View source for USS Panay incident

{{Short description|Japanese attack on a US gunboat in 1937}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:USS ''Panay'' incident}}
{{Use dmy dates|date = July 2014}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = USS ''Panay'' incident
| partof            = the [[Battle of Nanking|Battle of Nanking]] in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Second Sino-Japanese War]] and the [[Interwar period|interwar period]]
| image             = [[File:USS Panay sinking after Japanese air attack.jpg|border|300px]]
| caption           = {{USS|Panay|PR-5|6}} sinking after Japanese air attack. Nanjing, China.
| date              = 12 December 1937
| place             = [[Yangtze River]], off [[Nanking|Nanking city]], [[Nationalist government|Republic of China]]
| coordinates       = 
| result            = {{USS|Panay|PR-5|6}} sunk
*The [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]] and [[French Third Republic|France]] provide loan assistance for war supply contracts to the [[Nationalist government|Republic of China]]
| combatant1        = {{flagu|United States|1912}}
| combatant2        = {{flagcountry|Empire of Japan}}
| commander1        = Captain James J. Hughes
| commander2        = {{ubli|[[Shigeharu Murata]]|[[Masatake Okumiya|Okumiya Masatake]]}}
| strength1         = {{ubli|[[USS Panay (PR-5)|1]] [[river gunboat|gunboat]]|3 river tankers}}
| strength2         = 13 aircraft
| casualties1       = {{ubli|1 [[USS Panay (PR-5)|gunboat]] sunk|3 river tankers destroyed|3 Americans killed|48 Americans wounded}}
| casualties2       = 1 killed
| notes             = {{center|'''Civilian casualties:''' 1 American killed, 5 Americans wounded; an unknown number of Chinese passengers killed and injured}}
| campaignbox       = {{Yangtze Patrol}}
}}
The '''USS ''Panay'' incident''' was a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] bombing attack on the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] [[river gunboat]] {{USS|Panay|PR-5|2}} and three [[Standard Oil|Standard Oil Company]] tankers on the [[Yangtze River]] near the Chinese capital of [[Nanjing]] on 12 December 1937. Japan and the United States were not at war at the time. The boats were part of an American naval operation called the [[Yangtze Patrol]], which began following the joint British, French, and American victory in the [[Second Opium War]]. 

The bombing raid resulted in the sinking of the ''Panay'' as well as the deaths of three Americans on board, plus an unknown but likely high casualty toll amongst the Chinese passengers in the three river tankers.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Frank |first=Richard |title=Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937 – May 1942 |date=2022 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |pages=102}}</ref> 

Public reaction was mixed in the U.S., with [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] weighing various diplomatic and military responses only to settle for an apology and compensation.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Douglas |last=Peifer |url=http://www.ijnhonline.org/2018/11/05/presidential-crisis-decision-making-following-the-sinking-of-the-panay/ |title=Presidential Crisis Decision Making Following the Sinking of the Panay |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224154801/http://www.ijnhonline.org/2018/11/05/presidential-crisis-decision-making-following-the-sinking-of-the-panay/ |archive-date=24 December 2018 |journal=International Journal of Naval History |volume=14 |issue=2 |date=November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference |first=Douglas |last=Peifer |title=The American Response to the Sinking of the USS Panay, December 1937 |book-title=New Interpretations in Naval History: Selected Papers from the 2017 Naval History Symposium |editor-first=Brian |editor-last=VanDeMark |location=Annapolis, Maryland |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=2023}}</ref> 

The Japanese claimed that they did not see the large U.S. flags painted on the deck and canvases of the gunboat. Tokyo officially apologized and paid a cash indemnity of $2.2 million USD. The settlement mollified some of the U.S. anger, and newspapers called the matter closed.<ref>Walter LaFeber, ''The Clash'' (1997) p. 187.</ref> 

However, camera footage taken during the attack showed Japanese aircraft flying so low near the ''Panay'' that the pilots' faces were visible, providing "potent evidence that the mistaken identity claim was not true."<ref name=":0" />

The attack was not an isolated case in the Battle of Nanjing. In addition to the ''Panay'' and her consort of three tankers, Japanese aircraft and land forces would attack a multitude of other vessels belonging to the Western powers along the Yangtze near Nanjing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937, Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=232}}</ref>

==Background==
A flat-bottomed craft built in Shanghai specifically for river duty, ''Panay'' served as part of the US Navy's [[Yangtze Patrol]] in the [[United States Asiatic Fleet|Asiatic Fleet]], which was responsible for patrolling the Yangtze River to protect American lives and property in China. 

