- Author
- Editorial Staff
- Subjects
- History - general
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- March 2024 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
An historically symbolic commissioning of USS Canberra in Sydney, New South Wales on 22 July 2023 was recorded in the September 2023 edition of this magazine. The article went on to say that this was the first time such a ceremony had taken place outside the United States. As we shall demonstrate in the following story that was an erroneous statement and a number of USN ships have previously been commissioned outside American shores, especially in China.
The mighty Yangtze River
The mighty Yangtze is China’s largest river, and the world’s third largest river, extending 6300 km (3915 miles) from the Plateau of Tibet and entering the sea near Shanghai. It carries much cargo and many people, being navigable by large vessels to the ancient capital of Nanjing, the large port city of Wuhan (more recently associated with the COVID virus), as far as Chongqing, some 1700 km (1056 miles) inland.
Under an unequal treaty following the Opium Wars the Chinese were forced to allow the United States, Japan and various European powers to operate warships on the river to protect their various trading interests. Initially in 1854 a Yangtze Patrol was formed by ships of the USN East India Squadron but in 1868 this changed to the Asiatic Squadron.
As early patrol vessels were of too deep draught to venture far up river, in 1903 an ex-Spanish gunboat was used to take patrols as far as Chongqing. In 1914 two patrol craft of British design, and built at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in California, were disassembled and shipped to China where they were reassembled for riverine patrols.
Changing Political Situation
The Spanish-American War saw control of the Philippines ceded from Spanish colonial rule to an American style administration in 1898. This heightened American interest in its now near neighbour China.
The political situation in China rapidly deteriorated in the 20th century, reaching near anarchy with the central government losing control to local warlords. Warring factions of Nationalists and Communists entered the fray in the early 1920s and in 1937 Japanese troops invaded the country and remained there until 1945. After this a civil war broke out between American-supported Nationalists and Russian-supported Communists, which ended in 1949.
Shipbuilding at Shanghai
A successful modern shipbuilding industry arose at Shanghai; a leading proponent was the Kiangnam Dock and Engineering Works (KDEW) which from 1920 began building ships for American commercial interests. During the period 1926-1927 the American government contracted with KEDW to build six specialist river gunboats for the USN’s Yangtze Patrol.
These ships were to become US Ships Luzon and Mindanao, the largest at 210 ft 9 ins in length, US Ships Oahu and Panay at 191 ft in length, and US Ships Guam and Tutuila the smallest at 159 ft 5 ins in length. These were highly regarded as possibly the finest vessels on the river. In general terms they were flat bottomed light draught steamers fitted with triple expansion engines feeding two screw propellers and triple rudders giving them a top speed of over 15 knots. Given their various sizes they could operate from the Pacific, with the smaller vessels able to go into the upper reaches of the river. They were generally armed with a 3-inch gun and smaller calibre weapons including machine guns, and they carried a crew of up to 60 officers and men.
The Yangtze Patrol
Luzon was launched on 12 September 1927, sponsored by Miss Mary C. Carter, daughter of CMDR Andrew F. Carter USN and commissioned on 1 June 1928. She was the flagship of the Yangtze River Patrol and remained active until sent to the Philippines on 30 December 1941 (23 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor).
Mindanao was launched on 28 September 1927, sponsored by Mrs E.A. McIntyre, wife of LCDR McIntyre USN and commissioned on 10 July 1928. On 14 June 1929 she became flagship of the South China Patrol Force, based at Canton. Escaping from advancing Japanese, she was repositioned in the Philippines in December 1941.
Oahu was launched on 26 November 1927 and commissioned on 22 October 1928. She worked closely with her sister Panay in guarding American property and personnel working in enclaves close to the river. With Japanese forces approaching Oahu was ordered to leave the Yangtze in November 1941 and was redeployed to the Philippines.
Panay was launched on 10 November 1927, sponsored by Mrs Ellis S. Stone and commissioned on 10 September 1928 as part of the US Asiatic Fleet. When the Japanese invaded China in 1937 the remaining gunboats of the Yangtze Patrol evacuated most Americans to safety. Panay moved up river to avoid the worst of the fighting, taking three US merchant tankers with her.
On 12 December 1937 Japanese naval aircraft were ordered to attack any ships on the Yangtze above the capital Nanjing. Later that day Panay was hit by two 60 kg (130 lb) bombs dropped from three Yokosuka bombers and strafed by nine Nakajima fighters. As a result, the ship sank with the death of two crew and two civilians and with 43 sailors and five civilians injured. Oahu was able to link up with the British gunboats HM Ships Ladybird and Bee and bring the survivors to Shanghai. Arising from this incident the Japanese Government paid a large indemnity to US authorities and the matter was officially closed, although relationships between the US and Japan continued to deteriorate.
Guam was launched on 28 May 1927 and commissioned 28 December 1927. On 23 January 1941 she was renamed USS Wake, as her former name was to be used by a new large cruiser. When at Shanghai on 8 December 1941 the ship was surrounded by Japanese forces and forced to surrender with the crew being allowed to leave. Wake was the only ship in the USN to surrender during WWII and since that time no other ship in the USN has carried that name.
Tutuila was laid down on 17 October 1926 and launched on 14 June 1927, sponsored by Miss Beverly Pollard and commissioned on 2 March 1928. Tutuila’s shallow draught enabled her to safely traverse the treacherous rapids of the gorges in the upper reaches of the Yangtze. She was stranded in the river by the Japanese and decommissioned on 18 January 1942 before being abandoned and her crew coming safely ashore.
Summary
This story shows a United States Navy involvement in China from the mid-1850s until 1942 and during this time six USN gunboats were built at Shanghai. These were all commissioned vessels of the USN. This clearly demonstrates that American warships have been commissioned outside of the United States well before the recent commissioning of USS Canberra.