Tgr3rdq2000

The Granger Report-3rdQ/2000

3rd Quarter - July 13, 2000 Masthead photos: Walter and Anna Granger, ca. 1900.

GUNBOATS ON THE LONG RIVER: A

FOSSIL-HUNTER'S GUIDE TO THE YANGTZE PATROL

This is a subject one would not expect to find under paleontology, fossil-hunting or Granger. Until this website publication, I am reasonably confident that no one has. It is a connection which likely cannot be made without reading Walter or Anna Granger's Central Asiatic Expedition diaries and here in Durham, NH, or stumbling onto a rare, likely oblique reference in the voluminous military records at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Fossil-hunting and gunboats in the Yangtze valley of the 1920s are indeed tied together by Walter Granger's three separate winter-long expeditions to Sichuan Province during 1921 to 1925 (1921-1922, 1922-1923, 1924-1925). These took him (and twice Anna) from Shanghai (where he'd arrived by train from Peking) upriver to the small hamlet of Yanjingou [Yen Ching Kuo] 10 miles past Wanxian in very dangerous section of the Yangtze waterway.

armament - two 6-pounders, six .30caliber machine-guns, and an assortment of hand weapons such as non-automatic rifles, shotguns (sometimes sawed off for use as "riot guns"), Colt .45s, Browning automatic rifles, Thompson submachine guns, Lewis submachine guns, and even tear gas. The British HMS Widgeon was built of iron in 1904; displaced 180 tons; measured length - 165' x beam - 24'6" x draft - 2'6"; delivered a speed of 13 knots; carried a complement of 35; and was armed with two 6-pounders, four machine-guns, and an assortment of hand weapons. Her shallow-draft design was also powered by steam but was double-screw driven. Maneuverability was critical; with her double-screw design and slightly less displacement, the Widgeon could maneuver better than most gunboats, especially in rapids. The few gunboats that did negotiate the rapids of the Yangtze were always in danger of becoming holed by rocks. The remedy was simple: the holes were patched by stuffing in bags of cement hastened to harden by adding soda. (Tolley, p.

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Wanxian was a city and district "[u]nique on the Yangtze, [for it] had ever been a trouble spot. Rival generals fought in and around it. Bandits threatened, floods took their toll of the lower-lying parts, foreigners clung precariously to their business in the face of all hazards and provocations." (Tolley, p. 232.) If that were not enough, the Yangtze's worst rapids lay in the gorges just below Wanxian! That Granger never lost a precious load of fossils in them is admirable. For, as Granger noted on February 28, 1922: ". . . Reached the wreck of the Hung Fok about 10 o'clock . . . Capt. Hudson said he had seen nearly fifty people drowned there while he had been stationed there. Several post boats had capsized and some mail lost." (W. Granger, Diary.) The Grangers' connection with the Yangtze gunboats apparently is unique to the histories of gunboats and paleontology. Yangtze gunboats in particular interacted with all sorts of civilians throughout the Yangtze, but Walter Granger is the only fossilhunting paleontologist for whom, as well as for his wife, there is a record of contact. The Grangers' involvement was not with Chinese gunboats however, although those were present on the Yangtze of course; it was with British and American gunboats. But, you ask, how could this be? Wasn't the Yangtze a Chinese territorial river then as it is now? The answer lies in the series of broad

181.) YangPat's flagship was the USS Isabel stationed at Shanghai. Isabel's statistics were: displacement - 710tons; length - 245'3" x beam - 27'9" x draft - 8'6"; speed - 26 knots; complement - 99; armament - four three-inch rifles and an assortment of hand weapons. Though it had plenty of speed, this Isabel's greater length, draft and weight barred it from upriver gunboat duty. When Granger made his three expeditions to the Wanxian district, only a handful of gunboats from any of the nations present were capable of navigating the Upper River "where the shooting was prevalent . . . robbers proliferated . . . merchants and missionaries complained bitterly." (Tolley, p. 84). It may have mattered little anyway: "[s]oon after the 1927 Battle of Wanhsien, where three British river gunboats bloodily slugged it out with a Chinese field army, the China Weekly Review read the tea leaves with awesome accuracy: 'A little tin gunboat on a narrow river is no match in a fight with a Chinese army equipped with modern heavy artillery.'" (Tolley, p. 303.) The American YangPat fleet of the 1920s also included the USS Elcano, Quiros, and Villalobos, three vessels captured from the Philippines during the Spanish-American War (1898). The Italians filled the gap left by the Germans and Austro-Hungarians after their defeat in World War I. One of the Italian gunboats was the

