The SS Bokhara was a P&O

Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company

The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...

 steamship which sank in a typhoon on 10 October 1892, off the coast of Sand Island in the Pescadores, Formosa

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

. Of the 125 people who perished, eleven were members of the Hong Kong cricket team

Hong Kong cricket team

The Hong Kong cricket team represents Hong Kong in international cricket. It played its first match in 1866 and has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1969....

.

Hong Kong's cricket team had played an Interport cricket match

Interport matches

Interport matches refer to a series of cricket matches which took place in Asia from 1866 to 1987, between Ceylon, the Federated Malay States, Hong Kong, Malaya, Malaysia, Shanghai, Singapore and the Straits Settlements.-History:...

 against Shanghai

Shanghai cricket team

The Shanghai cricket team was a cricket team that played various international matches between 1866 and 1948. With cricket in the rest of China almost non-existent, for that period they were the de facto Chinese national side.-History:...

 at the Shanghai Cricket Club

Shanghai Cricket Club

Shanghai Cricket Club is a cricket club based in Shanghai, China. The club dates back to 1858 when the first recorded cricket match was played in the centre of the horseracing course owned by the Shanghai Race Club...

 on 3 October 1892 and were returning home on the SS Bokhara.

Ship history

Built by Caird & Company

Caird & Company

Caird & Company was a Scottish shipbuilding and engineering firm based in Greenock. The company was established in 1828 by John Caird when he received an order to re-engine Clyde paddle-tugs....

 of Greenock

Greenock

Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and launched on 18 December 1872, the SS Bokhara had a two cylinder compound inverted steam engine and was registered in London. The passenger liner travelled mainly to India and the Far East and in 1875 had its registry transferred to Greenock

Greenock

Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...

. On the ship's maiden voyage, in 1873, it was stranded on an uncharted rock off Hong Kong and after eventually refloating, it had to be docked at Kowloon for repairs. In 1884 the ship was used as a transport vessel

Troopship

A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...

 for soldiers in the Mahdist War

Mahdist War

The Mahdist War was a colonial war of the late 19th century. It was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese and the Egyptian and later British forces. It has also been called the Anglo-Sudan War or the Sudanese Mahdist Revolt. The British have called their part in the conflict the Sudan Campaign...

.

Sinking

The ship set off from Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 on 8 October, due to arrive at Hong Kong on the 11th and was then bound for Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

 and Bombay. On board were 148 people, as well as silk, tea and general cargo to the weight of 150 tons.

A typhoon struck on the 9th of October and the crew battened down the hatches, furled the sails and set the engines to dead slow in an attempt to stop the ship from being battered against the coast of Formosa. It worsened on the 10th and the lifeboats were blown away into the Taiwan Strait

Taiwan Strait

The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait, formerly known as the Black Ditch, is a 180-km-wide strait separating Mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast...

s by the strong winds as were the deck fittings of the Bokhara. By nightfall, waves had swept over the ship, shattering the engine room skylights and flooding the machinery.

With the Bokhara approaching the Pescadores, the engineers tried in vain to restart the swamped engines while the captain warned the passengers of the oncoming collision. Soon after, the ship struck the reef twice, with the second strike causing the starboard side to be ripped wide open and within two minutes the Bokhara had sunk.

Rescue

The survivors, who lay injured on the beach, were found by local Chinese fishermen who brandished axes and knives. After salvaging bits and pieces from the wreckage, the fishermen then took the survivors to Peihou Island followed by Makung, where they were looked after by the locals. They were then picked up by the Douglas Steamer Thales, who transferred the survivors to which was heading to Hong Kong.

Victims and survivors

Only two Hong Kong cricketers survived, Dr James Lowson and Lieutenant Markham. Lowson had to have a lung removed but continued to play cricket for Hong Kong until 1898. First-class cricketer Ernest Coxon and future Hampshire player Horatio Dumbleton both played in Hong Kong's interport match against Shanghai earlier that year but were, fortunately for them, unable to play in the October fixture.

A further 23 people were saved from the water, including the Chief Officer, Third and Fourth Officers and two European Quartermasters. The other 18 survivors were Asian passengers and soldiers.
The eleven Hong Kong cricketers to die were -

• Lieutenant C.G. Boyle
• Lieutenant Burnett
• Captain Dawson
• Sergeant Donegan
• Captain John Dunn
  John Dunn (cricketer)
  John Dunn was an English first-class cricketer who played with Surrey and the Marylebone Cricket Club. He also played cricket for Hong Kong later in his career....
  
  
• Quartermaster-Sergeant Jeffkins
• Sergeant Mumford
• G.S. Purvis, Esq.
  Esquire
  Esquire is a term of West European origin . Depending on the country, the term has different meanings...
  
  
• G.E. Taverner, Esq.
  Esquire
  Esquire is a term of West European origin . Depending on the country, the term has different meanings...
  
  
• Major Turner
• C. Wallace, Esq.
  Esquire
  Esquire is a term of West European origin . Depending on the country, the term has different meanings...
  
  

Aftermath

A Marine Board of Inquiry was launched but after only two days of testimony found that accident was not caused by the wrongful act or default of any Certified Officer and commended the crew on their efforts to avoid the tragedy.

With the Hong Kong cricket community in mourning, the Interport series did not resume until 1897.

Sand Island in the Pescadores, where the ship sank, is now a shooting range for the Taiwanese Military.