USS ''Wake'' (PR-3) was a United States Navy river gunboat operating on the Yangtze River. Originally commissioned as the gunboat ''Guam'' (PG-43), she was redesignated river patrol vessel PR-3 in 1928, and renamed ''Wake'' 23 January 1941. She was captured by Japan on 8 December 1941 and renamed ''Tatara''. After her recapture in 1945, she was transferred to Chinese nationalists, who renamed her ''Tai Yuan''. Communist forces captured her in 1949. On 1 May, 1949 Tai Yuan was sunk by Nationalist aircraft in the Caishiji River.

Service history

U.S. Navy

She was launched on 28 May 1927 as ''Guam'' by the Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works in Shanghai, China, and commissioned on 28 December 1927. Her primary mission was to ensure the safety of American

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

and other foreigners. Later, the ship also functioned as a "radio spy ship," keeping track of Japanese movements.Groom, W. ''1942''. pp. 111–113 However, by 1939, she was "escorted" by a Japanese warship wherever she went, as China fell more and more under Imperial Japanese control. On 23 January 1941, she was renamed ''Wake'', as ''Guam'' was to be the new name of a

large cruiser The ''Alaska'' class were six very large cruisers ordered before World War II for the United States Navy, of which only two were completed and saw service late in the war. The US Navy designation for the ships of this class was 'large cruiser ...

being built in the U.S. On 25 November 1941,

LCDR LCDR may refer to: * The London, Chatham and Dover Railway * The rank of lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. ...

Andrew Earl Harris, the brother of

Field Harris Field Harris CBE (September 18, 1895 – December 21, 1967) was a highly decorated lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps, who commanded the Marine Aviation Units during World War II and 1st Marine Aircraft Wing during the Korean ...

, was ordered to close the Navy installation at Hankow, and sail to Shanghai. On 28 November 1941, LCDR Harris and most of the crew were transferred to gunboats and ordered to sail to the Philippines. Columbus Darwin Smith—an old China hand who had been piloting river boats on the Yangtze River—was asked to accept a commission in the U.S. Navy and was appointed captain of ''Wake'' with the rank of Lt. Commander. When Pearl Harbor was attacked on 7 December 1941, Shanghai had been under Japanese occupation since the 1937 Battle of Shanghai. Smith was in command on 8 December 1941 (7 December in Hawaii), with a crew of 14, when the Japanese captured the ship, which was tied up at a pier in Shanghai. Smith had received a telephone call the night before from a Japanese officer he knew. The officer asked where Smith would be the next morning as he wanted to deliver some turkeys for Smith and his crew. The Japanese did the same to other American officers and officials so as to determine where they would be on 8 December. However, Commander Smith received word from his quartermaster about the Pearl Harbor attack and rushed to the ship only to find it under guard by the Japanese. Surrounded by an overwhelming Japanese force, the crew attempted unsuccessfully to scuttle the craft. ''Wake'' surrendered, the only U.S. ship to do so in World War II. Commander Smith and his crew were confined to a prison camp near Shanghai, where the U.S. Marines and sailors captured on Wake Island were also later imprisoned.

Japanese service

The Japanese gave ''Wake'' to their puppet Wang Jingwei regime in Nanjing, where she was renamed . The following activities are known to have occurred during the war.

Post-war

In 1945, at the end of the war, she was recaptured by the U.S. The U.S. gave the ship to the Chinese nationalists, who renamed her ''Tai Yuan'' (太原). Finally, the ship was captured by Communist Chinese forces in 1949. On 1 May, 1949 Tai Yuan was sunk by Nationalist aircraft in the Caishiji River. As of 2019, no other ship of the U.S. Navy has been named ''Wake'', though a launched in 1943 was named .

Awards

Yangtze Service Medal The Yangtze Service Medal is a decoration of the United States military which was created in 1930 for presentation to members of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps (and to a lesser extent, members of the United States Army). Th ...

* China Service Medal * American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp * Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal with one battle star * World War II Victory Medal

Footnotes

References

* * Groom, Winston. 2005. ''1942: The Year that Tried Men's Souls''. Atlanta Monthly Press, New York.

External links

navsource.org: USS ''Wake'' (PR-3)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wake (PR-3) Gunboats of the United States Navy Ships built in China 1927 ships Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships World War II patrol vessels of the United States Naval ships of the United States captured by Japan during World War II Ships of the Reorganized National Government of China Navy World War II patrol vessels of Japan Patrol vessels of the Republic of China Navy Patrol vessels of the People's Liberation Army Navy Riverine warfare Gunboats of the Imperial Japanese Navy