View source for USS Panay incident

{{Short description|Japanese attack on a US gunboat in 1937}}
{{Use dmy dates|date = July 2014}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = USS ''Panay'' incident
| partof            = the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]
| image             = [[File:USS Panay sinking after Japanese air attack.jpg|border|300px]]
| caption           = {{USS|Panay|PR-5|6}} sinking after Japanese air attack. Nanjing, China.
| date              = December 12, 1937
| place             = [[Yangtze River]], off [[Nanjing]], China
| coordinates       = 
| result            = [[USS Panay (PR-5)|USS ''Panay'']] sunk
*The [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]] and [[French Third Republic|France]] provide loan assistance for war supply contracts to [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]]
| combatant1        = {{flagu|United States|1912}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}
| commander1        = James J. Hughes
| commander2        = unknown
| strength1         = [[USS Panay (PR-5)|1]] [[river gunboat|gunboat]]
| strength2         = 13 aircraft
| casualties1       = 1 [[USS Panay (PR-5)|gunboat]] sunk<br/>3 killed<br/>43 wounded
| casualties2       = 1 killed
| notes             = {{center|'''Civilian casualties:''' 2 killed, 5 wounded}}
| campaignbox       = {{Yangtze Patrol}}
}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:USS ''Panay'' incident}}
The '''USS ''Panay'' incident''' was a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] bombing attack on the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] [[river gunboat]] {{USS|Panay|PR-5|2}} and three [[Standard Oil|Standard Oil Company]] tankers on the [[Yangtze River]] near the Chinese capital of [[Nanjing]] on December 12, 1937. Japan and the United States were not at war at the time. The boats were part of the American naval operation called the [[Yangtze Patrol]], which began following the joint British, French, and American victory in [[Second Opium War|The Second Opium War]]. Public reaction was mixed in the U.S., with the president weighing various diplomatic and military responses only to settle for an apology and compensation.<ref>Douglas Peifer, [http://www.ijnhonline.org/2018/11/05/presidential-crisis-decision-making-following-the-sinking-of-the-panay/ “Presidential Crisis Decision Making Following the Sinking of the Panay,”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224154801/http://www.ijnhonline.org/2018/11/05/presidential-crisis-decision-making-following-the-sinking-of-the-panay/ |date=24 December 2018 }} ''International Journal of Naval History'', vol. 14, nr. 2 (November 2018); Douglas Peifer, “The American Response to the Sinking of the USS Panay, December 1937.” In ''New Interpretations in Naval History:  Selected Papers from the 2017 Naval History Symposium,'' ed. Brian VanDeMark. Annapolis MD:  Naval Institute Press, 2023.</ref> The Japanese claimed that they did not see the U.S. flags painted on the deck of the gunboat. Tokyo officially apologized and paid a cash indemnity. The settlement mollified some of the U.S. anger, and newspapers called the matter closed.<ref>Walter LaFeber, ''The Clash'' (1997) p. 187.</ref>

==Background==
A flat-bottomed craft built in Shanghai specifically for river duty, ''Panay'' served as part of the US Navy's [[Yangtze Patrol]] in the [[United States Asiatic Fleet|Asiatic Fleet]], which was responsible for patrolling the Yangtze River to protect American lives and property in China.

After [[Second Sino-Japanese War|invading China in the summer of 1937]], Japanese forces moved into Nanjing in December, where they later committed [[Nanjing Massacre|the massacre]] in the city that resulted in the deaths of 300,000 [[civilian]]s and [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]]. ''Panay'' evacuated the remaining Americans from the city on December 11, bringing the number of people aboard to five officers, 54 enlisted men, four US embassy staff, and 10 civilians, including [[Universal Newsreel]] cameraman Norman Alley, [[Movietone News|Fox Movietone News]] cameraman Eric Mayell, the ''<nowiki>New York Times'</nowiki>''s Norman Soong, ''[[Collier's Weekly]]'' correspondent Jim Marshall, ''[[La Stampa]]'' correspondent Sandro Sandri and ''[[Corriere della Sera]]'' correspondent [[Luigi Barzini Jr.|Luigi Barzini Jr]].
[[File:uss panay.png|right|thumb|300px|{{USS|Panay|PR-5|6}} underway during the standardization trial off [[Wusong|Woosung]], China, on 30 August 1928.]]

