江南造船所承造美船之追討欠款交涉（1917-1936）

清末創立的江南製造局是近代中國軍事工業起步的代表。1905年，該局造船部門獨立成為江南船塢，承造民用和軍用船艦。辛亥革命後，江南船塢收歸北京政府海軍部管轄，改名為江南造船所，以修理軍艦為主要業務。1918年，美國基於歐洲戰場運送戰略物資需要，由運輪部向江南造船所訂造四艘運輸艦，造價總計780萬美元。1919年至1921年間，名為「官府」、「西勒所」、「奧連特」、「客塞」的新艦，陸續完工下水，江南造船所因此聲譽大增，進入開辦以來的全盛期。然而到了1924年，江南造船所發現，該筆造船費用尚有5萬美元的尾款未付清，於是向美國運輪部交涉，但美方表示，一次世界大戰期間，美方曾向中國的大達輪船公司租用「華甲」、「華乙」兩艘小輪，墊付了修船等費用70,675.12美元，故而扣住造艦尾款。1933年起，國民政府海軍部透過外交部，繼續向美方催討，交通部則力圖撇清與兩艘小輪之間的關係，以避免歸還美方墊款。此一船務糾紛最後如何解決，並無進一步資料可供釐清，但雙方十餘年的交涉經過，仍是江南造船所歷史中值得注意的一頁。

關鍵字

江南造船所；海軍部；美國；運輪部；欠款

並列摘要

The establishment of Jiangnan Arsenal near the end of the Qing Dynasty was regarded as the beginning of modern Chinese military industry. In 1905, it became an independent agency named Jiangnan Dock, assigned to manufacture ships of military and civilian use. After the 1911 Revolution, Jiangnan Dock was placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Navy in the Beijing Government and was renamed Jiangnan Shipyard, mainly responsible for the repair of military ships. In 1918, due to the urgent need for transporting goods to the battlefields in Europe, the United States Shipping Board ordered four ships from Jiangnan Shipyard at a price of US$7.8 million in total. From 1919 to 1921, construction of the four ships, Mandarin, Celestial, Orient and Cathay, was completed and launched in succession. The reputation of Jiangnan Shipyard reached its peak. It was not until 1924 that Jiangnan Shipyard found the United States did not pay the balance of US$50,000 for the ships and issued a payment request to the United States Shipping Board. In response, the United States indicated that it had rented two small ships, Huajia and Huayi, from Ta Tah Steamship Company in China during World War I and had advanced US$70,675.12 for ship repairs, which the company did not reimburse. The US therefore refused the balance payment for the four ships constructed by Jiangnan Shipyard. In 1933, the Ministry of Navy in the Nationalist Government began to take steps, through Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to recover the long overdue balance, while the Ministry of Transportation and Communications tried to distance itself from this matter for fear that the US may request a reimbursement of the cost of ship repairs. No further information can be found about the final resolution, but the decade-long negotiations between the two countries deserve to be brought to attention in reviewing the history of Jiangnan Shipyard.