On 12 December 1937, USS PANAY, a small, under-armed gunboat, was sunk by Japanese planes. As the survivors of the PANAY rowed ashore in their lifeboats, they were shot at from Japanese ground troops. The incident was a footnote in the Japanese battle for Nanking. Nor was this the only attack against a neutral power during the aptly named Rape of Nanking.
Sadly, many have forgotten this event. The Panay Incident by Hamilton Darby Perry is an extremely well written popular history of the event. Based primarily on interviews of this event, it is, perhaps, the only book still available, if not still in print.
The only critique that I have of this excellent book is that it fails to footnote the interviews and other sources of information. As a popular history, lack of such academic details are probably not a true failing, but as the only book on the event it is disheartening to think how difficult it might be to reconstruct the research for a more rigorous study.
There are many things to learn from this event. First, the Japanese were greatly concerned about a "Remember the Maine" reaction. They engaged in a government sponsored (as opposed to government supported) letter writing campaign that showed great tact and skill in manipulating popular opinion in the United States. Second, the reaction of the American people to the event was amazing. Rather than the rage that would accompany Pearl Harbor, most Americans - about 75% in one Pew poll - questioned exactly what we were doing in China that was worth American lives and if it was possible to get businesses and missionaries out before they pulled the United States into a meaningless land war in Asia. Third, the level of technology in 1937 was far from what the U S, and even Japan for that matter, could bring to bear in 1945. Biplanes and radio communications that routinely failed for up to 36 hours were the norm.
This is an excellent book about an understudied event. Many historians have disregarded the Panay incident because it had no effect on either Japanese or American strategies or policies. However, if one looks at Japanese strategy starting with the Sino-Japanese War through 1945, this event is an important marker as the level of violence and the need to dominate the Asian mainland continued to grow.
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