Diplomats in Blue: U.S. Naval Officers in China, 1922-1933

427 Pages·2009·4.438 MB·English

by  William R. Braisted

Diplomats in Blue
New Perspectives on Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology
University Press of Florida
Florida A&M University, Tallahassee
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton
Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers
Florida International University, Miami
Florida State University, Tallahassee
New College of Florida, Sarasota
University of Central Florida, Orlando
University of Florida, Gainesville
University of North Florida, Jacksonville
University of South Florida, Tampa
University of West Florida, Pensacola
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paperback edition 2007) 1933, by William Reynolds Braisted (2009)
Diplomats in Blue
U.S. Naval Officers in China, 1922–1933
William Reynolds Braisted
Foreword by James C. Bradford and Gene Allen Smith
University Press of Florida
Gainesville/Tallahassee/Tampa/Boca Raton
Pensacola/Orlando/Miami/Jacksonville/Ft. Myers/Sarasota
Copyright 2009 by William Reynolds Braisted
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Braisted, William Reynolds.
Diplomats in blue : U.S. naval officers in China, 1922/1933 / William Reynolds Bra-
isted ; foreword by James C. Bradford and Gene Allen Smith.
p. cm. — (New perspectives on maritime history and nautical archaeology)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8130-3288-7 (alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8130-3995-4 (e-book)
1. United States—Foreign relations—China. 2. China—Foreign relations—United
States. 3. United States—Foreign relations—1923–1929. 4. United States—Foreign
relations—1929–1933. 5. United States—History, Naval—20th century. 6. United
States. Navy—History. 7. Pacific Ocean—History, Naval. 8. Pacific Area—History,
Naval. I. Title.
E183.8.C5B67 2008
327.7305109'04—dc22 2008027420
The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State
University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic
University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida
State University, New College of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of
Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of
West Florida.
University Press of Florida
15 Northwest 15th Street
Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
http://www.upf.com
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Part I. The U.S. Navy and Contending Warlords 1
1. The Navy in the Far East 3
2. The Canton Customs Crisis 23
3. The Main Gate: Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta 30
4. The Navy and the May 30th Incident of 1925 and After 39
5. Shameen and South China 49
6. The Upper Yangtze 65
Part II. The U.S. Navy and the Rise of the Nationalists 99
7. Explosions on the Yangtze, 1926 101
8. 1927: A Year of Decision 113
9. The Nanking Incident of 1927 131
10. After Nanking 140
11. Calls to the North 154
12. An Admiral Diplomat in Command 166
13. The Navy and a Still Disunited China 186
14. The Navy and “China United” 199
Part III. The U.S. Navy and the Confrontation between China and Japan 225
15. Crumbling Foreign Collaboration 227
16. The Shanghai Incident 245
17. The Shanghai Incident: The Gathering Storm 265
18. The Navy behind “Big Stick” Diplomacy in 1932 278
19. The Shanghai Incident: After Hostilities 293
20. Sequels to the Shanghai Incident 312
21. Communist Unrest and Japanese Aggression 324
Afterword 343
Epilogue by James C. Bradford 347
Appendix: U.S. Naval Commanders in China, 1922–1930 351
Notes 353
Bibliography 387
Index 395

