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The second USS ''Panay'' (PR–5) of the United States Navy was a river gunboat that served on the Yangtze Patrol in China until sunk by Japanese aircraft on 12 December 1937 on the Yangtze River. The vessel was built by Kiangnan 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, with Lieutenant Commander James Mackey Lewis in command. ==Service history== 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 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 American 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 () 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 Nanking 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 '' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Panay (PR-5)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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