CHINESE PIRATES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 297, 1 October 1928, Page 5

CHINESE PIRATES

BRITISH VESSEL RAIDED. ‘ « • TWO WHITE OFFICERS KILLED. CAPTAIN SERIOUSLY WOUNDED. SHANGHAI, Sept. 29. . Signalling by virefess from Honghai Bay, the British coastal vessel Anking that it was raided by pirates ■when proceeding from Singapore to Swatow on. September 26. The chief officer, David l Clifford Jones, and the chief engineer, Harry Thomson were killed, and O. 0. Plunkett Cole, the icaptain, was seriously wounded, ihe Chinese quarter-master was killed. Details are lacking but the pirates are believed to have (boarded the vessel at Shanghai.—Australian Press Association.

desperate resistance. CARGO WORTH 80,000 DOLLARS. (Received This Day, 10.40 a.m.) SHANGHAI, September 30. Details of tho Nanking piracy show that 40 pirates were concealed among 1400 deck passengers, and captured the ship. They were desperately resisted by the European officers and engineers, but these were outnumbered and ruthlessly shot. „ , , , . . The fight occurred at 7 o clock last Wednesday evening, when the officers were dining. A hand-to-hand struggle took place on deck, the pirates finally gaining possession of the vessel. They seized the armoury and threw the bodies of the murdered officers overboard. They kept, the second officer, Mr Bennett, on the bridge for' 54 hours navigating the vessel and -carefully avoiding the pirate stronglipld at Bias Bay, which is now patrolled by foreign warships. The vessel entered Honghai Bay, where the ship was systematically looted. Cargo worth 80,000 dollars was carried off in the ship’s boats, the crew being compeHed to assist. Seven Chinese were kidnapped for ransom.