1908 Hong Kong typhoon
The most notable occurrence of the event was the loss of the SS Ying King (英京號), a steamship, which sank while trying to seek shelter from the storm; 421 people on board drowned.
[citation needed] About one thousand people were reported to have drowned, more than 20 houses collapsed, and many Hong Kong wharf facilities were damaged.
[1] As a result of the catastrophe, additional safety measures were undertaken, including the construction of a second typhoon shelter in Hong Kong harbour.
At 8:30 pm on the evening of 27 July 1908 (Monday), there was a night signal of Green-Red-Green at the Tamar naval base to indicate a possible typhoon approaching less than 300 miles from the Colony.
Ships anchoring in the harbour took the usual safety precautions, as small native vessels swarmed to the typhoon shelter at Causeway Bay.
For four hours, streets were difficult if not impossible to use, owing to many falling and blown objects such as hanging signboards, roof tiles, window glass, and debris of all sorts.
The steamer departed from Canton at 6:00 pm on the evening of 27 July, heading towards Hong Kong with 33 crew members and 430 passengers.
The Ying King was one of three steamers coming from Canton, and as the wind was gaining force, was making her way to anchor and shelter in the lee of The Brothers (大小磨刀洲) with the intent to weather the storm north of Lantau Island.
Crowe from the Kwong Sai reported that shortly after his steamer dropped anchor, there was a sudden and fierce strong wind squall, and the Ying King was said to be gone and disappeared after that.
The survivors consisted of Mr Ferguson (the chief mate), an Indian watchman, two quartermasters, a tallyman, three firemen, one sailor, and 33 Chinese passengers.
Eventually, the police recovered the dead body of a European off Castle Peak on 31 July, which was washed up presumably from the wreck of the Ying King, but no one was able to recognise him.
McArthur, of the SS Eastern, after his 1908 Hong Kong typhoon saga, stated that every one had experienced the very strong force of the wind.
At the height of the typhoon, the Eastern was resting at anchor, and the crew had to crawl on their hands and knees to the bow of the vessel, apparently no one could stand up against the powerful wind.
The Katherine Park, a British steamer, broke away from Kowloon Bay and drifted off North Point, and her anchors got entangled with the telegraph cables which held her until the storm had ceased.
At the Tung Tai Tseung Kee shipyard (a local firm of engineers and shipbuilders), a small steamer under construction was smashed against the Praya wall and badly damaged.
A sudden lurch to port sent the police sergeant and his crew overboard, and they had to swim for their lives and luckily they all made it to land safely.
Among the many heroic actions reported, a crew member of HMS Astraea noticed a nearby junk in peril at about 11:40 pm, and after a quick consultation a cutter was promptly lowered with twelve rowers and a steersman, under Torpedo Officer McLaughlin.
Upon their approach to Douglas Pier a rope was thrown to them, and the rescued boatmen and the crew were hauled safely ashore – however a small Chinese boy who lay unconscious at the bottom of the cutter had been left behind.
The property damage in the City was not generally not large in individual cases, yet the aggregate would be very extensive and the total loss was viewed as very considerable.
A tall chimney fell with an alarming noise at Kingsclere, in Kennedy Road, carrying with it all the roof over three rooms on the top floor and part of the walls.
The resident of the room, Mr Hunt, of Messrs. Shewan, Tomes, and Company, who was in the Colony for about three months, apparently rose from the bed to look out, but hearing the big noise overhead.
Mr F. Wills, chief engineer of the SS Barra fell off a wharf at Kennedytown and received back injuries, and being treated in the Government Civil Hospital.
Hong Kong sources stated that the government proposed in the Legislative Council meeting on 6 August 1908 to impose on all river steamers a tax of five-sixths of a cent, per ton register, and two cents per registered tonnage on all other ships (excluding British and other warships) entering the Hong Kong waters to contribute to a construction fund for this second typhoon shelter.
[6] Upon the recommendation of the Typhoon Refuge Committee (including the six shipping representatives from the P&O Company; Jardine, Matheson & Co.; Butterfield and Swire, Gibb, Livingston & Co.; David Sassoon & Co.; and Shewan, Tomes & Co.) who recorded their opinion that this new typhoon refuge was necessary and that it should be constructed at Mongkoktsui (Yau Ma Tei), in case the craft from the west could not get to Causeway Bay shelter in time of a strong gale.
The report concluded that had there been a second typhoon shelter at Mongkoktsui, all these 452 vessels as well as a large number of sampans could have found safe refuge there.
