Whampoa Dock
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Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock was a
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
dockyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...
, once among the largest in
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
.


History

Founded in 1866 by Douglas Lapraik and Thomas Sutherland, the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company (known as Hong Kong Kowloon and Whampoa Dock Company). In 1865, it was known as Kowloon Docks and located on the west Kowloon coast between Hung Hom and Tai Wan, facing
Hung Hom Bay Hung Hom Bay was a bay in Victoria Harbour, between Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom in the southeast of Kowloon Peninsula, Hong Kong. Since 1994, parts of the bay were reclaimed, and by 2019 it had been completely extinguished. All of present-da ...
in the
Victoria Harbour Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour in Hong Kong separating Hong Kong Island in the south from the Kowloon Peninsula to the north. The harbour's deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on South China Sea were instrumental in ...
. It is also known as Whampoa Dock for short. The "Whampoa" part of the name comes from the harbor located at was then known as Huangpu Island (previously transliterated as ''Whampoa''), adjacent to the city of
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
(previously transliterated as ''Canton''), where the company owned another dockyard. On the eve of
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. The surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce ...
, the dockyard was heavily bombarded by Japanese
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
due to its importance, causing many
casualties A casualty, as a term in military usage, is a person in military service, combatant or non-combatant, who becomes unavailable for duty due to any of several circumstances, including death, injury, illness, capture or desertion. In civilian usag ...
. In the mid-1960s, the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company was controlled by
Douglas Clague Sir Douglas Clague (13 June 1917 – 11 March 1981) was a British Hong Kong soldier and entrepreneur who spent most of his life in Hong Kong. Early Years Born in South Rhodesia, in 1917, Clague arrived in Hong Kong in 1940 as a lieutenant in ...
through Hutchison International but he was forced to leave following financial difficulties with Hutchison International. Hutchison International was acquired by
Li Ka Shing Sir Ka-shing Li (; born 13 June 1928) is a Hong Kong billionaire business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. As of June 2019, Li is the 31st richest person in the world, with an estimated net wealth of US$33.4 billion. He is the senior ad ...
's Cheung Kong Holdings and eventually merged with Whampoa to become Hutchison Whampoa. In 1985, the dockyard land was transformed into a
private housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...
, the
Whampoa Garden Whampoa Garden () is the largest private housing estate in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was built on the site of the former Whampoa Dockyards by Hutchison Whampoa Property. The urban design of the estate incorporates concepts inspired by t ...
, the second-largest private housing estate in Hong Kong, after
Mei Foo Sun Chuen Mei Foo Sun Chuen or simply Mei Foo is a large private housing estate in Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Mei Foo Sun Chuen was the first large scale private housing estate in Hong Kong and at the time of completion, the 99-tower complex w ...
. The only portion of the dockyard that exists is Bulkeley Street. The dockyard is now part of the Whampoa Garden site residential complex. The dockyard operations merged with
Swire Swire Group () is a Hong Kong- and London-based British conglomerate. Many of its core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, where traditionally Swire's operations have centred on Hong Kong and mainland China. Within Asia, ...
's
Taikoo Dockyard Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company () was a dockyard in what is now Taikoo Shing, MTR Tai Koo station and part of Taikoo Place of Quarry Bay on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. History The idea that John Swire and Sons should have their ...
on the Island to become
Hongkong United Dockyards Hongkong United Dockyards () abbreviated to United Dockyards () or HUD is a dockyard built on the site of the former Shek Wan or "Stone Bay" (), on Tsing Yi Island of Hong Kong. History HUD was formed in 1973 from the merger of the Hong Ko ...
on the new territories western shore of
Tsing Yi Island Tsing Yi, sometimes referred to as Tsing Yi Island, is an island in the urban area of Hong Kong, to the northwest of Hong Kong Island and south of Tsuen Wan. With an area of , the island has extended drastically by reclamation along almost all ...
Wok Tai Wan Wok Tai Wan () was a bay on the northwest coast of Tsing Yi Island, Hong Kong. The beach in the bay was once a naturist resort. The difficulties involved in getting to the bay on foot with high its surrounding hills, or by small boat because of tu ...
. Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock helped converted
Hong Kong Tramways Hong Kong Tramways (HKT) is a narrow-gauge tram system in Hong Kong. Owned and operated by RATP Dev Transdev Asia, the tramway runs on Hong Kong Island between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan, with a branch circulating through Happy Valley. ...
second and third generation tram cars built by United Electric and English Electric. These cars were eventually retired from 1924 to 1930 as the fourth-generation cars were introduced. Other facilities: * Hope Dry Dock in
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, opened 1867.


Ships

Ships built at this yard include: * ''Foo-mun-tsai'' (1881); Built for the
Qing government The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
's Canton Customs Authority. * * ''Con-rong'' (1887); French steamer. * ''Mellong'' (1901); Steamer built for German company
Norddeutscher Lloyd Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of t ...
for river use around Bangkok. * (1904) * USS ''San Felipe'' (YFB-12) (1907) * USS ''Banaag'' (YT-104) (1910) * ''Kwai Sang'' (1917) * S.S Suddhadib 1918 (Maiden voyage; Hong Kong 22 April 1918)Built for the Siam Steam Navigation Company (part of the East Asiatic Company (EAC) - Bangkok-based, Danish owner) Shipwrecked: 01-06-1945 Allied Bombing - Siam Bay. * S.S Valaya 1918 sistership to s.s.Suddhadib above.(Maiden voyage; Hong Kong June 15th )Built for the Siam Steam Navigation Company (part of the East Asiatic Company (EAC) - Bangkok-based, Danish owner) Shipwrecked: 13 Jan 1944(sunk by mines in the mouth of Chaopraya River 1944) * ''War Bomber'' (1919); 5,226 ton (8,000 ton deadweight), 400 foot warship, largest ship to date built at the Kowloon Docks for Shipping Controller, London. Later, would come into Japanese service during WWII and be sunk on 4 September 1942 as '' Kaimei Maru''. * ''War Trooper'' (1919); 8,000 ton (deadweight), 400 foot warship, sister ship of the ''War Bomber''.Later entered Greek service as ''Ambatielos'', returning to British service in 1923 as ''King Gruffydd''. In 1939, pressed into Admiralty service as HMS ''Maunder'' (X-28), torpedoed and sunk in 1943. * for Australian Oriental Line; later became
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
Naval Stores Issuing Ship RFA ''Y1-9''. * ''Sang Wo'' (1926) * for Australian Oriental Line * USS ''YAG-3'' (1926) * SS Prince Narisra 1929. Yard no. 336. Siam Steamship Navigation Company, Bangkok. Damaged during bombing 1945 in Bangkok. Scrapped 1949 BKK * USS ''YAG-4'' (1931) * (1938); 1,000 ton passenger ship later converted as a patrol vessel for the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
; sank near
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
in 1942 as HMS ''Li Wo''. * (1938) * ''Ranger'' (1940), ocean-going tugboat * (1941) * (1942) * and many of the Hong Kong Star Ferry vessels in service today.


See also

*
Cosmopolitan Dock Cosmopolitan Dock () was one of the major dockyards in Hong Kong. History Founded in 1880 and located on the exterior of former Tai Kok Tsui peninsula in Kowloon, the dockyard belonged to then-British owned Hutchison Whampoa. The dockyard was creat ...


References

Hung Hom Dockyards in Hong Kong Former companies in the Hang Seng Index Predecessors of CK Hutchison Holdings Shipbuilding companies of Hong Kong Companies formerly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Former buildings and structures in Hong Kong Ships built by the Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Company {{Kowloon-stub