Sunken shipwreck in Hong Kong harbour likely that of HMS Tamar
Could a shipwreck recently found off Wan Chai be the remains of HMS Tamar, Hong Kong's most famous warship? Max Joseph delves into a murky, and probably political, mystery
Almost three-quarters of a century after being deliberately sunk, Hong Kong's most famous warship may have made a surprise reappearance in the soft seabed of Victoria Harbour.
A statement on March 27 by the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) that a 40-metre-long metal object had been found buried in the mud close to the old Wan Chai ferry pier triggered a frenzy of speculation about the probable shipwreck's identity.
One Chinese-language newspaper incorrectly identified the wreck as being that of a Japanese merchant vessel. Other media pointed to the possibility that it was HMS Tamar, the steam- and sail-powered troop carrier that had been anchored in the harbour as the British Royal Navy's depot ship for 44 years before being scuttled in December 1941, to avoid capture by the invading Imperial Japanese Army.
It had been assumed that HMS Tamar was salvaged and removed from the harbour after the second world war but since the discovery of the shipwreck, the Hong Kong Maritime Museum has launched an HMS Tamar webpage and district councillor Paul Zimmerman has published his ideas for what to do with the wreck, which he confidently refers to as HMS Tamar, one of which involves preserving sections of it as exhibits on the harbourfront.
Assuming it is the old iron-keeled warship that has rudely interrupted progress of the HK$4.64 billion Wan Chai Development Phase II project, the authorities are faced with a tricky dilemma.
Despite six weeks of what the department calls "further investigation and assessment" no one in government circles is rushing to make a public statement about the shipwreck's identity.