USS Panay

The U.S.S. Panay was one of five U.S. gunboats assigned to patrol the Chinese Yangtze River in the time of the Chinese Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945. The mission of these shallow-draft river boats was to protect American commercial and the American nationals living in China. Many of the Americans living there were missionaries and their families as well as employees of U.S. businesses with Chinese installations.

The Sino-Japanese War had begun with incidents in Peking (Beijing) in August 1937 and had quickly spread to Shanghai where Japanese troops and navy cruisers already had a presence. Japanese troops then landed and began their incursion into the Chinese mainland.

On November 21, 1937 Chiang Kai-shek notified the American Embassy in Nanking that it would be necessary to evacuate and the Ambassador and most of his staff left the next day on the U.S.S. Luzon. Some, however, waited to sail on the Panay which sailed on December 11 as part of a small flotilla. At 11:00 AM Sunday, December 12, with flags flying and U.S. colors painted vividly on the awnings, the crew ate their midday meal and secured. Guns were secured and covered under bright, clear, skies. Just after 1330 three Japanese Navy bombers appeared over the gunboat and dropped eighteen bombs on the unsuspecting sailors, disabling the forward 3" gun, sickbay, and other parts of the boat.

Captain Lt. Comdr. J. J. Hughes was hit as well as several ovethers, and the boat was mortally wounded. Then twelve more Japanese bombers appeared to finish the job with nine fighter strafing the decks. In twenty minutes, The Panay was lost. Comannder Hughes ordered the abandon ship drill, and the civilians and sailor survivors were cast adrift, still victims of Japanese strafings. As the victims were pulled to safety by the Chinese and other U.S. ships, two sailors and one civilan died, the first U. S. casualties in its coming war against Japan. Eleven officers and men were seriously wounded.

As China became a battleground against the Japanese, several other incidents provoked the U.S. giving grounds for U.S. participation against Japan. An airliner belonging to the Chinese government and Pan American Airways was shot down and machine gunned on August 24, 1938 on a Chinese National Aviation Corporation airline flight from Hong Kong to Kweilin. Killed were fourteen passengers and crew, although Woods survived.

Next was an attack on a C.N.A.C. DC-2 (actually named The City of Kweilin, the same DC 2 shot down with Woods at the controls) piloted by Wallace "Foxie" Kent, a C.N.A.C. pilot since 1934. On October 29, 1940 Kent with a crew of 4 and 14 passengers were strafed after landing at an emergency strip on a flight between Chungking and Kunming. Kent died, his stewardess Lu Mei-ying died and nine passengers as well.

These were overt, deliberate acts conducted with full authorization of the Japanese government, yet the U.S. swallowed hard and did nothing.