The Bubonic Plague from Hong Kong to San Francisco

How did the plague travel in 1899?

The story of the Nippon Maru and its nearly 6000 nautical mile journey from Hong Kong to San Francisco.

In episode 47 we discussed various epidemics and pandemics and the damage they’ve done throughout history. When most people think of plagues, their minds flash to medieval times but the truth is, we were dealing with the Bubonic plague as recently as 1950.

The Ship

Nippon Maru – Built in 1898 by Sir J. Laing, Sunderland 6,178 Tons
Toyo Kisen Kabushiki Kaisha (TKK) Company

The Timeline

In 1899 the Nippon Maru made the voyage from Hong Kong to San Francisco. Qurantine set them back seven days. They were quarantined again in Honolulu before arriving to the port of San Francisco on June 27th.

May 21st – The Nippon Maru leaves from Hong Kong port
May 24th – leaves from Shanghai port
June 3rd – Quarantined in Nagasaki for 7 days. Leaves port.
June 6th – Leaves Kobe
June 8th – Leaves Yokohama
June 10th – The ship is due to arrive in Honolulu
June 12th – Nippon Maru late to Honolulu, bad weather blamed
June 13th – Three days overdue, authorities believe it may be held up in quarantine
June 15th – May have sailed straight to San Francisco
June 16th – Feared sunk
June 17th – Arrives in Honolulu a week late, possible contagion on board 700 tons merch and Japanese/Chinese immigrants
June 19th – Body of dead chinese man burned on board
June 20th – Quarantine is lifted and the Nippon Maru sets sail for SF 7:00pm
June 24th – Due to SF – No show
June 26th – word spreads across America that contaminated ship is coming
June 27th – Nippon Maru arrives in San Francisco port from Japan and China, via Honolulu