Formosa (Taiwan)
1950s

Captured Russian Tanker

Captured Russian Tanker.  It is in Kaohsiung, Formosa.  Picture taken sometime in Oct. 1955.
#214
"When [I was] in Kaohsiung, Formosa, I seen a captured Russian tanker.  Some planes caught him out to far from land and told him [the captain] if he didn’t steer such and such a course they would sink him.  So, he went where he was told.  After they got him there, they hung him and his first mate, and threw the crew in irons.  Sounds mean.  Yes."

Footnote:
"Russian tanker: On June 23, 1954, the Soviet tanker, Tuapse, was captured by the Chinese Nationalists off the coast of Formosa.  The forty-nine crewmembers were charged with espionage and imprisoned.  Eventually, four crewmembers escaped, twenty-nine were repatriated, and nine sought asylum in the United States (1955).  The fate of the last seven crewmembers is unclear; although, it is believed that three died (or were killed), and four were detained for over thirty years."

Quote taken from
Alzheimer's, Archaeology, and the Armed Forces
by Susan Steele
Copyright 2016
Used with permission
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Copyright 2015-2023, S Steele.  Contents of this website are protected by copyright laws.  All rights reserved.  This is not an "official" Navy site.  This website was put together to honor my father, Gary Steele.  Most of the photographs on this website are from Gary Steele's collection and they are used with permission.  Some of the other pictures are from the Navy and the Public Domain...thank you to those contributors!