View source for Yangtze Patrol

{{Short description|Naval operation to protect Americans' interests in China, 1854–1949}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2019}}

{{operational plan
|name = Yangtze Patrol 
|image =USS Panay sinking after Japanese air attack.jpg
|image_size =300px
|caption = {{USS|Panay|PR-5|6}}, a [[United States Navy]] [[river gunboat]], of the "Yangtze Patrol" commissioned in 1928, as she sinks on the [[Yangtze River]] near [[Nanjing|Nanking, China]] in December 1937, after being attacked by [[Armed Forces of the Empire of Japan|Japanese]] aircraft. 
|scope =
|planned =
|planned_by = {{flag|United States}}
|objective = protect U.S. interests and citizens in [[Yangtze River]] [[treaty port]]s in [[Qing Empire]] from [[Chinese nationalism|Chinese insurgents]] and [[river pirate]]s
|executed = 1854–1949
|executed_by = [[United States Navy]]
|outcome = avoided [[timeline of Chinese history|internal Chinese conflicts]] in mid-19th to mid-20th century, except for [[World War II]]
|casualties =
}}
{{Yangtze Patrol}}
{{Campaignbox United States Navy and Coast Guard patrols}}
[[File:Yangtze River Map.png|right|thumb|The [[Yangtze River]], of China]]

The '''Yangtze Patrol''', also known as the '''Yangtze River Patrol Force''', '''Yangtze River Patrol''', '''YangPat''', and '''ComYangPat''', was a prolonged naval operation from 1854 to 1949 to protect American interests in the [[Yangtze River]]'s [[treaty port]]s. The Yangtze Patrol also patrolled the [[coastal waters]] of China where they protected U.S. citizens, their property, and [[Christianity in China|Christian missionaries]].

The Yangtze River is the longest river in China, and it plays an important commercial role, with ocean-bound vessels proceeding as far upstream as the city of [[Wuhan]]. This [[Squadron (naval)|squadron]]-sized unit cruised the waters of the Yangtze from [[Shanghai]] on the Pacific Ocean into the far interior of China at [[Chongqing]].<ref>{{citation|last1=Tolley|first1=Kemp|title=Yangtze Patrol: The U.S. Navy in China|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=2013}}</ref>

Initially, the Yangtze Patrol was formed from ships of the [[United States Navy]] and assigned to the [[East India Squadron]]. In 1868, patrol duties were carried out by the [[Asiatic Squadron]] of the United States Navy. Under the [[Unequal Treaties|unequal treaties]], the United States, Japan, and various European powers, especially the United Kingdom, which had been on the Yangtze since 1897, were allowed to [[Cruising (maritime)|cruise]] China's rivers.

In 1902, the [[United States Asiatic Fleet]] took control of the operations of the Yangtze Patrol.

In 1922, Yangtze Patrol was established as a formal component of the United States Navy in China.

In 1942, when the United States entered [[World War II]], the Yangtze Patrol effectively ceased operations in China because of the limited resources of the United States Navy, which needed the patrol crews and their ships elsewhere in fighting with Japanese forces throughout the Pacific.

Following the end of World War II, the Yangtze Patrol resumed its duties in 1945, but on a more limited basis with fewer ships during the [[Chinese Civil War]]. When the [[Chinese Communist Revolution|Chinese Communist]] forces eventually occupied the Yangtze River valley in 1949, the United States Navy permanently ceased operations and disbanded the Yangtze Patrol.

==Operations (1854–1949)==

[[File:U.S. Navy Uniform Civil War.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.5|1850s–1890s, [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] sailor, with personal [[List of weapons in the American Civil War|sidearms]] and a black, fatigue uniform. This was standard issue for China sailors of the early Yangtze Patrol and nicknamed "tars"]]

[[File:CivilWar Mendota Marines sailors 1864.jpg|thumb|left|U.S. Navy sailors, on board an 1864 [[river gunboat]]]]

