Assembling naval power for the Nanjing crisis

The Nanjing deployment shows how overseas stations could assemble a force on a near-wartime footing without waiting for ships from Britain. The British group included Vindictive, a former seaplane carrier armed with 7.5-inch guns, plus the light cruisers Emerald, Carlisle, and Caradoc. Six destroyers, the minelaying sloop Petersfield, and three Insect-class gunboats completed the force, while American destroyers also joined the response. The concentration turned ships immediately available on the China and East Indies stations into a substantial regional task group.