Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Chapter · 2:51:45-2:59:28

Royal Navy witnesses to the Second Sino-Japanese War

Personal photographs record China Station gunboats, evacuations and wartime damage, together with neutrality markings and protective fittings.

China StationDegaussingGunboat DiplomacyHMS LadybirdRoyal NavySecond Sino Japanese WarSpanish Civil WarUSS Panay
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Notes

Personal photographs document the Royal Navy's China Station during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The selection includes gunboats, cruisers, evacuations, shore facilities, and routine life alongside wartime damage. HMS Ladybird appears after damage from Japanese fire, while Ladybird and Oahu arrive at Shanghai with USS Panay survivors and the bodies of those killed. HMS Birmingham still carries Spanish Civil War neutrality bands at Malta on the way to China in February 1938. A photograph of HMS Durban leaving Singapore in 1940 shows anti-splinter padding and a degaussing cable. The collection brings together operational details preserved in participants' photographs.