Messrs. Mackenzie & Co launched S.S. Loong Mow, the first luxury river service from Shanghai through Yangtze’s Three Gorges in June 1920 under the pilotage of Commander Sidney Hall, R.N.R., marking the beginning of scenic cruises through the Gorges. Timed with this new service, Kelly & Walsh published Glimpses of the Yangtze Gorges in 1921 with text from the man who modernized commercial shipping on the Upper Yangtze, Cornell Plant and illustrations by Ivon Donnelly. This rare cover from the original publication shows the connection between Loong Mow’s new service and its anticipated audience of readers – Loong Mow passengers.
Indeed, Glimpses enjoyed three editions – 1921, 1926 and 1932.
S.S. Loong Mow’s early start highlights the Gorges ongoing navigational challenges. Within weeks of its launch, S.S. Loong Mow, upon departing Chungking on July 12, 1920, reported falling water levels (losing 3 feet in 9 hours) and trouble with its steering. Two days later, the ship careened into a cliff at 20 knots, causing substantial damage and one fatality. Cornell Plant testified in court as an expert witness in August and the court concluded the accident was due to failure of steering gear. Mackenzie & Co. was charged £24/17 and asked to modify its steering system. Further, the court recommended that no vessel should be permitted to trade on the Upper Yangtze without a final trial above Ichang as the Lower Yangtze’s tranquil water conditions are totally different from the turbulent waters of the Gorges.
Rapids, whirlpools and rocks were not the only Upper Yangtze hazards during that time. Captain Hall recounted that he made 21 trips out of 25 scheduled in 1921, dropping a handful of journeys due to warlord troop interference. He reported that Chinese brigands would get on the banks in the narrow passes, and playfully turn on machine guns, or fire rifles, at a range of 100 to 150 yards. Captain Hall called China “the finest country in the world, were it not for the internal political and military troubles that are a drawback to progress.”
S.S. Loong Mow was sold in 1923 to China Navigation Company, managed by Butterfield & Swire, and renamed Wanliu and later renamed Ming Chuan. In 1938, the Japanese commandeered the ship and named it Mari Maru. It was returned after the war and scrapped in 1969.