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The Real Sand Pebbles: Part II


Dirk
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A few years ago I did a thread on the movie “Sand Pebbles” which as many of you know was based upon a photograph collection from a sailor on the gunboat USS Palos. And now here is a new gunboat grouping I have been able to add to the collection. Recently, I spotted items from a 30 year Navy veteran being broken up and sold on ebay. Not really my area, but I thought I would still review the offerings. In time it occurred to me this man was not only a China Sailor, but also a gunboat sailor. Born in a small town of northeastern Pennsylvania, he initially enlisted in the Navy in 1919, but within 7 months received an “undesirable” discharge. A little over a year later he was back in the Navy. In May of 1925 he is in the Far East assigned to the USS Isabel, the flag ship of the Yangtze patrol. His time on the Isabel is brief, because within 9 months he is aboard the USS Monocacy. At only 165 feet long, 207 tons with a draft of only 2.5 feet, this little gunboat is assigned to the far reaches of the Yangtze River. What is also interesting is he comes aboard her at the exact time the movie “Sand Pebbles” was supposed to depict. The events that drove the San Pablo to rescue missionaries are exact things this ship was doing, just farther up river. So in a sense, you’re looking at the faces of the real Sand Pebbles crew.

Here the sailor has had himself photographed at Chefoo, China probably after he completed his assignment aboard the USS Monocacy

 

 

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The Monocacy and what might be a British gunboat. The Monocacy and Palos were sister ships, the only two gunboats that could operate upriver, they were nicknamed by their crews “Monotony” and “Pathos”. They were pre-fabricated in the United States prior to WWI and sent to China for final assembly. Since the ships had a shallow draft they were one of only a few gunboats able to operate between Ichang and Chungking. Their patrol area, between the two river cities ran approximately 200 miles. Here they are dressed for Christmas at Chungking, c1926.

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The Monocacy. Note the Chinese writing on the side of the ship written in Pidgin Chinese “United States soldier ship”. A Chinese scholar noted the poor phrasing and the poorly executed script was not done by an educated Chinese person, but was probably done by a member of the Monocacy’s crew using a “pointy talky.” Given that almost every trip up or down the river resulted in being shot at, I am sure the words were an additional warning to the war lords and bandits along the way that unlike the merchant steamers, this ship will return fire.

 

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Portrait of the Crew, c 1926-27. What strikes me about the crew, is either they are very young or old. Most seem to be mere kids. With a ship of this size, the Monocacy had three officers: Captain, Executive Officer and Medical Officer. One positive for the Captain at least, was once above Ichang they were “on their own” as radio communications was infrequent. It was customary on the Asiatic Station for crew photos to be taken, usually at Shanghai. The location of this photo is unknown, but I suspect Chungking.

The album is filled with a number of images that include various gunboats both American and foreign. Here is the USS Villalobos toward the end of her career on the Yangtze. Ironically, it was supposedly tales from the Villalobos pre –WWI days that inspired Richard McKenna to write the novel. Mckenna merely updated it by having San Pablo operate during the 1926-27 Nationalist Army advance through China.

 

 

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One of the album's was filled with portraits of the crew, many taken upriver. Clearly the album's creator enjoyed his time on this ship.

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A sailor and his beer at Chungking, ship's mascot and inside with what looks like the crews quarters in the background. Does look like the inside of the San Pablo to me

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Relaxing under the awning. The heat in the summer on the lower river could be stifling in the summer . In the last picture note what appears to be sandbags near one of the machine guns.

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With two of the young Chinese Messmen and the Quarterdeck Watch Officer. Note the small desk in the background for the deck log while moored. Very similar to the one on the San Pablo in the movie.

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A crewman with several soldiers from a local warlord's army. And a private photo the album's owner took of Nationalist troops on the march.

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Although the USS Monocacy was not not directly involved. The top photo shows some of the Navy men involved in the Nanking Incident. In 1927 when Nationalist troops defeated the warlord armies at Nanking, Nationalist elements, as they over ran the city, attacked and started killing any foreigner they could catch. Furthermore, the Nationalist would not let any foreign troops land to protect their citizens. The Japanese and British Counsels were shot down as well as a number of Western and Japanese civilians. The destroyer USS Noa standing by, was able to sneak a few sailors into the city and temporarily move American citizens to safety just outside the city. When Chinese troops started to come for those civilians, the Noa's captain informed the ranking foreign naval officer (a British cruiser captain) on site he was going to open fire, and offered the opening salvo to the British. The British captain opened fire followed by the Americans and both ships started lobbing shots at Chinese troop locations forcing the Nationalist forces to quickly retreat and allowing the American citizens to flee to the riverbank for rescue. One American woman later reported Nationalists troops were holding her and her children at bayonet point when the whole house shook. Better to die, she thought, by a stray shot from the Navy, then at the hands of an enraged mob. As the shells started landing the Nationalist troops fled, allowing her and her family to escape.

 

Below is a picture of the flag rescued from the American Consulate in Nanking.

 

The last photo shows the cruiser HMS Emerald (probably just after the Nanking Incident) which was the "senior" ship off Nanking at the time, and fired to help save the Americans. It was this event that caused the "San Pablo" to race to the “China Light Mission” to rescue the last of the missionaries in the movie.

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Could this unmarked picture be of the destruction in Nanking or by warring armies up river or just the result of a natural disaster. I am currently not sure, but it was in the collection of his gunboat photos.

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The album includes several great pictures of the Three Gorge District. This was an area of 120 miles where the Yangtze passed through some amazing gorges. As the result of recent river damming, several of these gores have either disappeared or are greatly reduced in size. Also a shot of the typical high sided river bank on the middle and lower portions of the river.

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A lower river river Chinese ferryboat (note the eye painted on the paddle wheel cover...allowing the ship to "see") and the US Navy Club at Chungking. The Navy maintained a club at Chungking, which I believe was located in the hills above the town, for the use of the gunboat men. Here is the lodge with a baseball game in progress. The club had tennis courts, a garden, a fine bar and its director provided horses for the use of the men, allowing them to ride in the countryside.

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I will wrap up this thread by showing my favorite image from the collection. Nothing reminds me more of the movie the "San Pebbles" then this shot of the USS Monocacy moored at Chungking China. Almost 1,000 miles away from open ocean, and with spotty radio communications due to the mountains, her small crew and the crew of her sister ship, the USS Palos were truly alone. I hope those that enjoyed the movie the "Sand Pebbles" will appreciate this collection of unique images. I will post more images from this collection on the website chinamarine.org under the gunboat chapter in the near future.

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riflegreen297

These are fantastic. It really gives insight into "the day in a life" from an era that one rarely gets to see. Thank for sharing.

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Just wonderful! I've always been interested in the gunboat Navy and these pictures have plenty of things I haven't seen before. You should think about publishing them.

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Thanks guys! I think there is enough material in the collection to publish something but what I don't yet know. My web site will have to hold a portion of the images until I figure it all out.

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Dirk,

I keep waiting to see Steve McQueen in one of those photos! You've done a beautiful job of giving us a feeling for the time and the place. You've also given me an greater appreciation for "The Sand Pebbles" movie. It has always been a favorite of mine, but now I am realizing just how historically accurate the movie was and what a great undertaking it would have been to film it.

 

Those are some fantastic photos and the deserved to be shared. Thank you for your efforts.

 

Allan

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