S.S. Shu Tung on Yangtze River, Palmer collection, Pa01-10
The hazards and drama of steaming through rapids and gorges in the Yangtze River is evident in this picture (Pa01-10). The Shu Tung, built by Messrs. Thorneycroft and Co. in Britain in 1910, was a stalwart Upper Yangtze steamer, owned by the Szechuan Steam Navigation Co. The ship appears to have run aground.
9 August 2018.
The vessel has not run aground. Rather, it appears to be steaming normally in the left-stream in one of the gorges. Padding (an old tyre?) can be seen attached to the bows of the ‘Shu-Tung’, as a precautionary protection, in case the current should unexpectedly push them against a rock, as occasionally happened. People are watching from the river bank. The writing on the superstructure says, “Not carrying military personnel” and “Not carrying munitions.” This is in the hope that Szechuen (Sichuan) warlords would not try to stop the vessel to inspect it. The ‘Shu-Tung’ is in the foreground and the ‘Shu-Tung Flat’ is behind it. See also Sw06-156.
Not aground. Just working her way through a rapid with a lighter alongside – that was the way in which cargo and passengers were conveyed between Ichang and Chungking just before regular steamship services were established a few years later.