[[File:Yangtze Patrol USS Ashuelot.jpg|thumb|left|{{USS|Ashuelot}}, a [[marine steam engine|steam-powered]], U.S. Navy river gunboat, on the Yangtze Patrol, in service, for one year, in 1874, to protect American interests, in [[Shanghai]], China, and as an exploring expedition, along the upper [[Yangtze River]], photograph, circa 1874]]

===19th century===

====1854–1860====
As a result of treaties imposed on China by foreign powers after the [[First Opium War|First]] (1839{{ndash}}1842) and [[Second Opium War]]s (1856{{ndash}}1860), China was opened to foreign trade at a number of locations known as "[[treaty ports]]" where foreigners were permitted to live and conduct business. Also, created by the treaties was the doctrine of [[extraterritoriality]], a system whereby citizens of foreign countries living in China were subject to the laws of their home country. [[Most favoured nation]] treatment under the treaties assured other countries of the fact that the same privileges would be afforded to them as well, and soon many nations, including the United States, operated merchant ships and navy gunboats on the waterways of China.

====1860–1900====
During the 1860s and 1870s, American merchant ships were prominent on the lower Yangtze River, operating up to the deepwater port of [[Hankou District|Hankow]] {{convert|680|mi|km|abbr=on}} inland. The added mission of anti-[[piracy]] patrols required U.S. naval and [[United States Marine Corps|marine]] landing parties be put ashore several times to protect American interests. In 1874, the U.S. [[gunboat]], {{USS|Ashuelot|1865|6}}, reached as far as [[Yichang|Ichang]], at the foot of the Yangtze gorges, {{convert|975|mi}} from the sea. During this period, most US personnel found a tour in the Yangtze to be uneventful, as a major American shipping company had sold its interests to a Chinese firm, leaving the patrol with little to protect. However, as the stability of China began to deteriorate after 1890, the U.S. naval presence began to increase along the Yangtze.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Dan |last=Wheeler |title=Yangtze River Patrol. River Rats Remember... |url=http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/archpdf/ah197807.pdf |magazine=All Hands |publisher=United States Navy |number=738 |date=July 1978 |pages=12–15}}</ref>

[[File:Yangtze Patrol Sailors Machineguns.jpg|right|thumb|upright| Yangtze Patrol sailors on the river gunboat {{USS|Luzon|PG-47|6}} in 1932, armed with a [[Winchester Model 1897|Winchester Model 1897 shotgun]], [[Thompson submachine gun|Model 1928 Thompson submachine guns]] with L drum magazines, a [[M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle|Model 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle]], and a [[Lewis gun|Model 1917 Lewis Mark IV machine gun]]]]
[[File:U.S. Navy Officers Yangtze Patrol.jpg|right|thumb|[[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]] [[Mark Lambert Bristol|Mark. L. Bristol]] (left), Commander of the [[Asiatic Fleet]] and [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Yates Stirling Jr.]], Commander of the Yangtze Patrol (center) along with a [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]] colonel and other officers, conducting an inspection of the fleet landing force in 1928 at the racetrack in Shanghai, at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Note, the standard-issue, dishpan, [[Brodie helmet]]s, worn by the navy personnel, which were used by U.S. military, from 1917 to 1942.]]
[[File:Yangtze Patrol Sailors with Chinese Baby.jpg|right|thumb|Sailors of the Yangtze Patrol, in 1930, with local Chinese citizens in Shanghai, which was a most desirable U.S. Navy [[permanent change of station|duty station]].]]
[[File:1926 Hankow USS Palos.jpg|thumb|1926 Hankow, {{USS|Palos}}]]
[[File:1927 Hankow USS Palos Landing Party 1.jpg|thumb|1927 Hankow, {{USS|Palos}} Landing Party]]

===20th century===

====1900–1920====
In 1901, American-flagged merchant vessels returned to the Yangtze when [[Standard Oil Company]] placed a steam-powered [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]] in service on the lower river. Within the decade, several small motorships began hauling [[kerosene]], the principal petroleum product used in China for that company. At the same time, the United States Navy acquired four Spanish vessels (the gunboats {{USS|Elcano|PG-38|6}}, {{USS|Quiros|PG-40|2}}, {{USS|Villalobos|PG-42|2}}, and {{USS|Callao|YFB-11|2}}), which it had seized in the [[Philippines]] during the [[Spanish–American War]]. These vessels became the core of the Yangtze River patrol for the first dozen years of the 20th century, but they lacked the power to go beyond [[Yichang]] onto the more difficult stretches of the river.