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commercial "concessions" the Chinese earlier had granted to other nations. "Concessions and foreign settlements had been established [by various treaties] which were in practically every sense of the word a piece of the sovereign territory of the country concerned, and in which the controlling foreign powers retained the rights of policing and governing, delegated to a council of resident merchants. In a settlement, such as at Shanghai, foreigners might lease land directly from native proprietors, who could as well hold properties for their own use. A concession was a foreign leasehold where land could not be subleased [back] to Chinese and from which Chinese could be individually denied entry." (Tolley, p. 23.) "[The] Americans . . . gained [their access by negotiating] 'most favored nation' status, enjoying many privileges given others by treaty. This would have a profound effect on the lives of Americans in China for another century. Through 'extra territoriality' they would enjoy the same personal rights and guarantees as of they had been at their own firesides in the United States; Chinese law could not touch them anywhere in China." (Tolley, p. 23.) "With the end of World War I, a new era opened in China. The trading nations, less Germany, came back stronger than ever, determined to be their own policemen, as it was evident that the former amorphous Imperial authority had been replaced by near anarchy. The Yangtze Valley was a cockpit of inter provincial

diminutive, but brave, RINS Ermanno Carlotto, commissioned at Shanghai in 1921. Additional British gunboats were the HMS Teal, Cockshafer, Gnat, and Scarab. The French fleet included the FNS Balny and the Doudart de la Gree. The Chinese fleet included the RCN Yuen Nan, Chi Tung, and Chen Tung and the Japanese maintained perhaps the most pervasive and ultimately most fateful naval presence. Among others, they patrolled the HIMJS Hodero, Hodzu, Momo and Shinoki. To varying degrees, the Grangers were familiar with most of these gunboats. So, how were Walter and Anna Granger involved with the gunboats of the Yangtze? Well, that's another story for another time. -- by Vin Morgan --------------------------Sources: CAE Diaries of Walter and Anna Granger; U.S. Navy Ship logs and reports, National Archives; "Yangtze Patrol: the U.S. Navy in China" by Kemp Tolley (1971); Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships; "Riding Shotgun on the Yangtze" by David H. Grover (1993); and Kemp Tolley (USA) and Michael Phillips (GB), personal communication. Corrections, additions, and observations are welcome. (VLM.) READERS' FORUM from an e-mail received 6-10-2000:

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warlord strife, overlaid by primary schisms between rice-eating south and grain-eating north, in which the river was a natural dividing line. At this stage [1918], it was considered unsporting to shoot at a foreign gunboat, except perhaps in Szechwan [Sichuan], where different house rules prevailed . . . [but by] 1919, disorders were endemic throughout the Yangtze Valley as a result of the north-south hostilities." (Tolley, p. 82.) "For over 2,000 years the Yangtze river has been the spine and central nervous system of China. It is 3,500 miles long and the Chinese give it two names: from the mouth to Suifu (Ipin) is Ch'ang Kiang [Chang Jiang], or Long River; upriver from there it becomes Kin'sha Kiang [Jinsha Jiang], or River of the Golden Sand. The American naval presence began in June 1854 when the USS Susquehanna sailed up to Wuhu and back for "ship-keeping" duty. The USS Ashuelot was first U.S. Navy boat to travel up the river through the gorges. It did so from May to July of 1874 and thereby established a thousand-mile-long route between Shanghai and Ichang [Yichang] that would be followed by countless American gunboats over the next seventy-five years. The American fleet became known as the Yangtze Patrol or YangPat." Yangtze river gunboats came in a variety of designs ranging, for example, from the well-planned HMS Widgeon to the less so USS Monocacy (II) to boats captured in the SpanishAmerican War, such as the USS

"Dear Mr. Morgan: . . . I feel very fortunate to have discovered your website the other day. I have a feeling that you may have the answers to many questions I have regarding my great uncle [Albert "Bill" Thomson] which can't seem to be answered by . . . the AMNH [American Museum of Natural History]. . . . [JM]" from an e-mail received 6-17-2000: "Hi: Although I'm retiring soon from the AMNH, I have an interest in getting the record straight if it is in error. . . . I . . . would appreciate receiving your previous [newsletters], plus being put on the mailing list for future ones. . . . [MCM]" AN OBSERVATION "The relation of hoax and popular natural history is unnervingly close." Donna Haraway, Primate Visions (Routledge, 1989) at p. 279. ITEM OF INTEREST - OUR SISTER PROJECT "THE CHINA YEARS" Our website designer Kathleen Fetner has her own wonderful collection of 1920s China letters and photographs

