27
632
UNTOLD HORROR AND INHUMANITY
and handed to the Chairman who, after perusal, said that the letter should be read at this stage, it read:-
"Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen.
Hong Kong, Sept. 27. 1937. Report over shipwrecked crew. On our way from Kobe to Hong Kong, we saw in the morn- ing, 3.40. September 27, a ship- wrecked crew about true 205 de- grees 7 miles distance from Pedro Blanco Rock. At the same time we turned the ship and was searching for the float. At 3.50 a.m. we found the shipwrecked crew sitting on a small raft. We lowered our boat and picked up nine Chinese males and one female.
(Sgd) W. Stein.
Captain
S.s. Scharnhorst, Bremen." Mr. Whyatt: After receiving that document did you see any of these Chinese people on board?—Yes.
How many?-Nine Chinese males and one female.
And what did you do with them? -1 put them on board the police launch and took them to the Wa- ter Police and handed them over to the Inspector on duty.
LOG ENTRY
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT
of
The next witness called was Capt. E. H. Histed, residing at 34. Kimberley Road, the master the Kaying, which is owned by the China Navigation Co., Ltd., and whose local agents are Messrs. Butterfield and Swire.
Mr. Whyatt: On September 26 were you aboard your ship? Yes. From Shanghai to Hong Kong.
Were you carrying many passen. gers? Yes.
What sort of passengers?-Re- fugees from Shanghai to Canton. mostly Chinese passengers.
About 6 o'clock on the evening of September 27 did the Second Officer make a report to you?- Yes.
And as a result of that report what did you do? I went on the bridge and I saw two men on a raft.
Then what did you do? The ship was stopped, manoeuvred, a boat was lowered in charge of the Chief Officer and the men taken on board the ship.
were
What sort of wreckage was it that these men were clinging to? -A raft of some description.
EXTREME EXHAUSTION What sort of condition were these men in when you picked them up?-In a condition of ex- treme exhaustion.
October 29, 1937
NAVAL EXPERT TELLS
OF SUBMARINES
Junk Sinking Inquiry At Supreme Court
"Supposing you were cruising off the South China Coast and you saw a submarine with white, black and white bands painted around the conning tower, could you from those indications form any view as to its nationality?" was the question put forward by Mr. John Whyatt to Lt.-Comdr. R. R. Herbert, expert in distin- guishing marks attached to submarines of Naval Powers, at the third hearing of the "Junk-Sinking Inquiry," at the Supreme Court on Oct. 21, when the "voice of experience" echoed the reply that his first impression would be that it was a Japanese sub- marine. Mr. Whyatt's question was based on the results of evi- dence given by survivors.
:
evidence at a previous hearing, de- clared that he recognised the sailors as Japanese by the suspen- shoulders to ders leading from trousers.
Harrowing tales, expressive of untold devastation and suffer- ing, were told by an eye-witness who recalled the tragedy of the merciless shelling and sinking of a fleet of Chinese fishing junks, allegedly by the hands of a malicious Japanese submarine crew. The inquiry is being conducted by a special Government appointed Commission comprising His Honour the Chief Justice, Sir Atholl Mac- Gregor (Chairman), the Harbour Master, Hon. Commander J. B. Newill, and Mr. Justice J. A. Fraser. Mr. J. C. McDouall is acting as Sec- retary to the Commission, whilst Mr. John Whyatt, Assistant At- torney General, is in charge of witnesses.
Mr. Whyatt asked the Chairman to let him permission
clarify a point by recalling Lam Chu, one of the survivors, who, when giving
Did you discover what their names were? The names were handed to me by the compradore. but I have not entered them and I did not put them into the book, I am afraid I would not remember them if you were to mention them.
When you arrived in Hong Kong what did you do?-We came to Hong Kong and dropped the Bri- tish Consul from Shanghal here, we then proceeded to Canton and returned the following day, Sep- tember 30. The two men we had picked up we sent to the Tung Wah Hospital under the escort of one of the compradore staff.
Medical evidence was given by Dr. P. F. S. Court, Government medical officer, of the Queen Mary Hospital, and by Dr. Bow. Medical Superintendent of Kwong Wah witnesses testi- Hospital. These
fled that the victims were suffer- ing from injuries due to the pre- sence of foreign bodies in the na- ture of metallic fragments.
Hearing was adjourned till 10 a.m. to-morrow.
TWO MEN OF RAFT
Recalled, Lam Chu demonstrated how the suspenders were worn- one strap on each shoulder like braces, adding that the straps were dark in colour and about It inches in width.
Yu Man-hol, assistant compra- dore of the Kaying, gave evidence to the effect that, while the steam- er was on a voyage from Shanghai to Hong Kong on September 27, he Saw at a distance two men, whose names he discovered to be Ho Pak- kan and Ho Pak-shing, calling out for help, clinging to a raft. After being picked and taken on board. they looked very much exhausted. their hands and feet being very pale as if they had been in water for a long time.
Sgt. Mackay, police photographer, stated that he took photographs of junks No. 28 and No. 447, copies of which were shown to the Com- mission.
GOOD WEATHER
Mr. S. P. Heywood, Assistant Director of the Royal Observatory, was then called.
Mr. Whyatt: Is it the practice of the Observatory to compile wea- ther maps twice dally?—Yes, inorn - ing and afternoon.
From your experience and know- ledge are these weather maps for the most part accurate?--Yes.
Have you brought with you cer- tain weather maps covering Sept. 21 to Sept. 277-Yes.
