Panay II (1930) -- Discussion: Questions, Comments and Coordination

[Randi]

NARA URL	JPG Link
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/148865382	September October November December

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[Randi]

I've just about finished October. Just to comment a little, it's nice to be working on a ship that is in my part of the world (Asia). Where I am, over the years, you always come across books or movies about this period in China's history which was quite a turbulent one. So it's actually quite something to see, in the ships' logs, mention of Japanese ships and also Chinese ships laden with troops, and mention of things like junks on the Yangtze. Even their food supplies ... they get some from Cold Storage, which is very familiar as it has been around just about forever where I am in Singapore. It has been pretty interesting! I'll be sorry once all the China Station transcribing is over.

A few comments now that I've finished November ... to recap the little I know about Chinese history : since the Qing Dynasty ended in 1911, there have been two groups fighting for dominance - the Nationalists and the Communists. The Communists eventually took over mainland China in 1949 and the Nationalists all ran off to Taiwan.

And so here in 1930, the Panay is sailing down the Yangtze, and the log mentions passing some villages occupied by the Nationalists, or villages occupied by Communists. Some villages have been evacuated altogether or are in ruins. And the Panay has been caught in the crossfire twice so far ... they fired back in retaliation. So it is quite exciting, and also like looking through a window into history. It is also sad, because the common people caught in between obviously suffered a lot, many were probably injured or lost their villages.

The other part that I like to notice is the presence of Italian and British ships. It's just interesting to see them there. Other than Hong Kong and Macau (which were British and Portuguese colonies respectively) there are also other cities in China which show traces of foreign presence in the past, like Tianjin where there are so many European style buildings that you really feel you are in Europe and not in China at all.

Otherwise it is also interesting to have docked at Shanghai and to be cruising down the Yangtze. Both these places loom large in the imagination when it comes to Chinese history.

Oh yes, lastly, I happened to tell my husband that my ship is docked at Hankow, and he checked online and says that is modern day Wuhan!

8) 8) 8)

I had the same feelings about history. My first ship was HMS Grafton, and she took part in many actions in the Mediterranean and Red Seas in World War 1. Then I was on a British river boat on the Yangtse River in the 1930s. Sadly, I don't remember her name, but I do remember seeing naval ships from many countries steaming up and down the river. Then I was on the USS Concord. She spent much time in the Philippines, before and after the Spanish-American War, and in China. There were incidents with the Boxer Rebellion, the annexation of Hawaii and events when Panama seceded from Columbia. It's a unique way to learn history, and to see it from the point of view of ordinary people. It's more than just entering numbers in a spreadsheet.

[Michael]

Tuesday, 7 October 1930
Yangtse River

0711 Pass Split Hill Beacon (Lat 29.900, Long 115.418), observed a small number soldiers. 0720 Went to General Quarters. 0730 Changed to Battle Condition II. 0739 Passed Chitushan Light Vessel. 0753 Two trench mortars located behind the dyke on the right band two miles below Havoc Rock Beacon opened fire. Fire was returned immediately with No. 2 and 4 machine guns; No. 1 3" gun could not bear. 0754 opened fire with Nos. 6 and 8 machine guns and No. 2 3" gun. Seven rounds of 3" high explosive and 450 rounds of machine gun ammunition were expended, and enemy fire was silenced. 0756 ceased firing. 0758 reversed course. No exposed targets were sighted and firing was not resumed. ... 0811 Reversed course and again stood up river. Firing was not resumed. 0838 Passed Havoc Rock Beacon. 0843 Secured from General Quarters.

And in more detail:



As the crow flies, they're 320 miles from Shanghai, although the distance up the river was just over 450 miles at this point. Split Hill and Havoc Rocks are 5.7 miles apart.

As a note of interest, Monocacy II was in this same area on September 18, 1930. They left Wuxe in the morning, went up river to Ella Rocks and then returned. They did go to General Quarters for the same stretch of water in the area that Panay II encountered trouble, but Monocacy didn't report anything in the logs. I always wondered why they made that trip up to Ella Rocks and then returned. Now we have a clue as to what they were looking for.

[Randi]

[Michael]

While searching for Socony (Standard Oil of New York) installations in China, I found this, Memories of the USS Panay, which was very interesting.

From a British memoir of action on the Yangtze River during roughly the same time.

Down lots of rabbit holes, but I couldn't find a nautical chart from Hankow to Ichang. (Wuhan to Yichang)

[Randi]

Great finds!

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"On 27 May we shifted berth and anchored in Upper Lung Men Hao Lagoon in 13 1/2 feet of water. On the Yangtze water levels can change greatly. At this same anchorage the depth on 8 July was 92.5 feet and by the time we left on 28 August, it was about 40 feet. "

[Michael]

With this ship I was planning to have just one plot for the 12 months Sept 1930 - August 1931 as I did for Helena and Monocacy II. However, the Panay II has done over 870 miles up the Yangtze Kiang River, so I thought I would post the 1931 and 1932 portions separately. Getting from Hankow to Ichang, modern names Wuhan and Yichang, has been a struggle for many reasons:

1. No historic nautical chart from Hankow to Chungking. There are charts from Shanghai to Hankow, Hankow to Anlu (different river) and Kweichowfu to Chungking, but not Chungking to Hankow which would cover the stretch to Ichang;
2. The river runs a much different course now than it did 90 years ago;
3. Place names aren't transliterated the same way as they were 90 years ago; and,
4. Even though Sleepyowl dutifully transcribed every position detail, the river mileages in the log are often different from those given in the Asiatic Pilot Volume 3, 1929.

Fortunately for me, Matteo has collected the data for many locations along the river for that stretch. Using those and SleepyOwl's transcriptions, the Asiatic Pilot, Geonames and Google Earth I was able to make some sense of their hourly positions.

Here is the plotted voyage and, for more detail, you can download the KML file and see all the voyage details using Google Earth.

Now for 1931!!!