USS Panay (PR-5)
 USS Panay 1928 |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | River gunboat |
| Launch | November 10, 1927 |
| 1. Period of service |
.svg){kind=small}
|
| Commissioning | September 10, 1928 |
| Whereabouts | Sunk by Japanese aircraft on December 12, 1937 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
474 tn.l |
| length |
58 m |
| width |
8.8 m |
| Draft |
1.6 m |
| crew |
59 |
| speed |
15 kn |
| Armament |
|
The USS Panay (PR-5) was a river gunboat of the United States Navy , which on the Yangtze River in China was used. Its sinking in 1937 during the Panay incident created serious diplomatic entanglements between the United States and Japan .
history
The USS Panay was built at the Kiangnan Dockyard and Engineering Works in Shanghai , China. It was launched on November 10, 1927 as the Patrol Gunboat, PG-45 , named by Mrs. Ellis S. Stone. On September 10, 1928, the Panay was under the command of Lt. Comdr. James Mackey Lewis entered service with the US Navy.
As part of the American Yangtze River patrol , the ship's main task was to protect shipping on the Yangtze from being attacked by gangs and deserters. In some cases, the crew of the boat was assigned as armed guards for American ships sailing the river. In 1931, Panay's commander , Lt. Comdr. RA Dyer: "Firing on gunboats and merchant ships have [sic] become so routine that any vessel traversing the Yangtze River, sails with the expectation of being fired upon." (German: "It has become routine that gunboats and merchant ships are shot at." so that every ship that travels the Yangtze expects to be shot at. ") and" Fortunately, the Chinese appear to be rather poor marksmen and the ship has, so far, not sustained any casualties in these engagements. " German: "Fortunately, the Chinese seem to be rather bad shooters, so far there have been no losses on board the ship.")
When the Japanese army conquered southern China in November 1937, the US embassy staff in Nanjing was brought to safety by the US gunboats. The Panay remained as the last ship in Nanjing to accommodate the remaining US citizens. On December 11th, the last members of the embassy boarded and the Panay sailed upriver to avoid the fighting over Nanjing. She was accompanied by three oil tankers . The Commander in Chief of the Japanese Navy was informed of the Panay's voyage .
Main article: Panay incident
On December 12th, Japanese naval aviators received orders from the Japanese army to attack all ships on the Yangtze River above Nanjing. Since the Japanese Navy knew of the presence of the Panay and the three tankers, confirmation was requested again before the order was carried out. The air strikes on the gunboat began at 1:27 p.m. and finally sank at 3:54 p.m. Three crew members were killed, 43 sailors and five civilians were wounded in the attack.
Web links
- History of Panay in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)
- Pictures of the Panay at navsource.org (engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hyperwar: USS Panay (PR-5) casualty report ( memento of the original from July 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. As of March 8, 2009
