Hong Kong
Still under British administration in early 1995, Hong Kong was the classic Western Pacific liberty port.
Hong KongThe Port
In early 1995, Hong Kong was still a British Crown Colony, two years from its 1997 return to China. Its deepwater Victoria Harbour — the stretch of water between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon — is one of the great natural harbors on earth, and was for generations a favorite liberty port of the Royal Navy and the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
The colony’s fortune rested on that harbor: a free port and one of the busiest in the world, ringed by the towers of Central and the dense streets of Kowloon, with Victoria Peak rising behind. For a visiting warship it offered sheltered anchorage in the heart of one of Asia’s great cities.
A Vanishing Colony
Constellation called at Hong Kong in the twilight of British rule. After more than 150 years as a Crown Colony, the territory would be handed back to China on 1 July 1997 — and the crew’s visit in early 1995 was, for many aboard, a last look at the British Far East that generations of sailors had known.
The Royal Navy had kept a presence in Hong Kong since the 1840s, and the U.S. Navy used the port throughout the Cold War. The bars and shops of Wan Chai and the servicemen’s club at Fenwick Pier were as familiar to American sailors as any waterfront in the Pacific.
Ashore
Few ports meant more to a Pacific sailor. Constellation’s crew rode the Star Ferry across the harbor and the tram up to the Peak, walked the markets of Tsim Sha Tsui and Kowloon, and took in the neon of a city about to change forever — a last look at British Hong Kong from the deck of America’s Flagship.
See Hong Kong in the cruise book →Questions & Answers
Was Hong Kong British when Constellation visited?
Yes. Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony until 1 July 1997. Constellation called there in early 1995, while it was still under British administration — which is why this archive flies the 1959–1997 colonial ensign for the port.
Why is Hong Kong a famous Navy port?
Victoria Harbour is one of the world's finest natural deepwater harbors and sat astride the Western Pacific's busiest sea lanes, making Hong Kong a favored liberty and logistics port for the Royal Navy and U.S. Seventh Fleet for more than a century.
What was Fenwick Pier?
Fenwick Pier in Wan Chai was home to the U.S. servicemen's club in Hong Kong — a longtime landing point and gathering place for American sailors on liberty in the port.