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Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock

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Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock
Company typePrivate company
IndustryShipbuilding, Dockyard
Founded1866
FounderDouglas Lapraik, Thomas Sutherland
FateMerged with Cheung Kong Holdings to form Hutchison Whampoa
Headquarters
Kowloon
,
Hong Kong
ProductsShips, ship repair, tramcar refurbishment

Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock was once a prominent Hong Kong dockyard and ranked among the largest in Asia.

History

Established in 1866 by businessmen Douglas Lapraik and Thomas Sutherland, the dockyard was located along the western coast of Kowloon, nestled between Hung Hom and Tai Wan, overlooking Hung Hom Bay within Victoria Harbour.

The company was known under several titles including Hong Kong Kowloon and Whampoa Dock Company, Kowloon Docks, and Whampoa Dock. The term "Whampoa" derives from the harbor at Huangpu Island near Guangzhou, where the firm also operated a shipyard.

Prior to the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, this dockyard sustained heavy bombing due to its strategic value, causing extensive destruction and loss of life.

During the mid-1960s, ownership transferred to Douglas Clague through Hutchison International, but financial troubles forced his exit. Subsequently, Hutchison International was purchased by Li Ka Shing’s Cheung Kong Holdings, which merged with Whampoa to create Hutchison Whampoa. By 1985, the dockyard site was transformed into Whampoa Garden, becoming Hong Kong’s second-largest private residential development after Mei Foo Sun Chuen. The only remaining element from the original dockyard is Bulkeley Street. Today, this area forms part of the housing estate.

Dockyard activities were consolidated with Swire's Taikoo Dockyard to establish Hongkong United Dockyards on Tsing Yi Island’s western shore at Wok Tai Wan.

Additionally, the dockyard played a role in local transport by refurbishing second- and third-generation tramcars for Hong Kong Tramways, originally produced by United Electric and English Electric, prior to their retirement in the 1920s.

Other associated facilities included Hope Dry Dock in Aberdeen, which commenced operations in 1867.

Ships

Significant vessels constructed at the yard include:

  • USS Leyte (1887), a gunboat serving initially with Spain and later with the US Navy
  • Manok (1930), built for La Naviera Filipina in the Philippine Islands; lost in 1941
  • Foo-mun-tsai (1881), commissioned by Qing dynasty’s Canton Customs Authority
  • USS Mariveles (1886)
  • French steamer Con-rong (1887)
  • Mellong (1901), operated by German Norddeutscher Lloyd near Bangkok
  • USC&GS Fathomer (1904)
  • USS San Felipe (YFB-12) (1907)
  • USS Banaag (YT-104) (1910)
  • Kwai Sang (1917)
  • S.S. Suddhadib (1918), owned by Siam Steam Navigation Company; destroyed during Allied bombing in 1945
  • S.S. Valaya (1918), sister vessel to Suddhadib; sunk by mines in 1944
  • War Bomber (1919), a 5,226-ton naval ship later renamed Japanese Kaimei Maru, sunk in 1942
  • War Trooper (1919), sister ship; served as HMS Maunder, sunk in 1943
  • SS Changte (1925) for Australian Oriental Line; later served as Royal Navy stores ship RFA Y1-9
  • Sang Wo (1926)
  • SS Taiping (1926) for Australian Oriental Line
  • USS YAG-3 (1926)
  • SS Prince Narisra (1929), operated by Siam Steamship Navigation Company; dismantled in 1949
  • USS YAG-4 (1931)
  • HMS Li Wo (1938), passenger vessel converted into patrol craft; sunk near Singapore in 1942
  • HMAS Matafele (1938)
  • Ocean-going tugboat Ranger (1940)
  • SS Empire Moonbeam
  • SS Empire Almond (1941)
  • SS Gyōkū Maru (1942)

The dockyard was also responsible for constructing numerous vessels for Hong Kong’s Star Ferry fleet that remain operational today.

See also

References

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