View source for USS Panay (PR-5)

{{More citations needed|date=July 2023}}
{{Short description|River gunboat}}
{{other ships|USS Panay}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin
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{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = [[File:uss panay.png|300px|USS Panay (PR-5)]]
| Ship caption = ''Panay'' underway during the standardization trial off [[Wusong]], [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]], on 30 August 1928
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{USN flag|1941}}
| Ship name = 
| Ship namesake = [[Panay]]
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship builder = [[Jiangnan Shipyard|Jiangnan Dockyard and Engineering Works]], [[Shanghai]]
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = 10 November 1927
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship commissioned = 10 September 1928
| Ship decommissioned = 
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship struck = 
| Ship renamed = 
| Ship reclassified = 
| Ship homeport = 
| Ship motto = 
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| Ship honours = 
| Ship fate = Sunk by Japanese aircraft, 12 December 1937
| Ship notes = 
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = <ref>{{cite book|last=Paine|first=Lincoln P|title=Ships of the World|year=1997|publisher=Houghton-Mifflin|lccn=97-12872|isbn=0-395-71556-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/shipsofworldhist00pain/page/385 385]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/shipsofworldhist00pain/page/385}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H|year=1966|title=U.S. Warships of World War II|publisher=Doubleday and Company|page=243}}</ref>
| Ship type = [[River gunboat]]
| Ship displacement = {{convert|474|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
| Ship length = {{convert|191|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|29|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship draft = {{convert|5|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship propulsion = 2 × [[Compound steam engine|Vertical triple-expansion steam engines]] 
2 × Shafts 
3 × [[Rudder]]s
| Ship speed = {{convert|15|kn|lk=on|abbr=on}} 17.73 knots (trials)
| Ship range = 
| Ship complement = 59 officers and enlisted
| Ship armament = *2 × [[3"/50 caliber gun]]s
*8 × [[.30-06 Springfield|.30 cal (7.62 mm)]] [[Lewis gun|Model 1917 Lewis machine gun]]
| Ship armor = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}
The second '''USS ''Panay'' (PR–5)''' of the [[United States Navy]] was a ''Panay''-class [[river gunboat]] that served on the [[Yangtze Patrol]] in [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]] until being [[USS Panay incident|sunk by Japanese aircraft on 12 December 1937]] on the [[Yangtze River]].

The vessel was built by [[Jiangnan Shipyard|Jiangnan Dockyard and Engineering Works]], [[Shanghai]], China, and launched on 10 November 1927. She was sponsored by Mrs. Ellis S. Stone and commissioned on 10 September 1928.

==History==
[[File:Panay1928.TIF|thumb|left|''Panay'' in 1928]] 
Built for duty in the [[Asiatic Fleet]] on the [[Yangtze River]], ''Panay'' had as her primary mission the protection of American lives and property frequently threatened in the disturbances that the 1920s and 1930s brought to a China struggling to modernize, create a strong central government, and later [[Second Sino-Japanese War|counter Japanese aggression]]. Throughout ''Panay’s'' service, navigation on the Yangtze was constantly menaced by bandits and soldier outlaws, and ''Panay'' and her sister ships provided protection for U.S. shipping and nationals, as other foreign forces did for their citizens.

Often detachments from ''Panay'' served as armed guards on American steamers plying the river. In 1931, her commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander R. A. Dyer, reported, "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. Fortunately," he added, "the Chinese appear to be rather poor marksmen and the ship has, so far, not sustained any casualties in these engagements."

As the Japanese moved through south China, American gunboats evacuated most of the embassy staff from [[Nanjing]] during November 1937. ''Panay'' was assigned as station ship to guard the remaining Americans and take them off at the last moment. ''Panay'' evacuated the remaining Americans from the city on 11 December, bringing the number of people aboard to five officers, 54 enlisted men, four US embassy staff, and 10 civilians, including Universal News cameraman Norman Alley, Movietone News’ Eric Mayell, ''[[The New York Times]]''' Norman Soong, ''Collier's Weekly'' correspondent Jim Marshall, ''[[La Stampa]]'' correspondent Sandro Sandri and ''[[Corriere della Sera]]'' correspondent [[Luigi Barzini Jr.]] ''Panay'' moved upriver to avoid becoming involved in the fighting around the doomed capital. Three U.S. merchant tankers sailed with her. The Japanese senior naval commander in Shanghai was informed both before and after the fact of this movement.

