Irene Incident | |||||||
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Part of Piracy in Asia | |||||||
![]() A spear taken as a prize of war from Chinese pirates by British forces during the engagement | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
![]() | Pirates | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
![]() | Unknown | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2 submarines (HMS L4 & HMS L5) 1 destroyer (HMS Stormcloud) 1 cruiser (HMS Delhi) 1 minesweeper (HMS Magnolia) Hong Kong Police | 1 steamship (SS Irene) | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
None |
~1 killed 17 captured SS Irene sunk | ||||||
Civilian casualties: 14 passengers on SS Irene died. |
The Irene incident of 1927 was a British anti-piracy operation in China during the first half of the 20th century. In an attempt to surprise the pirates of Bias Bay, about sixty miles from British Hong Kong, Royal Navy submarines attacked the steamship SS Irene, of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, which had been taken over by the pirates on the night of 19 October. The British were successful in thwarting the hijacking though they sank the ship.[1][2]
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