Illustrations
1.1. Admiral Joseph Strauss 5 14.4. Rear Admiral Thomas T. Craven 211
1.2. Destroyer Hulbert 9 14.5. Gunboat Luzon 212
2.1. Gunboat Asheville 24 15.1. Heavy cruiser Houston 228
2.2. Gunboat Helena 27 16.1. U.S. sailors guarding the checkpoint on
4.1. Gunboat Palos 45 the Shanghai Bund 246
5.1. Gunboat Pampanga 50 17.1. Traffic-clogged Soochow Creek 270
6.1. Gunboat Quiros 67 18.1. Aircraft carrier Lexington 279
6.2. View of Yangtze River gorges 72 19.1. Asiatic Fleet destroyers at Chefoo 294
7.1. Yacht Isabel 110 19.2. Sailors in Swatow 295
8.1. Minesweeper Pigeon 114 20.1. Heavy cruiser Augusta off the Shanghai
8.3. U.S. Navy sailors heading to Shanghai 117 Bund 322
9.1. Gunboat Elcano and U.S. Asiatic Fleet 20.2. Light cruiser Marblehead 323
destroyers 132 21.1. Submarine Squadron Five at Tsingtao
10.1. Rear Admiral Henry H. Hough and 330
Lieutenant Commander Glenn F. Howell 21.2. Admiral Montgomery Meigs Taylor,
150 Minister and Mrs. Nelson T. Johnson,
11.1. Admiral Clarence S. Williams and and Captain Frank Jack Fletcher 331
Brigadier General Smedley Butler 155
12.1. Admiral Mark L. Bristol and Rear
Maps
Admiral Yates Stirling inspecting the
landing force 173 1.3. China coast and Yangtze River basin 13
13.1. Gunboat Monocacy 187 3.1. Shanghai concessions 31
13.2. Minesweeper Penguin 189 5.2. Canton and Shameen 51
14.1. Rear Admiral Charles B. McVay Jr. 200 8.2. Hankow 114
14.2. Heavy cruiser Pittsburgh 201 11.2. Peking and Tientsin 156
14.3. Gunboat Mindanao 209 11.3. Foreign concessions at Tientsin 157

Foreword
Water is unquestionably the most impor- the north, west, and south. During the cen-
tant natural feature on earth. By volume the tury following independence, citizens focused
world’s oceans compose 99 percent of the on achieving unity at home and security for
planet’s living space; in fact, the surface of the the new nation in the caldron of European
Pacific Ocean alone is larger than that of the wars.
total land bodies. Water is as vital to life as During the nineteenth century, as Anglo-
air; indeed, to test whether the moon or other American settlers spread across the North
planets can sustain life, NASA looks for signs American continent, their merchants and
of water. The story of human development is missionaries established links in the distant
inextricably linked to the oceans, seas, lakes, corners of the wider world. Protection of
and rivers that dominate the earth’s sur- far-flung American interests fell to the infant
face. The University Press of Florida’s series U.S. Navy, which stationed six tiny squadrons
New Perspectives on Maritime History and in regions most frequented by American citi-
Nautical Archaeology is devoted to explor- zens. Most important during the antebellum
ing the significance of the earth’s water while era were those that patrolled the Mediter-
providing lively and important books that ranean Sea (to counter Barbary corsairs) and
cover the spectrum of maritime history and the waters of Latin America, where wars of
nautical archaeology broadly defined. The independence and conflicts among the newly
series includes works that focus on the role independent nations brought turmoil that
of canals, rivers, lakes, and oceans in history; endangered American lives and properties. At
on the economic, military, and political use of the beginning of the twentieth century, Asia
those waters; and upon the people, commu- emerged as the focus of American overseas
nities, and industries that support maritime interests, and the Asiatic Squadron (renamed
endeavors. Limited by neither geography nor the Asiatic Fleet in 1901) assumed preemi-
time, volumes in the series contribute to the nence among U.S. naval forces. The Asiatic
overall understanding of maritime history Fleet—precursor to the Pacific Fleet of World
and can be read with profit by both general War II and the Seventh Fleet of the late twen-
readers and specialists. tieth and twenty-first centuries—headquar-
Few Americans of the twenty-first century tered in the U.S.-owned Philippine Islands,
can remember a time when the United States even though most of the vessels assigned to
was not a world power, but such was not the it operated on the coast and in the rivers of
case less than a century ago. For a century China.
and a half after settlement, the English-speak- William Braisted has devoted a lifetime
ing colonies of North America contended for to the study of U.S. naval forces in Asiatic
their survival against an unreceptive natural waters. Two previous volumes examine the
environment, hostile Native Americans, and Navy’s execution of American policy in the
aggressive French and Spanish settlements to western Pacific between 1897 and 1922. This