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Elcano, to converted private yachts, such as the rather large, deep-draft USS Isabel built in 1917 by Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME and acquired before completion by the U.S. Navy (originally for use as a small destroyer) from her owner, automobile manufacturer John North Willys of Toledo, Ohio. All of these gunboats served with many other somewhere along the Yangtze during the 1920s, but only a precious few could operate beyond Yichang. Not all gunboats were river gunboats and not all river gunboats were suited where the mighty currents, dangerous rapids, and narrow gorges ruled. Of the American gunboat fleet in 1923, only Palos and Monocacy (II) were shallow-drafted enough to operate between Yichang and Chongqing [old Chungking] and even then both were considered underpowered for the strength of the Yangtze river flow.

from her grandparents Donald and Erma Smythe. Don was a geology professor at Tienstin University and Erma was a journalist. Their letters and photographs are splendid. It just so happens that the Smythes also mingled professionally and socially with some of the members of the Central Asiatic Expeditions, a fascinating connection between our projects that came to light because of the Internet! WALTER GRANGER MEMORIAL AWARD The Walter Granger Memorial Award honors any person who, like Walter Granger (1872-1941), makes significant, steady and selfless contributions to paleontology throughout the course of their work while setting aside any need for overstatement or self-promotion.

A gunboat was (and still is) a small, armed vessel. Generally it was less than 200 feet in length, had a crew of less than 100, and carried only light armament. For example, the American Monocacy (II) was shallow-drafted, single screw driven, and powered by steam produced from coal (or wood) boilers. Her statistics were: hull iron; displacement - 204 tons; dimensions - length 165'6" x beam 24'6" x draft 2'5"; speed - 13.25 knots; complement - 47;

design by John R. Lavas

Zofia Kielan-Jaworowska was announced as the first recipient on November 7, 1998, the 126th anniversary of Walter Granger's birth.

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USS Monocacy (II) in full dress at Chongqing, 1932. (U.S. Naval Institute photo)

The Granger Report is published quarterly (on or about the 15th of the first month) and is a gradual, if random, assemblage of items acquired through cumulative selection. To inquire about prior issues of The Granger Report, simply e-mail us. You may fax us at 603-868-5321 (USA). Copyright © by Vincent L. Morgan

for The Granger Papers Project. All rights reserved. Information may not be republished or redistributed without our prior written authorization.

The Granger Papers Project is an independent research, editing and writing project featuring the personal expedition diaries and letters of American paleontologist and explorer Walter Granger (1872-1941) and his wife Anna (1874-1952). In several significant respects, this is the first treatment of Walter Granger's era based on a significantly more complete documentary record. In addition to paleontology, the study of evolution, and Granger's pioneering fieldwork in the Faiyum of Egypt in 1907, in China and Mongolia from 1921 to 1930 (Central Asiatic Expeditions), and in the American West throughout his life, research topics include: American foreign policy; western civilian, missionary, and military interests in Asia; the First and Second Asiatic Expeditions; The Explorers Club; the American Museum of Natural History; and previously published accounts of, by, or about the aforesaid. Address interest or inquiry to us at [email protected]

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Please note the following limits on use of any of The Granger Papers Project written matter and/or images contained throughout this website: 1) We believe information is freedom. Any person may use, store, manipulate, project, reproduce, and display the recorded images for any purpose associated with their own educational purposes. Images may be incorporated into educational exercises for students enrolled in the user's own classes at any institution of learning any where located. We would appreciate notice of your use; and 2) No image may be displayed, reproduced, stored, transmitted or manipulated for sale or profit by the user, including training sessions and continuing education programs, without the written consent of The Granger Papers Project. Permission of The Granger Papers Project is required for inclusion of images in papers for publication, company reports, derivative works, or compilations. A royalty may be assessed. The Granger Papers Project website was launched on 1 February 1997. We thank Kathleen Fetner for this website design. To the memory of Dr. Norman Charles Morgan (1919-1969) and Jonathan Patrick Morgan (1945-1966).

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