Nanking, China. December, 1937.

Japanese troops invade the capital of Nationalist China, sweeping before them the feeble defenses thrown up by the forces of the Chinese nationalist army. On the banks of the Yangtze River, the U.S.S. Panay is moored. A river gunboat and part of the US Navy’s Asiatic Fleet, it is tasked with protecting American interests along the Yangtze.

When the Japanese invade Nanking, the Panay is commanded at once to evacuate the city and make steam for Shanghai. The order goes out for all American civilians in Nanking, and all staff working at the U.S. Embassy in Nanking to evacuate immediately, to go to the waterfront, board the Panay, and prepare to leave at once.

The U.S.S. Panay on the Yangtze River in China

December 12th, 1937; as the vessel prepares to depart, the Panay has on board five officers, 54 members of the crew, ten civilians, including newsreel cameramen and reporters, and four staff of the U.S. Embassy – Nanking. American flags are stretched across the vessel to mark it as a neutral ship. Before it can even make headway, the Panay is attacked by thirteen Japanese aircraft, bombing the ship and strafing the decks.

The crew man the lifeboats but the ship sinks so fast that everybody is forced into the water, to swim to the banks. Japanese aircraft strafe the water, shooting unarmed civilians and noncombatants. In total, five are killed, and 48 are wounded. The Japanese claimed that they did not spot the American flags, and paid compensation to the U.S. government for loss of the Panay and the deaths of those on board.

The sinking of the U.S.S. Panay near Nanking, China

The Panay was one of the last ships out of Nanking, and one of the last hopes for Chinese civilians attempting to flee the Japanese. On the 13th of December began the Rape of Nanking, which saw the deaths of 300,000 Chinese men, women, children, POWs, and any other foreign nationals still stuck in the city when the vessel sank.