After [[Second Sino-Japanese War|invading China in the summer of 1937]], Japanese forces had fought their way to the city of Nanjing in the early weeks of December. The Japanese then began a [[Battle of Nanking|fierce attack]] on the city and its surrounding region, which would later culminate in [[Nanjing Massacre|the infamous massacre]] of hundreds of thousands of [[civilian]]s and [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]]. 
[[File:uss panay.png|right|thumb|300px|{{USS|Panay|PR-5|6}} underway during the standardization trial off [[Wusong|Woosung]], China, on 30 August 1928.]]

Since November, the ''Panay'' had been evacuating U.S. citizens from the battle zone around Nanjing. On 11 December, the ''Panay'' evacuated some of the last remaining Americans from the city, bringing the number of people aboard to five officers, 54 enlisted men, four US embassy staff, and 10 civilians, including [[Universal Newsreel]] cameraman Norman Alley, [[Movietone News|Fox Movietone News]] cameraman Eric Mayell, ''The'' ''<nowiki>New York Times'</nowiki>''s Norman Soong, ''[[Collier's Weekly]]'' correspondent Jim Marshall, ''[[La Stampa]]'' correspondent Sandro Sandri and ''[[Corriere della Sera]]'' correspondent [[Luigi Barzini Jr.|Luigi Barzini Jr]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937, Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=215}}</ref>

The ''Panay'' was also tasked with escorting three [[Standard Oil]] [[Tanker (ship)|tankers]], ''Mei Ping'', ''Mei An'', and ''Mei Hsia,'' which were carrying some 800 Chinese employees of Standard Vacuum Oil and their families.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=The Standard-Vacuum Oil Company and United States East Asian Policy, 1933-1941 |date=1975 |publisher=Princeton University Press |pages=107-108}}</ref> 

== Attack ==
[[File:Murata Shigeharu.jpg|thumb|Lt Shigeharu Murata, who led the attack on the Panay]]
On the morning of the 12th, Japanese air forces stationed near Nanjing received information that fleeing Chinese forces were in the area in ten large steamers and a large number of junks and that they were between {{convert|12|and|25|miles|km|abbr=on}} upstream from Nanjing. Japanese naval aircraft led by Lieutenant [[Masatake Okumiya|Okumiya Masatake]] and Lieutenant [[Shigeharu Murata]] (who would lead torpedo bombers at Pearl Harbor four years later) departed from [[Changzhou]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937, Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=214}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Frank |first=Richard |title=Tower of Skulls |date=2020 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |pages=101}}</ref>

While anchored some 28 miles upstream from Nanjing, ''Panay'' and her three consorts, came under attack by the Japanese formations. The ''Panay'' was clearly marked and identified with two large American flags painted on its canvas awnings.<ref name=":4" />

[[File:Japanese plane attacking USS Panay (PR-5), 12 December 1937 (NH 50830).jpg|thumb|A frame from a newsreel which caught a Japanese plane attacking ''Panay'' in China]]
[[File:Gunners aboard USS Panay (PR-5) firing back at attacking Japanese aircraft, 12 December 1937 (NH 50815).jpg|thumb|American gunners return fire at Japanese aircraft]]
''Panay'' was hit by two of the eighteen {{convert|132|lb|kg|abbr=on}} bombs dropped by three [[Yokosuka B4Y]] Type-96 bombers from high altitude, and then strafed by nine [[Nakajima A4N]] Type-95 fighters at low altitude.<ref name="Proceedings">{{cite journal|last=Swanson |first=Harland J.|title=The ''Panay'' Incident: Prelude to Pearl Harbor|publisher= United States Naval Institute Proceedings|date=December 1967}}</ref> The first bomb split the ''Panay's'' [[Mast (sailing)|foremast]] and disabled its forward gun. Shrapnel from several of the bombs that exploded near the vessel damaged the ship's hull and injured crew on the deck. Several Americans manned a 30-caliber machine gun on board and returned fire at the Japanese, but did not hit any of the aircraft.<ref name=":3" /> 

