BRITISH SHIP SUNK

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27563, 21 January 1955, Page 11

BRITISH SHIP SUNK

Bomb Attack In Swatow

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) HONG KONG, January 20. The Jebshun Shipping Company, Hong Kong, confirmed today that the 1900-ton British freighter Edendale was sunk in Swatow yesterday afternoon, presumably in a Nationalist bomber raid on Swatow, 180 miles north-east of Hong Kong. The crew is safe, including the British master, Captain L. C. Church. The Edendale, built in Newcastle in 1897, had been trading along the China Coast since 1951. The vessel formerly belonged to the Heap Eng Mok Steamship Company, Singapore, who sold her in 1951 to the Wing Li Steam Navigation Company, connected with Jebshun and Company. Later the Hong Kong Marine Department said it understood the Edendale was inside Swatow Harbour when she was sunk by the bombing attack. Details of what happened were awaited, but it was known that there were no casualties among the Edendale’s crew, the department said. The Hong Kong Seamen’s Guild said that the three other British crew members of the Edendale were Mr C. A. V. Sherwood, chief officer, Mr C. A. Howard, chief engineer, and Mr J. Marshal, second engineer. Mr Howard was born in China. The officers and the master. Captain Church, have had many years’ experience of the China coast. The other crew members were Chinese. Nationalist Communique A Nationalist Defence Ministry communique from Taipeh last night said large numbers of Nationalist Air Force fighters and bombers had yesterday

afternoon “launched punitive attacks” on Communist armed vessels along the south-east China coast, near Amoy, in the Fukien Province, and Swatow. in the Wangtung province. The communique described the attacks as “a retaliatory measure against the Communists’ indiscriminate bombing of the Tachen Islands” and said “after inflicting heavy losses on the enemy vessels, the Nationalist planes returned safely to their bases.”