{{USS|Palos|PG-16|6}} and {{USS|Monocacy|PG-20|2}} were the first American gunboats built specifically for service on the Yangtze River. The [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]] in [[Vallejo, California]] built them in 1913. The U.S. Navy then had them disassembled and shipped to China aboard the American [[steamship|steamer]] ''Mongolia''. The [[Jiangnan Shipyard]] in Shanghai reassembled them and put them into service in 1914.

Later in 1914, both vessels demonstrated their ability to handle the rapids of the upper river when they reached Chongqing, which was more than {{convert|1300|mi|km|abbr=on}} from the sea, and then went further to [[Leshan|Jiading]] on the [[Min River (Sichuan)|Min River]]. In 1917, the U.S. entered [[World War I]]. The U.S. rendered the guns of ''Palos'' and ''Monocacy'' inoperable to protect Chinese neutrality. After China entered the war on the side of the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]], the U.S. Navy reactivated the guns.

In 1917, the first Standard Oil tanker reached Chongqing, and a pattern of American commerce on the river began to emerge. On 17 January 1918, armed Chinese men [[USS Monocacy incident|attacked]] ''Monocacy'' and she was forced to return fire with her 6-pounder gun. Passenger and cargo service by American-flag ships began in 1920 with the [[Robert Dollar]] Line and the American West China Company. They were followed in 1923 by the Yangtze River Steamship Company, which stayed on the river until 1935, long after the other American passenger-cargo ships were gone.

====1920–1930====
In the early 1920s, the patrol found itself fighting the forces of warlords and bandits. To accommodate its increased responsibilities on the river, the United States Navy constructed six new gunboats in Shanghai during 1926–1927 and commissioned them in late 1927–1928 during the command of Rear Admiral [[Yates Stirling Jr.]] to replace four craft, originally seized from Spain during the Spanish–American War, that had been patrolling since 1903. All were capable of reaching Chongqing at high water, and all year-round. Collectively referred to by the U.S. press as "the new six", {{USS|Luzon|PG-47|6}} and {{USS|Mindanao|PR-8|2}} were the largest, {{USS|Oahu|PR-6|6}} and {{USS|Panay|PR-5|2}} next in size, and {{USS|Guam|PG-43|6}} and {{USS|Tutuila|PG-44|2}} the smallest. These vessels gave the Navy the capability it needed at a time when operational requirements were growing rapidly.

In the late 1920s, [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and the [[Northern Expedition]] created a volatile military situation for the patrol along the Yangtze.

====1930–1942====
After the Japanese took control of much of the middle and lower Yangtze in the 1930s, American river gunboats entered into a period of inactivity and impotence. During the early-1930s, [[National Revolutionary Army]] took control of much of the north bank of the middle river. The climax of hostilities occurred in 1937 with the [[Rape of Nanking]] and the sinking of ''Panay'' by the Japanese. The [[USS Panay incident|USS ''Panay'' incident]] was the first loss of a U.S. Navy vessel in the conflict which would soon become [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Tom |last=Davis |title=Grains of Salt. The Yangtze Was Their Home |magazine=All Hands |publisher=United States Navy |number=722 |url=http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/archpdf/ah197703.pdf |date=March 1977 |pages=14–15}}</ref> Just prior to the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]], most of the ships on the Yangtze River Patrol were brought out of China, with only the smallest gunboats, ''Wake'' (the renamed ''Guam'') and ''Tutuila'' remaining behind. ''Wake'', at Shanghai, was subsequently captured by the Japanese. ''Tutuila'', at Chongqing, was turned over to the Chinese. When the other gunboats reached [[Manila]], the Yangtze River Patrol was formally dissolved when, on 5 December 1941, Rear Admiral Glassford sent the message, "COMYANGPAT DISSOLVED". Subsequently, the evacuated ships were all [[Scuttling|scuttled]] or captured with their crews and imprisoned by the Japanese, after the fall of [[Battle of Corregidor|Corregidor]] in mid-1942. ''Luzon'' was later salvaged and used by the Japanese. {{USS|Asheville|PG-21|6}} was sunk in battle on 3 March 1942 and ''Mindanao'' was scuttled on 2 May; ''Oahu'' was sunk in battle 5 May 1942.