===Sunk by the Japanese===
{{main|USS Panay incident}}
[[File:Japanese plane attacking USS Panay (PR-5), 12 December 1937 (NH 50830).jpg|thumb|A frame from a newsreel which caught a Japanese plane attacking ''Panay'' in China]]
On 12 December 1937, the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] ordered Japanese naval aircraft to attack "any and all ships" in the Yangtze above Nanjing. Knowing of the presence of ''Panay'' and the merchantmen, the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] requested verification of the order, which was received before the attack began about 13:27 that day. Although there were several large US flags flown on the ship as well as one painted atop the cabin, the Japanese planes continued strafing and bombing. ''Panay'' was hit by two of the eighteen {{convert|60|kg|abbr=on}} bombs dropped by three [[Yokosuka B4Y]] Type-96 bombers and strafed by nine [[Nakajima A4N]] Type-95 fighters.<ref name="Proceedings">{{cite journal|author=Swanson, Harland J. |title=The ''Panay'' Incident: Prelude to Pearl Harbor |publisher=United States Naval Institute|journal= Proceedings |date=December 1967}}</ref> The bombing continued until ''Panay'' sank at 15:54. Storekeeper First Class Charles L. Ensminger, [[Standard Oil]] tanker captain Carl H. Carlson and Italian reporter Sandro Sandri were killed, Coxswain Edgar C. Hulsebus died later that night.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii1364|title = USS Panay (PR-5) Casualty List On Board USS Augusta (CA-31)|date = 2009|access-date = 29 August 2014|website = The World War II Multimedia Database|last = McDonald|first = Jason}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = La drammatica fine della "Panay" e la stoica morte di Sandro Sandri nel racconto di Luigi Barzini jr.|last = Barzini jr.|first = Luigi|date = 18 December 1937|work = Corriere della Sera}}</ref> 43 sailors and five civilians were wounded. ''Panay'''s lifeboats were machine-gunned by Japanese fighter planes in the attack.<ref>[https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/uss-panay-sunk-by-japanese history.com USS Panay sunk by Japanese]</ref>

Two [[newsreel]] cameramen, Norman Alley of [[Universal Newsreel]] and Eric Mayell of [[Movietone News|Fox Movietone News]], were present on ''Panay'' and were able to take considerable film during the attack and afterwards from shore as ''Panay'' sank in the middle of the river. The newsreels are now available online at usspanay.org (see external links below).

Also on 12 December 1937 two British gunboats, [[His Majesty's Ship|HMS]] ''[[HMS Ladybird (1916)|Ladybird]]'' and HMS ''[[HMS Bee (1915)|Bee]]'', came under fire from a Japanese artillery unit near Wuhu on the Yangtze River. ''Ladybird'' was hit by six shells, and ''Bee'' dodged one as she came upon the scene. ''Ladybird'' was not badly damaged, and with ''Bee'', picked up survivors from ''Panay''. 
 
A formal protest was immediately lodged by the U.S. ambassador. The Japanese government accepted responsibility, but insisted the attack was unintentional. A large indemnity was paid (approximately $2,000,000,<ref>{{cite book|last=Breuer|first=William|title=Unexplained Mysteries of World War II|year=1997|isbn=978-83-241-3265-2|pages=20|publisher=Amber }}</ref> which is equal to ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|2000000|1938}}}} today) on 22 April 1938 and the incident was officially settled; however, further deterioration of relations between Japan and the United States continued.

Fon Huffman, the last survivor of the incident, died in September 2008.<ref name=iht>{{cite news|title=Obituaries in the news: Fon B. Huffman|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/07/america/Deaths.php|agency=[[Associated Press]]|publisher=[[International Herald Tribune]]|date=2008-09-07|access-date=2008-09-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.navsource.net/archives/12/1205.htm|title=''Panay'' (PR-5) |website=NavSource Naval History|access-date=2012-03-07}}</ref>

==Awards==
*[[Navy Expeditionary Medal]] (12 Dec 1937)
*[[Yangtze Service Medal]] (1 Mar 1930 – 31 Dec 1932)
*[[China Service Medal]] (7 Jul 1937 – 12 Dec 1937)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/navy-mc-awards-manual-rev1953/pt4-campaign-service-medals.html#sec2-2 |title = Pt. 4 - Campaign and Service Medals}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of patrol vessels of the United States Navy]]
*[[List of World War II ships of less than 1000 tons]]
*[[The Sand Pebbles (film)]] A film based on a novel about an American gunboat during the 1920s in China

==Notes==
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/p1/panay-ii.htm}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book | last =Koginos |first =Manny T. | year =1967 | title =The Panay Incident: Prelude to War 
| publisher =Purdue University Studies }}
*Peifer, Douglas Carl. (2016). ''Choosing war: presidential decisions in the Maine, Lusitania, and Panay incidents.'' New York, NY: Oxford University Press.  ISBN 978-0190939601
*Peifer, Douglas Carl (2018) . [https://www.ijnhonline.org/presidential-crisis-decision-making-following-the-sinking-of-the-panay/ "Presidential Crisis Decision Making Following the Sinking of the Panay."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303212039/https://www.ijnhonline.org/presidential-crisis-decision-making-following-the-sinking-of-the-panay/ |date=3 March 2023 }} International Journal of Naval History 14, no. 2/November .

==External links==
*[http://www.usspanay.org USSPanay.org memorial website regarding USS ''Panay'' and ''Panay'' incident] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302011149/http://usspanay.org/ |date=2021-03-02 }}
*[http://www.navsource.net/archives/12/1205.htm NavSource Online: Gunboat Photo Archive: USS ''Panay'' (PR-5), ex-PG-45]
*[https://archive.org/details/1937-12-12_Bombing_of_USS_Panay Archive.org Universal Newsreel's 22-minute film by newsreel cameraman Norman Alley]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tzlrIiZzLg Sinking of the US Gunboat "Panay" by Japanese Bombers 7:28- minute film by British Movietone]

{{1937 shipwrecks}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Panay}}
[[Category:Gunboats of the United States Navy|Panay (PR-5)]]
[[Category:World War II patrol vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft]]
[[Category:Ships built in Shanghai]]
[[Category:Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1937]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Yangtze]]
[[Category:1927 ships]]
[[Category:Gunboats sunk by aircraft]]
[[Category:Ships of the Yangtze Patrol]]