司徒戰車與裝甲車正裝船運往福爾摩沙 - 費城詢問報 民國39年(1950)1月11日
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- 5天前
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THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 11, 1950
TANKS AND ARMORED CARS BEING LOADED ON FREIGHTER FOR FORMOSA
Some of the 91 carloads of tanks and armored cars, consigned to the Chinese Nationalist Government in Formosa, being loaded aboard the Turkish freighter S.S. Mardin at Pier G, Allegheny ave., yesterday. The war vehicles were sent from the Lima, O., Army Ordnance Depot. The freighter is expected to sail next week.
Ship Here Loads Formosa Tanks
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mander of the Lima Ordnance Depot, said the shipment left there last Friday night and that five days were consumed in loading the tanks and armored cars.
On November 8, a shipment of 75 tanks was loaded aboard the Honduran freighter Aristocratis at Port Richmond, consigned to Keelung, Taiwan (the Chinese name for Formosa), an important port at the northern end of that island.
The November shipment consisted of 15-ton tanks(M5A1) consigned to the Chinese Nationalists from the U.S. Ordnance Depot at Chambersburg, Pa. They were purchased through Commerce International China, a New York organization.
PREVIOUS SHIPMENT
An additional shipment of 50 tanks, consigned to Chiang Kai-shek's forces was reported to have left Philadelphia on the S.S. Agathis, which sailed from Port Richmond on Dec. 20.
The newest and heaviest shipment came directly from the Lima depot, whose tank storage farm covers 160 acres and which in a six-year period during the war received 100,000 combat vehicles and shipped out near 96,000.
It has been an important storage point for tanks, many of which were kept for possible future use in sealed metal containers, containing dehydrated air. These "canned" tanks were not included in the shipment through Philadelphia.
ALL SURPLUS STOCK
An Army spokesman at Lima emphasized that the tanks and armored cars for Formosa were taken from "excess" or "surplus" stock.
In Washington, the Chinese Embassy said the vehicles were purchased under a $125,000,000 aid program that Congress voted for China in 1947.
Michael McDermott, a State Department spokesman, said that all of this fund was allocated several weeks ago, but that a large part of the equipment bought with the money was still waiting to be shipped. He said the Chinese Nationalists also could make such purchases with their own funds.
McDermott said there would be no difficulty in obtaining licenses for the shipment, since the U.S. still recognizes Chiang's regime.
司徒戰車與裝甲車正裝船運往福爾摩沙-《費城詢問報》，民國39年1月11日，星期三上午
一批總數91節車廂、預定交付福爾摩沙（台灣）中華民國政府的戰車與裝甲車，其部分車輛已於昨日，在阿勒格尼大道G號碼頭裝載上土耳其籍貨輪「馬丁輪」（S.S. Mardin）。
此批共計91車廂之軍用車輛，來自俄亥俄州利馬之陸軍軍械庫。該貨輪預計於下週啟航。
援台戰車於本地港口裝運
利馬軍械庫指揮官表示，該批軍品已於上週五（民國39年，即1950年1月6日）晚間離庫，而裝載此批戰車與裝甲車的作業則耗時五日。
先前在民國38年（1949）11月8日，亦有一批75輛戰車於里奇蒙港（Port Richmond）裝上宏都拉斯籍貨輪「亞里斯多克拉底號」（Aristocratis），運往台灣（即福爾摩沙）北端的重要港口——基隆。
該批11月運送的貨物為M5A1型15噸戰車，由賓州錢伯斯堡的美國陸軍軍械庫發運，交付中華民國政府。此軍購案係透過紐約的國際商業公司 Commerce International China, Inc. (CIC) 所購得。
先前的運補
此外，據報導另有一批50輛交付蔣中正部隊的戰車，已於民國38年（1949）12月20日由「阿格西斯號」（S.S. Agathis）貨輪自里奇蒙港啟航離開費城。
這批最新且規模最大的貨物，直接來自利馬軍械庫。該軍械庫的戰車儲存場佔地160英畝，曾在戰爭期間的六年內接收十萬輛戰鬥車輛，並運出近九萬六千輛。
此處一直是重要的戰車儲存點，許多戰車為備將來可能之需，被封存在填充了乾燥空氣的密封金屬容器中。這些採「氣密封存」的戰車，並未包含在此次由費城運出的軍品內。
皆為剩餘物資庫存
一名陸軍在利馬的發言人強調，這批運往福爾摩-沙的戰車與裝甲車，皆取自剩餘物資的庫存品。
在華聖頓方面，當時的中華民國大使館表示，此批車輛是依據美國國會於民國36年（1947）表決通過之一億二千五百萬美元援華法案所購買。
美國國務院發言人 麥克 德莫特（Michael McDermott）表示，該筆資金已於數週前全數撥付，但以其購得的大部分裝備仍待運送。他亦表示，中華民國方面亦可動用其自有資金進行此類採購。
麥克 德莫特 稱，由於美國當時仍承認蔣中正政權，因此為此批軍品獲取輸出許可證將不成問題。
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