==Incident==
[[File:Japanese plane attacking USS Panay (PR-5), 12 December 1937 (NH 50830).jpg|thumb|left|A frame from a newsreel which caught a Japanese plane attacking ''Panay'' in China]]
On the morning of the 12th, the Japanese air forces received information that fleeing Chinese forces were in the area in ten large steamers and a large number of junks and that they were between {{convert|12|and|25|miles|km|abbr=on}} upstream from Nanjing. While anchored upstream from Nanjing, ''Panay'' and three [[Standard Oil]] [[Tanker (ship)|tankers]], ''Mei Ping'', ''Mei An'', and ''Mei Hsia'', came under attack from Japanese naval aircraft. ''Panay'' was hit by two of the eighteen {{convert|132|lb|kg|abbr=on}} bombs dropped by three [[Yokosuka B4Y]] Type-96 bombers and strafed by nine [[Nakajima A4N]] Type-95 fighters.<ref name="Proceedings">{{cite journal|author=Swanson, Harland J.|title=The ''Panay'' Incident: Prelude to Pearl Harbor|publisher= United States Naval Institute Proceedings|date=December 1967}}</ref>

According to Lieutenant J.W. Geist, an officer aboard ''Panay'', "the day before we told the Japanese army in the area who we were," and three U.S. flags were plainly visible on the ship. Planes also machine-gunned small boats taking the wounded ashore, and several additional survivors were wounded. ''[[The Times]]'' correspondent Colin MacDonald, who had also been aboard ''Panay'', saw a Japanese army small boat machine-gun the ''Panay'' as it was sinking in spite of the American flag painted on the side of the ship. Since Japanese planes continued to circle overhead, survivors cowered knee deep in mud in a swamp.<ref>''The Oregonian'', December 18, 1937. page 24.</ref> ''Panay'''s lifeboats were machine-gunned by Japanese fighter planes in the attack.<ref>[https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/uss-panay-sunk-by-japanese history.com USS Panay sunk by Japanese]</ref>

As a result of the attack, ''Panay'' sank; Storekeeper First Class Charles Lee Ensminger, Standard Oil tanker captain Carl H. Carlson and Italian reporter Sandro Sandri were killed, Coxswain Edgar C. Hulsebus died later that night.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii1364|title = USS Panay (PR-5) Casualty List On Board USS Augusta (CA-31)|date = 2009|access-date = 2014-08-29|website = The World War II Multimedia Database|last = McDonald|first = Jason}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = La drammatica fine della "Panay" e la stoica morte di Sandro Sandri nel racconto di Luigi Barzini jr.|last = Barzini Jr|first = Luigi|date = 18 December 1937|work = Corriere della Sera}}</ref> 43 sailors and five civilians were wounded.

The three Standard Oil tankers were also bombed and destroyed, and the captain of ''Mei An'' and many Chinese civilian passengers were killed. The vessels had been helping to evacuate the families of Standard Oil's employees and agents from Nanjing during the [[Battle of Nanking|Japanese attack on that city]].<ref>Mender, P., Thirty Years a Mariner in the Far East 1907–1937, The Memoirs of Peter Mender, a Standard Oil ship captain on China's Yangtze River, {{ISBN|978-1-60910-498-6}}.</ref>

Two [[newsreel]] cameramen, Norman Alley of [[Universal Newsreel]] and Eric Mayell of [[Movietone News|Fox Movietone News]], were aboard ''Panay'' during the attack; they were able to film part of the incident and, after reaching shore, the sinking of the ship in the middle of the river. Survivors were later taken aboard the American vessel {{USS|Oahu|PR-6|2}} and the [[Insect-class gunboat|British gunboats]] {{HMS|Ladybird|1916|6}} and {{HMS|Bee|1915|2}}. Earlier the same day, a Japanese shore battery had fired on ''Ladybird''.
<!-- TODO: Add info about Norman Alley, the newsreel man who captured the incident. see para above for this. -->

