SS Bokhara
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| History | |
|---|---|
 England
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| Owner: | P&O |
| Port of registry: |
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| Builder: | Caird & Company, Greenock, Scotland |
| Launched: | 18 December 1872 |
| Fate: | Sank in a typhoon on 10 October 1892, killing 125 people |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 2,948 net |
| Length: | 365 ft (111.25 m) |
| Beam: | 39 ft (11.89 m) |
| Draught: | 22 ft (6.71 m) |
| Depth: | 29 feet (moulded) |
| Speed: | 13 knots max |
| Crew: | 143 |
The SS Bokhara was a P&O steamship which sank in a typhoon on 10 October 1892, off the coast of Sand Island in the Pescadores, Formosa. Of the 125 people who perished, eleven were members of the Hong Kong cricket team.
Hong Kong's cricket team had played an Interport cricket match against Shanghai at the Shanghai Cricket Club on 3 October 1892 and were returning home on the SS Bokhara.
Built by Caird & Company of Greenock, Scotland, and launched on 18 December 1872, the SS Bokhara had a two-cylinder compound inverted steam engine and was registered in London. The passenger liner travelled mainly to India and the Far East and in 1875 had its registry transferred to Greenock. On the ship's maiden voyage, in 1873, it was stranded on an uncharted rock off Hong Kong and after eventually refloating, it had to be docked at Kowloon for repairs. In 1884 the ship was used as a transport vessel for soldiers in the Mahdist War.
The ship set off from Shanghai on 8 October, due to arrive at Hong Kong on the 11th and was then bound for Colombo and Bombay. On board were 148 people, as well as silk, tea and general cargo to the weight of 150 tons.
A typhoon struck on 9 October and the crew battened down the hatches, furled the sails and set the engines to dead slow in an attempt to stop the ship from being battered against the coast of Formosa. It worsened on the 10th and the lifeboats were blown away into the Taiwan Straits by the strong winds as were the deck fittings of the Bokhara. By nightfall, waves had swept over the ship, shattering the engine room skylights and flooding the machinery.
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Wikipedia