At 2 pm, facing irreparable damage and grievous injuries amongst the crew, Lieutenant Arthur Anders gave the order to abandon ship, and evacuated the crew and civilians onto two motorboats, the vast majority of them wounded.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937, Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=215–216}}</ref> Planes also machine-gunned these small boats taking the wounded ashore, and several more survivors were wounded. According to Lieutenant J. W. Geist, an officer aboard ''Panay'', "the day before we told the Japanese army in the area who we were", and three U.S. flags were plainly visible on the ship. ''[[The Times]]'' correspondent Colin MacDonald, who had also been aboard ''Panay'', saw a Japanese army small boat machine-gun the ''Panay'' as it was sinking in spite of the American flag painted on the side of the ship. Since Japanese planes continued to circle overhead, survivors cowered knee-deep in mud in a swamp.<ref>''The Oregonian'', 18 December 1937. page 24.</ref> 

''Panay''{{'s}} lifeboats were machine-gunned by Japanese fighter planes in the attack. As the ship sank, Japanese colonel [[Kingoro Hashimoto]], who was in the immediate vicinity, ordered his artillery to fire on the ''Panay.'' Hashimoto would also order his troops to fire on British vessels whose identities he knew.<ref name=":0" />

At 3:54 pm, the ''Panay'' sank as a result of the attack. Storekeeper First Class Charles Lee Ensminger, Standard Oil tanker captain Carl H. Carlson and Italian reporter Sandro Sandri were killed, Coxswain Edgar C. Hulsebus died later that night.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii1364|title = USS Panay (PR-5) Casualty List On Board USS Augusta (CA-31)|date = 2009|access-date = 2014-08-29|website = The World War II Multimedia Database|last = McDonald|first = Jason}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = La drammatica fine della 'Panay' e la stoica morte di Sandro Sandri nel racconto di Luigi Barzini jr.|last = Barzini |first = Luigi Jr|date = 18 December 1937|work = Corriere della Sera}}</ref> Forty-three sailors and five civilians were wounded.

[[File:USS Panay (PR-5) sinking in the Yangtze River on 12 December 1937 (NH 50805).jpg|thumb|The Panay listing to starboard before sinking]]
The three Standard Oil tankers were also bombed and destroyed, and the captain of ''Mei An'' and many Chinese civilian passengers were killed, although the number was not recorded in Standard Oil's Records. Also lost were two of four smaller company craft elsewhere by Japanese attacks.<ref name=":2" /> The vessels had been helping to evacuate the families of Standard Oil's employees and agents from Nanjing during the [[Battle of Nanking|Japanese attack on that city]].<ref>Mender, P. (2010). ''Thirty Years a Mariner in the Far East 1907–1937: The Memoirs of Peter Mender, a Standard Oil ship captain on China's Yangtze River''. {{ISBN|978-1-60910-498-6}}.</ref>

[[File:USS Panay (PR-5) survivors ashore, 13 December 1937 (NH 77817).jpg|thumb|Survivors in a local village, 13 December, one day after the attack]]
Two [[newsreel]] cameramen, Norman Alley of [[Universal Newsreel]] and Eric Mayell of [[Movietone News|Fox Movietone News]], were aboard ''Panay'' during the attack; they were able to film parts of the attack including Japanese aircraft on low-level strafing runs and, after reaching shore, the sinking of the ship in the middle of the river. The survivors of the attack then waded through knee-deep mud to a nearby village, carrying those too badly wounded to walk.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" /> 

The survivors were later taken aboard the American vessel {{USS|Oahu|PR-6|2}} and the [[Insect-class gunboat|British gunboats]] {{HMS|Ladybird|1916|6}} and {{HMS|Bee|1915|2}}. Earlier the same day, a Japanese shore battery had fired on ''Ladybird''.
<!-- TODO: Add info about Norman Alley, the newsreel man who captured the incident. see para above for this. -->The survivors coped with near freezing nights wearing inadequate clothing along with no food. It took three days to move the sixteen wounded to the safety of several British and American ships.<ref>Tolley, Kemp (22 March 2013). ''Yangtze Patrol: The U.S. Navy in China''. Naval Institute Press.</ref>

