USN c1937 |
Location
The Yangtze River is located in central China. In Chinese, means "The Long River". Also spelled
Yangzi. In Chinese also spelled Changjiang or Cháng jiāng. The Yangtze River begins at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains in the Tibetan Plateau and flows 3,900 miles eastward with the mouth empties into the East China Sea. The Yangtze River borders many cities including: Shanghai, Nanking (Nanjing), Hankow (Hankou), Shashi (Shasi), Wuhan and Chungking (Chongqing). Today, the river spans many provinces in the People's Republic of China (PRC) including Qinghai Province, Yunnan Province, Sichuan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province, Jiangxi Province, Anhui Province and Jiangsu Province.
Wartime History
During the early 20th Century, the United States, British, Japan, French and other European nations patrolled Chinese waterways to treaty ports. For the Japanese, the Yangtze River played an important role during the Sino-Japanese War 1894–1895, Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II.
In 1909, U.S. Navy (USN) gunboat USS Samar was assigned to Shanghai and patrolled the lower portion of the Yangtze River to Hankow and Wuhan. During the inter-war years between the 1920s and 1930s the U.S. Navy (USN) Asiatic Fleet performed Yangtze Patrols to ensure freedom of navigation and protect American lives, property an interest in China.
On December 12, 1937 while anchored upstream from Nanking, USS Panay (PR-5) and three tankers Mei Ping, Mei An and Mei Hsia were attacked by Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) B4Y Type 96 bombers escorted by A4N Type 95 fighters in what became the "Panay Incident". A total of 3 sailors were killed and Italian reporter Sandro Sandri plus 43 wounded. Also other Chinese passengers and civilians were killed and wounded. Afterwards, the Japanese took responsibility for the unintentional attack, issued an apology ad paid an indemnity of $2,214,007.36 to the US on April 22, 1938.
Contribute
Information
Do you have photos or additional information to add?
Last Updated
January 24, 2022
|
|
