Draft:The SS Sobraon

The SS Sobraon was a passenger ship operated by the British Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) in 1900. It regularly traveled from Britain to India and the Far East to transport passengers, mail, and cargo. On April 23, 1901, the SS Sobraon ran aground on the rocks in a sea ravine on the north side of Siyin Island. The hull was severely damaged, and it sank.

History

In 1900, the SS Sobraon was built by the Caird Company in Greenock, Scotland. The ship number was 293. Its official number was 109253, and the communication signal was RKNB. SS Sobraon was a two-masted sail, steam-powered composite construction (timber and iron frame) freighter with a length of 137.16 m and a width of 16.46 m. This freighter had a registered tonnage of 7,382 tons, a net tonnage of 4,411 tons, a maximum speed of 16 knots, and a registered capacity to carry 171 passengers. It was one of the most advanced commercial passenger freighters at the time.

After being launched on February 17, SS Sobraon and its sister ships, the SS Assaye and SS Plassy, were sold to the British Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company on April 4 for 1605,515 pounds. The SS Sobraon then launched its maiden voyage on April 26, heading to Shanghai and passing through Mumbai along the way. SS Sobraon operated regularly from the UK to India and the Far East to transport passengers, mail, and cargo.

The Story of the Sinking

In the early morning of April 24, 1901, the SS Sobraon encountered heavy fog while sailing near Dongyin Island in Matsu. Owing to poor visibility, it violently crashed into the North Reef on the north side of Siyin Island. When the shipwreck occurred, the captain in charge of the voyage, Wibmer, calmly directed the rescue and urgently dispatched another merchant ship from Shanghai, the SS Coromandel, and a French warship to engage in rescue operations. Fortunately, all the mail, items, 57 passengers, and 18 children on the freighter were safely evacuated without any casualties. The passengers were sent to sampans from Fuzhou for resettlement, and the mail was transported back to Europe by Norddeutscher Lloyd's SS Prinzess Irene.

Due to heavy losses from this incident, the Customs Department of the Qing Dynasty planned to build Dongyong Lighthouse as a commemoration in 1902. Its construction was completed in 1904.

Dongyong Lighthouse was constructed in response to this incident.

Freighter Wreckage

The wreckage site of the SS Sobraon is located in the East Yin Sea, North Reef off the north coast of Siyin Island, and is called “Chicken Reef” by residents. This wreckage site is an important fishing site for local fishers. The average water depth is approximately 15 meters, and a shoal is in the east. The sea trench next to the sinking site of the SS Sobraon is called the “Iron Pit.”

In 2013, the Tung Yung Community Development Association applied for a subsidy from the Lianjiang County Government to conduct the SS Sobraon wreckage exploration. After a six-month underwater exploration, divers from the Bureau of Cultural Heritage’s underwater archeology team and the Taiwan Ocean Security Conserve Association (TOSCA) discovered the wreckage of the SS Sobraon in Dongyin waters in August 2014. They salvaged more than 10 pieces of hull structures, including copper U-shaped ship parts and a Chinese-style dragon-patterned double-eared copper furnace. The main body of the wreckage suffered natural damage, such as wave impact and metal corrosion, as well as man-made damage, such as fish bombing and theft. Therefore, its preservation condition is poor. Divers reported seeing a plated section of the hull, a mast, and one of the twin propellers. The cultural relics salvaged from the sea were later kept in the Dongyin Township Office.

Since the SS Sobraon was rich in research potential for studying shipbuilding technology and the development of navigation and trade during the 19th century, the Bureau of Cultural Heritage listed it for management and maintenance and registered it as an underwater cultural asset in 2015.

In December 2022, No. 20 Zhongliu Village was planned to be the Dongyin Township Underwater Museum site. A permanent exhibition with the theme of “The Secret of the Iron Pit Sleeping in the Dongyin Sea for 120 Years” is displayed with relics from the SS Sobraon. The exhibition includes the salvaged cultural relics and ship history, which enables the audience to gain an in-depth understanding of the SS Sobraon.