During different periods of time, Naval and Marine Corps personnel, who were in the patrol, were eligible for either the [[Yangtze Service Medal]] or the [[China Service Medal]].

====1945–1949====
[[File:USS NASHVILLE CL-43, Yantze River Patrol, Oct. 1945.jpg|thumb|{{USS|Nashville|CL-43|6}} in October 1945 on Yangtze River Patrol in Whangpoo River, Shanghai, China. The ship is viewed from Whang-poo Pier with USS ''Rocky Mount'' on the right]]

After the surrender of Japan, some patrols on the river were resumed in September 1945. A few days after [[Surrender of Japan|Japan's surrender]], [[Thomas C. Kinkaid|Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid]], commander of the [[United States 7th Fleet]], sailed south aboard {{USS|Rocky Mount}} to rendezvous with [[Task Force 73]] and continue on to Shanghai. However, they were delayed due to a large [[typhoon]] and the river being swept for [[Naval mine|mines]]. They finally proceeded up the river and arrived in Shanghai on 19 September 1945, with the first [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] ships in over three years. The American [[flotilla]] included the command ship (USS ''Rocky Mount''), two [[light cruiser]]s, four [[destroyer]]s, twelve [[destroyer escort]]s, and many [[PT boat]]s and [[minesweeper]]s along with a British naval contingent of three light cruisers, six destroyers, six destroyer escorts, and some minesweepers. In November the new [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|St. Paul|CA-73|6}} joined the unit.

When the Chinese Civil War finally reached the Yangtze Valley, in 1949, the U.S. Navy permanently ceased operations on the Yangtze River and officially disbanded the Yangtze Patrol.

==Yangtze River Patrol gunboats==

<gallery>
File:NavalReserveYantic.jpg| {{USS|Yantic|IX-32|6}} (1874)   
File:USS Elcano (PG-38).jpg| {{USS|Elcano|PG-38|6}} (1902–1928)
File:USS Villalobos (PG-42) at Hangzhou, China, during the 1920s (NH 67127).jpg| {{USS|Villalobos|PG-42|6}} (1903–1928)
File:USS Monocacy (PR-2) at Nanking, China, in 1932 (NH 68196).jpg| {{USS|Monocacy|PG-20|6}} (1914–1939)
File:USS Penguin (AM-33).jpg| {{USS|Penguin|AM-33|6}} (1923–1941)
File:USS Asheville PG-21.jpg| {{USS|Asheville|PG-21|6}} (1926–1927)
File:1920s_Yangtze_River_Patrol_0059_a.jpg| {{USS|Palos|PG-16|6}} (1926)
Image:USSLuzonPG-7.jpg| {{USS|Luzon|PG-47|6}} (1927–1942)
File:Tutuila (PR 4).jpg| {{USS|Tutuila|PR-4|6}} (1928–1937)
File:USS Mindanao (PR-8) in port, in the 1930s (NH 60512).jpg| {{USS|Mindanao|PR-8|6}} (1928–1941)
File:USS Tulsa (PG-22).png| {{USS|Tulsa|PG-22|6}} (1929–1941)
File:USS Oahu PR-6.jpg| {{USS|Oahu|PR-6|6}}<br>(1934–1941)
File:Japanese gunboat Tatara 1942.jpg| [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] ship ''Tatara'', formerly {{USS|Wake|PR-3|6}}<br>(U.S. Navy service<br>1927-1941)
File:USS Eaton (DD-510) underway at sea in September 1964 (NH 107258).jpg| {{USS|Eaton|DD-510|6}} (1945)
File:USS St. Louis (CL-49) off San Pedro, California (USA), on 5 October 1944 (19-N-72219).jpg| {{USS|St. Louis|CL-49|6}} (1945)  
</gallery>

