USS Villalobos

Graffiti scratched by sailors from USS Villalobos can still be seen on the flank of this stone turtle in Nanjing's Ming Xiaoling

Cruising subsequently to Changsha, Xiangtan, Zhuzhou, Yuezhou, and Hankou, Villalobos set out on 1 June for Jiujiang. She waited three days for a pilot for passage up the Gan River and Poyang Lake and, when one was finally obtained, got underway for Nanchang. However, the river level had fallen rapidly and Villalobos could proceed no further, so sent a whaleboat upstream for Nanchang to reconnoiter in accordance with orders from Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet, who had wired the gunboat to investigate local conditions there.

On 6 June, the boat returned and reported that all was quiet at Nanchang, and Villalobos headed back downriver. En route downriver, the gunboat's commander received a letter, via the American consul, from the local Governor who strongly protested Villalobos' visit—a protest which the consul seemed to sanction. When word reached Admiral Evans, he responded that a French gunboat had earlier made the same trip and had followed the same procedures, and it had gone without a protest from the local Chinese authorities.

"Your visit with the Villalobos to Nanchang," wrote Evans to Villalobos' commander, "for the purpose of investigating the condition and providing for the protection of the lives and property of Americans is approved." The admiral continued: "It is my desire that, so far as practicable, similar visits be paid to all Americans having property or other lawful interests in China, that I may be kept fully informed regarding all things concerning their welfare." Referring to the governor's contention that the gunboats should stay away since the inhabitants of the district were "bad men," Evans responded that this was all the more reason for more frequent visits.

Evans authorized Villalobos' commanding officer to inform any Chinese officials who might raise similar objections that the Fleet's gunboats "are always amply provided for dealing with 'bad men.'" The admiral admonished that if anything other than "proper respect" was shown to Americans in China, "severe and lasting punishment" would be meted out by his gunboats. As if that were not enough, Evans wrote, "Our gunboats will continue to navigate Poyang Lake and other inland waters of China, wherever Americans may be, and where, by treaty with China, they are authorized to engage in business or reside for the purpose of spreading the Gospel."

When word of Evans' stand reached the American minister to China in Beijing, Edward Conger, he sided with the governor. Conger asked Evans by what authority he had sanctioned Villalobos' visit to Nanchang. The admiral responded that he had acted under no specific treaty—but on the broad principle of extending American protection to wherever his country's nationals resided. While communications between widely separated places often took weeks or even months and the matter passed to Washington and the State and Navy Departments, American gunboats continued to patrol Poyang Lake.

John Hay, the Secretary of State, wrote to Conger siding with Evans, whose position he considered "proper and correct." Furthermore, Evans at the time had had no knowledge of treaties that indirectly applied to American rights in China although they had been made with other nations. Article 52 of the Anglo-Chinese 1858 Treaties of Tianjin, made reference to "most-favored nation" treatment—unbeknownst to Evans—and applied directly to Villalobos' controversial visit. The admiral had thus established a precedent for the Asiatic Fleet that would be carried on until late in the 1930s.

Villalobos remained deployed on the Yangtze River, until 1928, through various reorganizations and designations of what eventually became known as the "Yangtze Patrol", of the United States Asiatic Fleet.

During World War I, the belligerent nations either withdrew their ships from Chinese waters or saw them interned. The vacuum thus created by the internment or redeployment of British, French, and German gunboats on the Yangtze left only the Americans available to "keep the peace." However, no major wars between factions and warlords occurred.

America's entry into the war soon resulted in internment for United States gunboats. While Wilmington (Gunboat No. 8) sailed for Manila within the allotted time to avoid forced internment, Palos (River Gunboat No. 1), Monocacy (River Gunboat No. 2), Samar, Quiros, and Villalobos all remained at Shanghai— maintained at 75 percent complement and occupying their time with usual and routine ship's maintenance work—until China entered the war on the side of the Allied and Associated Powers on 16 August 1917. At that time, Villalobos and her sister gunboats resumed their patrolling and continued it through the armistice and into the postwar years.

In March 1921, the home port for these elderly gunboats—Villalobos, Quiros, and Elcano—was changed from Manila to Shanghai. Villalobos—by now designated PG-42—patrolled the middle Yangtze in mid-1921, noting local conditions and continuing in her duty of standing ready to protect American interests. The first flag officer commanding the Yangtze Patrol, Rear Admiral William Bullard, felt that the venerable Villalobos and her near-sisters were "hopeless cases" in terms of upkeep, firepower, and living conditions; but they, nevertheless, remained on duty.

However, by this point, there was not much for them to do, as the conflict between the warlords commanding Szechwan and Hupeh provinces had placed trigger-happy soldiers along both banks of the upper river, preventing river traffic. Villalobos reported on 22 July 1921 that "business is at a standstill" on both the middle and upper Yangtze River.

For the next five years, Villalobos continued her usual river activities, with occasional periods of upkeep at the Chinese-owned Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works.

In late August 1926, there were indications that there could be action in store for the gunboat at Hankou as Communist forces were on the march. On 27 August 1926, the ship steamed upstream for Changsha, passing Chinese warships at Ganzhou, warlord troops along the banks, and the occasional corpse floating with the tide.

After anchoring for the night, Villalobos got underway the next day only to soon run aground on a sandbar. With the river dropping one foot per day, if the ship were not soon refloated, she would be there until winter. Help soon happened by when a British Butterfield and Swire Line tug appeared towing a lighter.

Villalobos' crew transferred nearly everything portable—including ammunition and stores—to the tug's lighter. At the same time, Pigeon (AM-47)—a Lapwing-class minesweeper converted to a river gunboat—came by as well, heading downstream from Changsha while the river still allowed her to pass downriver safely. With her decreased draft, the combined efforts of Pigeon and the tug freed Villalobos and she reloaded her stores and ammunition before resuming her passage.

After her delayed arrival, Villalobos remained at Changsha for the next four months until relieved by Palos on 28 February 1927. Proceeding downriver, Villalobos arrived at Hankou on 2 March 1927, joining Isabel—flagship of Commander, Yangtzee Patrol, Rear Admiral H. H. Hough; Truxtun; and Pope.

Chinese Nationalist forces entered Nanjing on 24 March and subjected American and British commercial installations to heavy attacks. On the 25, Lieutenant Commander Earl A. Mclntyre ordered his crew to place more steel boiler-plate around vital control and gun positions on board Villalobos in expectation of action. Within two weeks, riots broke out in Hankou and the Japanese section of the city was looted, prompting the Japanese to land forces. With the evacuation of Americans, Villalobos stood by, keeping watch on the scene with her guns cleared for action.

Ordered downriver to guard the American-owned Socony-Vacuum Oil Company's installation, Villalobos joined British gunboats HMS Teal and HMS Scarab in an uneventful watch. Relieved by Palos on 27 May, Villalobos departed Hankou and the middle-river area and sailed for Shanghai with the orders to return fire if attacked.

Meanwhile, six replacement gunboats were being built for Yangtze duty. The Secretary of the Navy's report for 1927 stated that Villalobos was in bad condition as regarding both hull and machinery and had little sale value. On 29 December 1927, President Calvin Coolidge authorized the destruction of Villalobos by gunfire; and the gunboat was placed out of commission on 29 May 1928. Struck from the Navy list on 4 October, the venerable gunboat was towed to sea and sunk in experimental destroyer gunnery exercises off the China coast on 9 October 1928.