The Japanese pilots who attacked the ''Panay'' would also bomb the British vessel SS ''Wantung'' later that same day.<ref name=":1" />

==Diplomacy==
The aftermath of the ''Panay'' sinking was a nervous time for the [[United States Ambassador to Japan|American ambassador to Japan]], [[Joseph C. Grew]]. Grew, whose experience in the foreign service spanned over 30 years, "remembered the {{USS|Maine|ACR-1|6}}", the U.S. Navy ship that blew up in [[Havana Harbor]] in 1898. The sinking of ''Maine'' had propelled the U.S. into the [[Spanish–American War]] and ambassador Grew hoped the sinking of ''Panay'' would not be a similar catalyst for the severance of diplomatic ties and war with Japan.

The Japanese government took full responsibility for sinking ''Panay'' but continued to maintain that the attack had been unintentional. [[Chief of staff (military)|Chief of Staff]] of Japanese naval forces in northern China, Vice Admiral [[Rokuzo Sugiyama]], was assigned to make an apology.<ref name="prados">Prados, John (1995). ''Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II''. Random House. {{ISBN|0-679-43701-0}}.</ref> The formal apology reached Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve.

Although Japanese officials maintained that their pilots never saw any American flags on ''Panay'', a US Navy court of inquiry determined that several US flags were clearly visible on the vessel during the attacks.<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |date=23 December 1937 |title=The Commander in Chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet (Yarnell) to the Secretary of the Navy (Swanson) |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1931-41v01/d387|publisher=Office of the Historian, United States Department of State |access-date=7 February 2025}}</ref> At the meeting held at the [[Embassy of the United States, Tokyo|American embassy in Tokyo]] on 23 December, Japanese officials maintained that one navy airplane had attacked a boat by machine gun for a short period of time and that Japanese army motor boats or launches had been attacking the Chinese steamers escaping upstream on the opposite bank. However, the Japanese navy insisted that the attack had been unintentional. The Japanese government paid an indemnity of $2,214,007.36 (approximately ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|2214007.36|1938|r=-4}}}} in {{inflation/year|US}}) to the US on 22 April 1938, officially settling the ''Panay'' incident.<ref>"Japanese Pay U.S. 'In Full'; Panay Incident Officially Closed with $2,214.007 Indemnity Settlement". ''Miami Daily News Record'' (22 April 1938). Associated Press. p. 1.</ref>

[[File:1937-12-12 Bombing of USS Panay.ogv|thumb|[[Universal Newsreel]] about the incident, 12 December 1937]]

==Post-incident==

===Donations===
Following the incident, Japanese individuals and organizations sent letters of apology and gifts of money to U.S. diplomatic offices and the [[U.S. Navy Department]] in Washington, D.C. This ranged from letters penned by schoolchildren to organized pools of donors.

The most prominent donor was the America–Japan Society, headed by Prince [[Tokugawa Iesato]], which amassed ¥16,242.56 in ''Panay'' contributions from 7,749 people and 218 organizations.<ref name="Plante">{{Cite magazine|last = Plante |first = Trevor |url=https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2001/summer/two-japans-1.html|title=Two Japans|date=Summer 2001 |magazine=Prologue | publisher=National Archives}}</ref>

In response to the donations, Secretary of State [[Cordell Hull]] stated that "neither the American Government nor any agency of it nor any of its nationals should receive sums of money thus offered or take direct benefit therefrom". However, Hull noted that since "a flat rejection of such offers would produce some misunderstanding of our general attitude and offend those Japanese who make such a gesture, the Department is of the opinion that some method should be found whereby Japanese who wish to give that type of expression to their feelings may do so."<ref name="Plante" />

The [[United States State Department]] expressed the desire that any necessary arrangements should be made promptly. Hull did not wish to keep the Japanese people waiting for a decision on what was to become of the money they donated. A prolonged delay could lead to misunderstanding, especially if a decision were reached months later to return the money to the donors.