==Popular culture==
* The fictional USS ''San Pablo'', the Yangtze Patrol [[gunboat]] in [[Richard McKenna]]'s well-known 1962 novel ''[[The Sand Pebbles (novel)|The Sand Pebbles]]'', set in 1926, was modelled on the {{USS|Villalobos|PG-42|6}}, a 31-year-old vessel originally captured from Spain during the Spanish–American War in 1898. In many respects, it resembled design features of the later 1928 gunboats. McKenna served aboard one of these newer river gunboats a decade after the time of his novel. The 1966 film ''[[The Sand Pebbles (film)|The Sand Pebbles]]'' was based on the novel.
* [[William Lederer]], the author of the 1958 novel ''[[The Ugly American]]'', served on the gunboat USS ''Tutuila'' around the same time as McKenna.
* [[Kemp Tolley]], an officer who served as [[executive officer]] of the gunboat USS ''Tutuila'' in the 1930s, wrote ''Yangtze Patrol'', a well-received history of the patrol.
* Actor [[Jack Warden]] was an enlisted sailor with the Yangtze Patrol in the late 1930s, before [[World War II]].
* Fictional character Bobby Shaftoe served on the Yangtze Patrol in the [[Neal Stephenson]] book '[[Cryptonomicon]]'.

==See also==
* [[China Marines]]
* {{slink|Extraterritoriality#China}}
* [[Yangtze Service Medal]]
* [[China Service Medal]]
* [[Alice Dollar incident]]
* [[Battle of Ty-ho Bay]]
* [[Gunboat diplomacy]]
* [[Nanking incident of 1927]]
* [[Pirates of the South China Coast]]
* [[Operation Beleaguer]]
* [[Amethyst incident|''Amethyst'' incident]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | title=Yangtze River Gunboats 1900–49 | publisher=Osprey Publishing | last=Konstam |first=Angus | year=2011 | location=Oxford; Long Island City, New York | isbn=978-1-84908-408-6}}
* {{cite book | title=Yangtze Patrol: The U.S. Navy in China | publisher=Bluejacket Books, Naval Institute Press | last=Tolley |first=Kemp | year=2000 | location=Annapolis, Maryland | isbn=978-0-87021-798-2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.usspanay.org USSPanay.org Webpage concerning the Yangtze Patrol, USS ''Panay'', and the ''Panay'' incident]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=4-EDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Mechanics+1931+curtiss&pg=PA267 "Chinese Pirates", February 1932, Popular Mechanics]
* [http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/PhilatelicHistoryofTheYan.html "A Short Philatelic History of The Yangtze Patrol" by George Saqqal, ''Universal Ship Cancellation Society'', February, March, April and May 2004 volumes of the LOG (Monthly Journal)]
* [http://www.oocities.org/Vienna/5047/yangpathistory.html The Yangtze Patrol and South China Patrol – The U.S. Navy in China:  A Brief Historical Chronology]
* [http://www.thesandpebbles.com/yangtze_patrol/china_uniforms.html ''Uniforms of the United States Navy in China 1920–1941'' by Gary Joseph Cieradkowski]
* [http://www.ijnhonline.org/2015/07/21/inside-the-archives-the-yangtze-river-patrol-collection/ Inside the Archives: The Yangtze River Patrol Collection] 
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hhgxr7QVaQ Yangtze Patrol U.S. Navy 1935 (YouTube documentary video)]
* [http://www.thesandpebbles.com/crenna_cookbook/crenna_cookbook.htm ''Richard Crenna's The Sand Pebbles CasaQ Cookbook''], Captain, ([[Richard Crenna]]) in the film, ''The Sand Pebbles'' (Yangtze Patrol – U.S. Navy Chow and Recipes)

[[Category:Yangtze Patrol|*]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Yangtze River|Patrol]]
[[Category:China–United States military relations]]
[[Category:Naval operations and battles|Yangtze]]
[[Category:United States Navy and Coast Guard patrols|Yangtze]]
[[Category:Riverine warfare]]