Quan Lee Shipyard [????- ]

Submitted by noraft on

I’m researching a Hong Kong shipyard called Quan Lee Shipyard or Quanlee Shipyard, apparently located in Yau Ma Tei in the 1920s.

The Chinese name I have found is 均利船廠, with the location given as 油麻地.

I am trying to identify its exact location, especially whether it appears in marine lot, foreshore, reclamation, pier, wharf, boatyard, launch-repair, or Public Works records.

The immediate research context is a vessel built in Hong Kong in 1925, and possibly a larger vessel rebuilt by Quan Lee around the same period. I have been comparing the 1924 Yau Ma Tei map and aerial photography, especially the waterfront around Ferry Street / Reclamation Street / Public Square Street / Kansu Street / Canton Road.

Has anyone seen Quan Lee / Quanlee / 均利船廠 in a directory, map, rate book, marine lot record, shipyard list, company record, newspaper item, or old photograph? I would be grateful for any lead, even if it only gives a variant spelling or approximate location.

I think it is within the red outline in the photo below 

1924 Aerial Photo of Yau Ma Tei Waterfront north of the Government Launch Repair Yard, by noraft
Type
Business
Status
Unknown
Photos of this organisation:
(see more)

Photos of this organisation:

Quan Lee shipbuilder built the yacht 'Discovery Isle' in 1925
1930
Quan Lee Shipyard built the yacht 'Tavy II' in 1919
1938

Comments

The Discovery Isle was built in 1925 and may be the vessel you're investigating? According to Wikipedia, several of the owner's documents are in archives in Canada:

The Maritime Museum of British Columbia holds logbooks of the motor yacht "Discovery Isle" and other records (16 volumes) written by Captain Beaumont from 1926 to 1962, and a photograph of the yacht.[4]

The provincial archives of British Columbia holds a diary of Beaumont and 29 photographs from 1939.[5]

Perhaps they contain details of the shipyard?

#2 marked on the image is the old public pier at the end of Public Square Street. I don't think it was a shipyard? On the 1920/1924 maps found on hkmaps.hk, the place marked #1 is labeled as "Govt Launch Repair Yard. Is it possible that Quan Lee had an admin office in YMT, but the boatyard was elsewhere?

Also, perhaps there may be references somewhere for Kwan Lee rather than Quan? 

It's also possible it may have been located further north. The whole waterfront there was within the YMT typhoon shelter so that small area in the image might be too narrow a focus even though further north is strictly Mongkok and Tai Kok Tsui. 

Was the old public pier covered? Because #2 looks like a building out over the water. #1 is a slipway that most likely was part of the Government Launch Repair Yard. 

Quan Lee Shipyard could be at any one of the little piers on the map. It mostly (from what I can find) built ~20 gross ton motor yachts.

Discovery Isle isn't the vessel I'm researching, but it was built the same year and also shipped to the same part of the world as Discovery Isle.