The survivors coped with near freezing nights wearing inadequate clothing along with no food. It took three days to move the sixteen wounded to the safety of several British and American ships.<ref>Yangtze Patrol: The U.S. Navy in China. Kemp Tolley. Naval Institute Press, March 22, 2013</ref>

==Diplomacy==
The aftermath of the ''Panay'' sinking was a nervous time for the [[United States Ambassador to Japan|American ambassador to Japan]], [[Joseph C. Grew]]. Grew, whose experience in the foreign service spanned over 30 years, "remembered the [[USS Maine (ACR-1)|''Maine'']]," the U.S. Navy ship that blew up in [[Havana Harbor]] in 1898. The sinking of ''Maine'' had propelled the U.S. into the [[Spanish–American War]] and ambassador Grew hoped the sinking of ''Panay'' would not be a similar catalyst for the severance of diplomatic ties and war with Japan.

The Japanese government took full responsibility for sinking ''Panay'' but continued to maintain that the attack had been unintentional. [[Chief of staff (military)|Chief of Staff]] of Japanese naval forces in northern China, Vice Admiral [[Rokuzo Sugiyama]], was assigned to make an apology.<ref name="prados">Prados, John., ''Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II'', {{ISBN|0-679-43701-0}}.</ref> The formal apology reached Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve.

Although Japanese officials maintained that their pilots never saw any American flags on ''Panay'', a US Navy court of inquiry determined that several US flags were clearly visible on the vessel during the attacks.<ref>https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1931-41v01/d387</ref> At the meeting held at the [[Embassy of the United States, Tokyo|American embassy in Tokyo]] on December 23, Japanese officials maintained that one navy airplane had attacked a boat by machine gun for a short period of time and that Japanese army motor boats or launches had been attacking the Chinese steamers escaping upstream on the opposite bank. However, the Japanese navy insisted that the attack had been unintentional. The Japanese government paid an indemnity of $2,214,007.36 (approximately ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|2214007.36|1938|r=-4}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}) to the US on April 22, 1938, officially settling the ''Panay'' incident.<ref>Japanese Pay U.S. 'In Full' Panay Incident Officially Closed with $2,214.007 Indemnity Settlement . Tokyo, April 22, 1938 Associated Press. Miami Daily News Record April 22, 1938 page 1</ref>

[[File:1937-12-12 Bombing of USS Panay.ogv|thumb|[[Universal Newsreel]] about the incident, 12 December 1937.]]

==Post-incident==

===Donations===
Following the incident, Japanese individuals and organizations sent letters of apology and gifts of money to U.S. diplomatic offices and the [[U.S. Navy Department]] in Washington, D.C. This ranged from letters penned by schoolchildren to organized pools of donors.

The most prominent donor was the America-Japan Society, headed by Prince [[Tokugawa Iesato]], which amassed ¥16,242.56 in ''Panay'' contributions from 7,749 people and 218 organizations.<ref name="Plante">{{Cite magazine|last = Plante |first = Trevor |url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2001/summer/two-japans-1.html|title="Two Japans"|date=Summer 2001 |magazine=Prologue | publisher=National Archives}}</ref>

In response to the donations, Secretary of State [[Cordell Hull]] stated that "neither the American Government nor any agency of it nor any of its nationals should receive sums of money thus offered or take direct benefit therefrom." However, Hull noted that since "a flat rejection of such offers would produce some misunderstanding of our general attitude and offend those Japanese who make such a gesture, the Department is of the opinion that some method should be found whereby Japanese who wish to give that type of expression to their feelings may do so."<ref name="Plante" />

The [[United States State Department]] expressed the desire that any necessary arrangements should be made promptly. Hull did not wish to keep the Japanese people waiting for a decision on what was to become of the money they donated. A prolonged delay could lead to misunderstanding, especially if a decision were reached months later to return the money to the donors.

