80
A. D. BLUE
The China Navigation Company's Sunning was pirated on 14th November 1926, on a passage from Shanghai to Hong Kong.3 The officers recaptured the ship shortly afterwards, and when they refused the pirates an armistice the latter set the ship on fire. By turning into the wind the pirates were smoked out, and forced to leave in one of the lifeboats. When the fire got out of control the officers and crew were forced to do the same, but were picked up by a Norwegian ship. When the destroyer H.M.S. Verity arrived, however, they returned to the Sunning and put out the fire with naval help. The Sunning was then towed to Hong Kong.
The Haiching piracy of 1929 was very reminiscent of the Sunning. The Haiching belonged to the Douglas Steamship Company of Hong Kong, and was pirated while on her way from Amoy to Hong Kong. There were two hundred and fifty deck passengers and four saloon passengers on board at the time, and the attack took place when passing Bias Bay, just a few hours before reaching Hong Kong. The third mate and a Sikh guard were killed in the first few minutes, but the wireless officer continued to send out messages for help. The pirates, unable to get control of the ship, set it on fire; and two lifeboats were burnt out before their resistance was broken. When British warships arrived, they helped to put the fire out, and then towed the Haiching to Hong Kong, where all the passengers were thoroughly screened. Three of them were charged with piracy and murder, but one was later freed through lack of evidence, while the other two suffered the death penalty. Captain Farrar of the Haiching was awarded the O.B.E. for his part in the case.
From the pirates' point of view the Anking piracy of 1928 was much more successful than either that of the Sunning or the Haiching. It was probably the classic piracy of modern times on the coast. The Anking, also a China Navigation Company ship, with over 1,000 deck passengers aboard, was on her way from Singapore to Amoy and Swatow when the piracy took place. These passengers were either returning to China to retire, or for a holiday after working in Malaya for several years, and were likely therefore to be well supplied with money and valuables.
3 The Sunning had also been pirated three years earlier, on 23rd October, 1923.