萬年清 - The Ten-thousand Year Qing

Yes, this could be the magnificent 萬年清 in action with the sails and the steam engines all operating at the same time. During the Battle of Fisherman's Wharf, 萬年清 was stranded together with the British gunboat, the Cockshafer, inside Danshui Harbor. This was not just some ordinary ship, it was the first western-style ship ever built by the Chinese, in the shipyard of 福州船政局Foochow Naval Affairs Bureau - with the help of French engineers. The sketch below shows the No 1 Steamer (i.e., the 萬年清, erroneously reported as the No 13 Transport by John Dodd in his journal), essentially a 2X scaled-up version of the original design of French gunboat, La Motte-Picquet (depicted above).

萬年清 was a wooden ship built from timbers imported from Thailand and Taiwan, and the hardware from France. The construction was started on Jan 18, 1868 and finished on June 10, 1869, costing a total of 163,000 silver taels.

The ship's specs were listed as:
length: 238 ft
breadth: 27.8 ft
draft: 14.2 ft
displacement: 1,370 tons
two coal-fired steam engines with a combined total of 580 horsepower
total area of the sails: 8,660 sq ft
maximal speed: 15 knots
personnel: 100 men
and armament: 6 x 5.5-inch guns

萬年清 of course was the pride of China. It entered the naval service as a gunboat but later in 1881 was modified into a transport ship - by adding a 10-room passenger cabin on the upper deck and renovating the crew's quarters into a cargo bay. In the Sino-French war, the ship was docked in Danshui thereby avoiding destruction by the French Far East fleet in the Battle of Foochow across the Taiwan Straits. It, however, was damaged by typhoon in Danshui in late 1885 and had to return to its home port Foochow for repair. It sailed off Foochow for the last time in March, 1886.

The 萬年清 cruised between Danshui and Amoy on a regular basis. It was small and sleek, the designated express courier of government messages and more.

Regularly scheduled sea transport was of course the main means of travel before the advent of commercial aviation. To a casual visitor of Danshui, it may not be apparent that this little town actually had a glorious maritime past:

Danshui's role as an international shipping port started in 咸豐元年 (1851). The port was officially opened in 1860 together with the creation of Danshui Customs Office. From 1862 to 1894, Danshui was the most important commercial seaport in Taiwan. Not only for import-export of commodities but also passengers traveling to and from Amoy, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

The Qing Gov't gradually took over the highly profitable routes from the British by adding two ships 琛航 and永保 in 1881, and 6 more later including the 萬年清. And in 1888, 斯美Smith and 駕時Cass with 海龍Sea Dragon to follow. [Note: in 1872, Dr George Leslie Mackay boarded the 海龍 to arrive in Danshui from Tainan and the Cass might have been involved in the repatriation of Qing soldiers in 1895.]

The shipping lanes between Danshui and several seaports in China (e.g., Foochow and Amoy) remained open until 1909, 6 years after Keelung finally overtook Danshui in trade volume. For various reasons, the most crucial one being the sandy deposit issue, the Japanese Colonial Gov't had elected to further develop the port of Keelung at the expense of Danshui. And the sailing of the flat-bottomed junks into Danshui Harbor ceased totally in 1937 owing to the Sino-Japanese war. Danshui has become a seaport in name only ever since.

The 萬年清? Ah, yes, a British ship, the Nepal, collided with 萬年清 in the early morning fog of Jan 19, 1887, while the latter was anchored outside of Shanghai waiting to enter the Huang-Pu River. It was carrying the military payrolls and the official documents both of which intended for Liu Ming Ch'uan in Taiwan. This brought an end to the 18 years of 萬年清 service at sea with the loss of 114 lives. After a court ruling, the Great Britain Shipping Co, owner of the Nepal, eventually paid the compensation.