A temporary solution was reached to allow only the American ambassador in Japan and the [[Nelson T. Johnson|American ambassador in China]] to accept donations related to the ''Panay'' incident. Several American consulates were receiving money, including consulates at [[Nagoya]], [[Kobe]], [[Nagasaki]] and [[Osaka]], in Japan; [[Taipei]], Taiwan; [[Keijō|Keijo]] ([[Seoul]]), Korea; [[Dairen, Manchuria]]; and [[São Paulo (city)|São Paulo]], Brazil. These contributions were eventually forwarded to the ambassador in Tokyo. Grew kept all money received related to the ''Panay'' incident in the embassy safe until the State Department could find a solution.<ref name="Plante"/>

Despite this policy, a local newspaper in [[Nagasaki]], the ''Nagasaki Minyu Shimbun'', published stories about some Japanese donations to the American consulate in Nagasaki, including an excerpt from a letter attached to a schoolboy's donation. Arthur F. Tower, the American consul in Nagasaki, informed Ambassador Grew of the article, which had been published on January 7. Tower also informed Grew that a reporter of another newspaper—the Tokyo and Osaka ''[[Asahi Shimbun]]'', had called on him on 23 December to discuss the ''Panay'' contributions. Towers reassured Grew that "this consulate has not sought to give publicity to the donations received or offered and has furnished information concerning them on two occasions only, when requested." However, the newspaper stories may nonetheless have increased contributions to the location.<ref name="Plante"/>

A final solution to the donations was reached by creating the Japan-America Trust in the name of the ''Panay'' survivors and relatives of those who lost their lives. The trust would be used to care for the graves of American sailors buried in Japan, dating back to the graves of sailors involved in the [[Perry Expedition]] in 1853. The formation of the trust allowed the State Department to avoid returning donations or directly distributing them to the U.S. government or individuals. (see also [[Foreign cemeteries in Japan]])

===Awards===
Service members aboard the ''Panay'' were awarded the [[Navy Expeditionary Medal]] and [[China Service Medal]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/navy-mc-awards-manual-rev1953/pt4-campaign-service-medals.html#sec2-2 |title = Pt. 4 - Campaign and Service Medals}}</ref> 

Fireman First Class John L. Hodge and Lieutenant Clark G. Grazier were presented with the [[Navy Cross]] for their actions during the ''Panay'' incident.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/19553|title=Clark G. Grazier |website=valor.militarytimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/hec.24802/|title=Panay hero|website=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref>

The Navy Cross was also presented to two British naval officers, Vice Admiral Lewis Eyre Crabbe and Lieut. Commander Harry Barlow, for their assistance in recovering survivors from the USS ''Panay''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/17057|title=Lewis Crabbe - Recipient -|website=valor.militarytimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/17054|title=Harry Barlow - Recipient -|website=valor.militarytimes.com}}</ref>

[[File:Panay hero receives Navy Cross. Washington, D.C., July 1. Fireman first class John L. Hodge, who is recuperating at Naval Hospital here, was today decorated with the Navy Cross for the LCCN2016873773.jpg|thumb|Fireman First Class John L. Hodge is decorated with the [[Navy Cross]] for bravery displayed during the sinking of the USS ''Panay'']]

==Responsibility for the attack==
Modern historians believe that the attack may have been intentional. According to John Prados, Navy cryptographers had intercepted and decrypted traffic relating to the attacking planes which clearly indicated that they were under orders during the attack and that it had not been a mistake of any kind. This information was not released at the time because it would have revealed that the United States had broken Japanese Naval codes.<ref name="prados" /> Writer Nick Sparks believes that the chaos in Nanjing created an opportunity for renegade factions within the Japanese army who wanted to force the U.S. into an active conflict so that the Japanese could once and for all drive the U.S. out of China.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17110447|title=A Japanese Attack Before Pearl Harbor|website=NPR.org}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:ANCExplorer Fon Huffman grave.jpg|thumb|Grave at Arlington National Cemetery of Fon Huffman]]
Fon Huffman, the last survivor of the incident, died in 2008.<ref name=iht>{{cite news|title=Obituaries in the news: Fon B. Huffman|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/07/america/Deaths.php|agency=[[Associated Press]]|publisher=[[International Herald Tribune]]|date=7 September 2008|access-date= 13 September 2008}}</ref> The last surviving Japanese pilot who participated in the attack was [[Kaname Harada]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.historicalconsulting.com/last_zero_fighter.html |title=Archived copy |access-date=20 July 2017 |archive-date=12 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812211946/http://www.historicalconsulting.com/last_zero_fighter.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> who died in 2016.

