Hong Kong. It is believed this vesel or her sister ship LANTAN became GYOSHIN MARU that survived the war. Two other Bangors became IJN minesweepers W-101 and W-102. Several authorative records, including those at NARA and Gakken, list NANYO as ex-TEH HSING and we have made this assumption accordingly.
Special thanks go to Gengoro S. Toda of Japan and Erich Muehlthaler of Germany for help with this TROM. Thanks also go to Dr. Higuchi Tatsuhiro of Japan.
Photo credit goes to Erich Muehlthaler.
-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
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