October 29, 1937
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT
NAVAL EXPERT TELLS OF SUBMARINES
633
These maps show the sort of weather prevailing in the vicinity
of Chilang Lighthouse throughout that period?-One can adduce from them.
What sort of weather was prevailing there during that time? Moderate east and E.N.E. winds throughout the period ex- cept on September 27 when the wind
- light was
westerly. The weather was fair or fine and the visibility was good and it is unlikely that any strong winds were experienced near the Chilang Point during that period.
After compiling these maps did you subsequently receive informa- tion from ships? Yes, we received a number of meteorological logs from ships plying between Hong Kong and coast ports. There were no reports of any wind exceeding 18 m.p.h. and the weather in all cases was fair or fine except Sept. 27. The Kaying on that day re- ported the sea was smooth.
And from the reports you re- ceived you expect the sea to be smooth? Yes.
EVENTUALLY RESCUED Fung Chan-ho, native of Macao, testified that on the morning of September 22 he was on board junk No. 1822 off Chilang Lighthouse, when he saw at a distance a pair of junks hit by gunfire.
What happened after the guns had hit the first pair of junks?— We lowered all our sails and, being trightened, we all went into the hold. Eventually our junk was also hit and sank, We then came on the deck and tied the sails to- gether to form a raft, on which we floated. There was also one
sampan.
Was any member of your crew Injured? Yes. Leung Hong, who was wounded on both feet. We were eventually rescued by another Junk and brought back to Aberdeen.
EXPERT EVIDENCE
Lieut. Comdr. R. R. Heibert, at- tached to the Commodore's Office. Hong Kong, was the next witness.
He stated he had served 21 years
in the Royal Navy. 16 of which had been in submarines.
Mr. Whyatt: For ten years you have been in command of sub- marines? Yes.
Should I be right in describing you as a speciallst in that type of naval craft?—Yes.
I take it that you have been in command of submarines in various
the parts of
world? Yes, most parts, including the China Station.
Are you familiar with naval craft operating the China Seas?—Yes,
And in particular, submarines?.... Yes.
Can you tell me from your ex- perience what colour submarines are usually painted?-Usually grey, from light or silvery grey to dark the grey, largely depending on nature of the operations on which the submarine may be engaged.
DISTINGUISHING MARKS
Are you speaking of the British Navy? No, all Navies.
on
With regard to certain distin- guishing marks which I understand are sometimes carried on the hull of submarines, is it the practice of certain Navies to paint numerals the hull near the conning tower? It is not the general prac- tice in the British Navy nor, as far as I know, in the American Navy.
Can you tell me the Navy that the adopts this practice?—Yes. Japanese Navy.
Is it the invariable practice in the Japanese Navy? As far as I know, it is.
What sort of numerals do they use?-Arabic.
And whereabouts do they usually paint these numerals?-On the hull before the conning tower. towards
the bow.
Supposing now you are cruising off the south China Coast, and sup- posing you saw a submarine with an Arabic numeral "7" painted on the hull, could you from your ex- perience form any opinion as to the nationality of the submarine? -That would be a Japanese sub- marine, but I should require more certain evidence than that.
PORTABLE MACHINE-GUNS
Is it the practice of some navles to paint white or black bands on their vessels? It is done in most Navies; for instance, in the British Navy our destroyers have bands on the funnels.
or
Is this practice used to a limited extensive extent? It is used very extensively-most extensively, I might say, in the Japanese Navy. They are painted on their cruisers and destroyers, but I cannot be de- Anite about their submarines.
We all know that the chief arma- ment carried by submarines is tor- pedo; have they any other type of armaments?—Yes, they carry guns of three or four inches and some- times a larger calibre. portable machine-guns and rifles.
I am chiefly interested in guns. Can you tell me whether they carry them?—Normally a submarine has
one gun just before the conning tower on the deck.
ABSOLUTELY INVARIABLE
What do you mean by "nor- mally"? In some cases, specially in foreign navies, some submarines are built with two two guns -une before the conning tower and one It aft but this is most unusual is usually found in the largest and most modern submarines. It is not unusual to see a submarine equip- ped with one gun but a submarine equipped with two guns would be a most unusual sight in South China.
And would that enable you to form any opinion as to its nation- ality?—Yes, I should be very much inclined to believe it was a Japan- ese submarine.
Do you know anything about the dresses and equipment that is worn by Japanese sailors? Yes, they are in the habit of carrying a water bottle when they form landing parties, or go ashore. They wear a sort of equipment with straps over their shoulders. The water bottle, I believe, is attached to the straps which go from the shoulder down to waist.
Is that an invariable practice?- Yes. absolutely invariable; they always wear it when they go ashore, but I could not say whether they wear it when they are at sea.
Apart from that, is it unique in that respect?-Absolutely.
Chairman: Can you give any idea of the colour of the strap? -A dark khaki colour.
me
Chairman: Am I right in as- suming that you draw a distin- guishing line between landing parties carrying a bottle strapped to their shoulders and the other equipment of boarding parties?- I should imagine it would
be a practice then to wear some sort of equipment when they were going to action.
GO BY CLASSES Chairman: Do you happen to know whether in the
Japanese Navy there is a submarine bearing the figure 7? I should imagine there would be, because they go by classes, 1 to 5 and 5 to 8.
Can you imagine what armament No. 7 submarine has?--I should say two 5.5 inch guns.
Re-called. Dr. Court stated that he performed a "post mortem" examination on Leung Hong and found that he died as a result of a septic would in the leg.
After Mr. Whyatt had informed the Commissioners that the expert evidence on the bullet was not yet available, hearing was adjourned until 10 a.m. to-day.
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