The episode has been cited by [[Philip K. Dick]] in his novel ''[[The Man in the High Castle]]'', depicted in a collectible picture-card of the 1940s, in the series ''Horrors of War'' with the title "The sinking of the Panay."

The incident features in the 2005 novel ''A Winter in China'' by the British writer [[Douglas Galbraith]]. It is also described in the historical fiction novel ''[[Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8|Pearl Harbor]]'' by [[Newt Gingrich]] and William R. Forstchen.

The 2009 film ''[[John Rabe (film)|John Rabe]]'' portrays a fictionalized version of the incident.

==See also==
* [[Japan–United States relations]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Ashbaugh, William. "Relations with Japan." in ''A Companion to Franklin D. Roosevelt'' (2011) pp: 612+.
* LaFeber, Walter. ''The clash: a history of U.S.-Japan relations'' (1997) pp 196–198. [https://www.amazon.com/Clash-U-S-Japanese-Relations-Throughout-History/dp/0393318370/  excerpt]
* Konstam, Angus. ''Yangtze River Gunboats 1900–49'' (Bloomsbury, 2012).
* Peifer, Douglas Carl. (2016). ''Choosing war: presidential decisions in the Maine, Lusitania, and Panay incidents.'' New York, NY: Oxford University Press.  ISBN 978-0190939601  [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=47461 online review]
* Peifer, Douglas Carl (2018) . [https://www.ijnhonline.org/presidential-crisis-decision-making-following-the-sinking-of-the-panay/ "Presidential Crisis Decision Making Following the Sinking of the Panay."] International Journal of Naval History 14, no. 2/November .
* Perry, Hamilton Darby. ''The Panay Incident: Prelude to Pearl Harbor'' (1969).
* Roberts Jr, Frank N. "Climax of Isolationism, Countdown to World War." ''Naval History'' 26.6 (2012): 32+
* Schnurr, Jeremy. "'The Best Possible Time for War?' The USS Panay and American Far Eastern Policy During the Roosevelt Presidency" (MA thesis. University of Ottawa, 2012) [https://ruor.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/20486/4/Schnurr_Jeremy_2012_thesis.pdf online]; bibliography pp 165–72
* Swanson, Harlan J. "The 'Panay' Incident: Prelude To Pearl Harbor." ''U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings'' (Dec 1967) 93#12 pp 26–37.
* Tolley, Kemp. ''Yangtze Patrol: The US Navy in China'' (Naval Institute Press, 2013).

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-0AgWVeRCo Castle Film – ''Bombing of USS Panay'' – USS ''Panay'' Sinking ]
*[https://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=John+M.+Allison+Nanking&srchst=p The New York Times - Search]
*[http://www.jacar.go.jp/nichibei/reference/index11.html (パネー号事件と日米関係)"The ''Panay'' incident and Japan-US relations"], in ''US-Japan War Talks'', the [[Japan Center for Asian Historical Records]] [http://www.jacar.go.jp/english/index.html Japan Center for Asian Historical Records] {{in lang|ja}}

{{Attacks on US Navy ships}}
{{1937 shipwrecks}}
{{Authority control}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Panay Incident}}
[[Category:Nanjing in World War II]]
[[Category:Combat incidents|USS Panay]]
[[Category:International maritime incidents]]
[[Category:United States Navy in the 20th century]]
[[Category:1937 in China]]
[[Category:1937 in Japan]]
[[Category:1937 in the United States]]
[[Category:Japan–United States relations]]
[[Category:1937 in international relations]]
[[Category:Battles and operations of the Yangtze Patrol|USS Panay]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1937]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1937]]
[[Category:Second Sino-Japanese War]]
[[Category:Riverine warfare]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:December 1937 events]]
[[Category:Japanese military scandals]]