Elizabeth Ayre, whose been reading Oceans of Fate, has shared several rare photos from her grandfather’s collection. Her grandfather, Ernest Treloar, served as an engineer on the Empress of Asia during the interwar years.
Pages 183-186 in Oceans of Fate describe the January 1926 fatal collision involving the 16,909-gross ton Empress of Asia, steaming outbound from Shanghai on the Huangpu River (Whangpoo/Whangpu), and the inbound 1,869-ton freighter Tung Shing. While researching the book, it was hoped such photos would be found. Fortunately, the book itself has helped bring them to light, and thanks to Elizabeth Ayre, who I met at the Vancouver Indigo book signing in March, I’m pleased to share two–the first showing the actual collision and the second of what appears to be damage to the Asia’s bow.
Hope you get the chance to read Oceans of Fate, and learn more about the collision, which occurred just days before a young American was swept overboard.