USS Wake

History
United States
Name	Wake
Namesake	Wake Island
Builder	Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works, Shanghai
Launched	28 May 1927
Commissioned	28 December 1927, as Guam (PG-43)
Renamed	Wake, 23 January 1941
Reclassified	PR-3 (River Gunboat), 15 June 1928
Stricken	25 March 1942
Fate	Captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy, 8 December 1941
Japan
Name	Tatara (多多良)
Acquired	by capture, 8 December 1941
Stricken	30 September 1945
Fate	Recaptured by U.S. Navy, August 1945; Transferred to China, 1946;
Republic of China
Name	RCS Tai Yuan (太原)
Acquired	1946
Fate	Captured by Communist Chinese forces, 1949
People's Republic of China
Acquired	1949
Fate	Active until the 1960s
General characteristics
Type	Gunboat
Displacement	350 long tons (356 t)
Length	159 ft 5 in (48.59 m)
Beam	27 ft 1 in (8.26 m)
Draft	5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Installed power	1,900 ihp (1,400 kW)
Propulsion	2 × triple expansion steam engines; 2 × screws;
Speed	14.5 kn (16.7 mph; 26.9 km/h)
Complement	59
Armament	2 × 3in guns (2x1) 8 × .30-06 Lewis machine guns (8x1)1942: US 3" guns replaced with 3" AA guns. Jan 1945 several Type 93 13.2 mm (0.52 in) M.G.s installed

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.^[3]

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 and other foreigners. Later, the ship also functioned as a "radio spy ship," keeping track of Japanese movements.^[4] However, by 1939, she was "escorted" by a Japanese warship wherever she went, as China fell more and more under Imperial Japanese control.

In 1930 when it was nearing Yochow it was shot at by rebels, which killed one crew.^[5]

On 23 January 1941, she was renamed Wake, as Guam was to be the new name of a large cruiser being built in the U.S. On 25 November 1941, LCDR Andrew Earl Harris, the brother of Field Harris,^[6] was ordered to close the Navy installation at Hankou, 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 Chinese 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.^[4]

When Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7th, 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 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.^[4] 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.^[4]

Japanese service

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

Date	Activity
15 December 1941	Refit began at Kiangnan Engineering and Dock Works.
26 January 1942	Refit finished.
11 October 1942	Runs aground off Nanjing.
12 October 1942	Returns to Kiangnan E. & D. W. for repairs.
5 November 1942	Repairs finished.
3 June 1944	Attacked by B-24s without damage.
18 June 1944	Attacked by three B-25s without damage.
2 December 1944	Attacked by six P-51 Mustangs.
7 December 1944	Attacked by two P-51s.
18 Dec 1944	Attacked by three P-51s.
24 Dec 1944	Sails for Kiangnan.
1 Jan 1945	Enters Kiangnan E. & D.W. for repairs and an AA upgrade.
3 Feb 1945	Repairs finished.

The ship was part of Sasebo Naval District for China Area Fleet.^[5]

Post-war

In 1945, at the end of the war, she was returned to the U.S. when the Japanese troops surrendered (VJ Day). 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.^[7]^[8]

As of 2019, no other ship of the U.S. Navy has been named Wake, though a Casablanca-class escort carrier launched in 1943 was named Wake Island. Wake Island is a remote Pacific island used as a US military base, and the site of a WW2 Battle in December 1941 (Battle of Wake Island).

Awards

Yangtze Service Medal
China Service Medal
American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp
Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal with one battle star
World War II Victory Medal
ROCS Tai Yuan (Chinese: 太原; DE-27)

Footnotes

^ Silverstone, Paul H (1966). U.S. Warships of World War II. Doubleday and Company. p. 243.
^ Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. Crescent Books (Random House. 1998. p. 104. ISBN 0517-67963-9.
^ "Chinese Naval Battles(Civil War and later)(update2021)". Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Groom, W. 1942. pp. 111–113
^ ^a ^b Hiltz, Madeline (24 August 2021). "The Commander of the USS Wake (PR-3) Escaped a Japanese POW Camp Not Once, But TWICE!". warhistoryonline. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
^ Thomas, Pamela (2009). Fatherless daughters : turning the pain of loss into the power of forgiveness (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 74-75. ISBN 9780743205573. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
^ "Chinese Naval Battles(Civil War and later)(update2021)". Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
^ "Combinedfleet.com/Tatara". Combinedfllet.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2012.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
Groom, Winston. 2005. 1942: The Year that Tried Men's Souls. Atlanta Monthly Press, New York. ISBN 0-87113-889-1

External links

[1] Silverstone, Paul H (1966). U.S. Warships of World War II. Doubleday and Company. p. 243.

[2] Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. Crescent Books (Random House. 1998. p. 104. ISBN 0517-67963-9.

[3] "Chinese Naval Battles(Civil War and later)(update2021)". Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.

[Groom-4] Groom, W. 1942. pp. 111–113

[:0-5] Hiltz, Madeline (24 August 2021). "The Commander of the USS Wake (PR-3) Escaped a Japanese POW Camp Not Once, But TWICE!". warhistoryonline. Retrieved 3 December 2023.

[6] Thomas, Pamela (2009). Fatherless daughters : turning the pain of loss into the power of forgiveness (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 74-75. ISBN 9780743205573. Retrieved 8 February 2017.

[7] "Chinese Naval Battles(Civil War and later)(update2021)". Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.

[8] "Combinedfleet.com/Tatara". Combinedfllet.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2012.

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v t e Imperial Japanese surprise attacks and battles of December 1941
Topics	Attack on Pearl Harbor Battle of Hong Kong Battle of Guam (1941) Battle of Wake Island First Bombardment of Midway Shelling of Johnston and Palmyra Invasion of Gilbert Islands Bombing of Rangoon (Burma) Japanese invasion of Thailand (Battle of Prachuap Khiri Khan) Invasion of Borneo
Philippines	Attack on Clark and Iba Fields Japanese invasion of Aparri Japanese invasion of Batan Island Japanese invasion of Davao Japanese invasion of Lamon Bay Japanese invasion of Legazpi Japanese invasion of Lingayen Gulf Japanese invasion of Vigan
Malaya	Battle of Gurun Battle of Jitra Battle of Kampar Battle of Kota Bharu Battle of Kuala Lumpur Bombing of Singapore (1941) Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse
Related	Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire Day of Infamy speech Philippines campaign (1941–1942) Malayan campaign Battle of Changsha (1941–1942) Dutch East Indies campaign List of shipwrecks in December 1941 USS Wake capture HMS Peterel sunk Invasion of Shanghai International Settlement