A temporary solution was reached to allow only the American ambassador in Japan and the [[Nelson T. Johnson|American ambassador in China]] to accept donations related to the ''Panay'' incident. Several American consulates were receiving money, including consulates at [[Nagoya]], [[Kobe]], [[Nagasaki]] and [[Osaka]], in Japan; [[Taipei]], Taiwan; [[Keijō|Keijo]] ([[Seoul]]), Korea; [[Dairen, Manchuria]]; and [[São Paulo (city)|São Paulo]], Brazil. These contributions were eventually forwarded to the ambassador in Tokyo. Grew kept all money received related to the ''Panay'' incident in the embassy safe until the State Department could find a solution.<ref name="Plante"/>

Despite this policy, a local newspaper in [[Nagasaki]], the ''Nagasaki Minyu Shimbun'', published stories about some Japanese donations to the American consulate in Nagasaki, including an excerpt from a letter attached to a schoolboy's donation. Arthur F. Tower, the American consul in Nagasaki, informed Ambassador Grew of the article, which had been published on 7 January. Tower also informed Grew that a reporter of another newspaper—the Tokyo and Osaka ''[[Asahi Shimbun]]'', had called on him on 23 December to discuss the ''Panay'' contributions. Towers reassured Grew that "this consulate has not sought to give publicity to the donations received or offered and has furnished information concerning them on two occasions only, when requested." However, the newspaper stories may nonetheless have increased contributions to the location.<ref name="Plante"/>

A final solution to the donations was reached by creating the Japan-America Trust in the name of the ''Panay'' survivors and relatives of those who lost their lives. The trust would be used to care for the graves of American sailors buried in Japan, dating back to the graves of sailors involved in the [[Perry Expedition]] in 1853. The formation of the trust allowed the State Department to avoid returning donations or directly distributing them to the U.S. government or individuals. (See also [[Foreign cemeteries in Japan]].)

===Awards===
Service members aboard the ''Panay'' were awarded the [[Navy Expeditionary Medal]] and [[China Service Medal]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/navy-mc-awards-manual-rev1953/pt4-campaign-service-medals.html#sec2-2 |title = Pt. 4 - Campaign and Service Medals}}</ref>{{fcn|date=November 2025}}

[[File:Panay hero receives Navy Cross. Washington, D.C., July 1. Fireman first class John L. Hodge, who is recuperating at Naval Hospital here, was today decorated with the Navy Cross for the LCCN2016873773.jpg|thumb|Fireman First Class John L. Hodge is decorated with the [[Navy Cross]] for bravery displayed during the sinking of the USS ''Panay'']]
Fireman First Class John L. Hodge and Lieutenant Clark G. Grazier were presented with the [[Navy Cross]] for their actions during the ''Panay'' incident.<ref>{{Cite web| url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/19553|title=Clark G. Grazier |website=Military Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/hec.24802/|title=Panay hero|website=[[Library of Congress]]}}</ref>

The Navy Cross was also presented to two British naval officers, Vice Admiral Lewis Eyre Crabbe and Lieut. Commander Harry Barlow, for their assistance in recovering survivors from the USS ''Panay''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/17057|title=Lewis Crabbe - Recipient -|website=valor.militarytimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/17054|title=Harry Barlow - Recipient |website=Military Times}}</ref>

==Responsibility for the attack==
Modern historians believe that the attack may have been intentional. 

Newsreel footage captured by the cameramen aboard the ''Panay'' showed Japanese aircraft passing so close to the ship that the pilots' faces were visible, which provided "potent evidence" that the Japanese claim of mistaken identity was not true, according to American historian [[Richard B. Frank]]. Per Roosevelt's request, [[Universal Pictures]] edited the sequence out of its newsreels to quell a political crisis.<ref name=":0" /> 

According to John Prados, Navy cryptographers had intercepted and decrypted traffic relating to the attacking planes, which clearly indicated that they were under orders during the attack and that it had not been a mistake of any kind. This information was not released at the time because it would have revealed that the United States had broken Japanese naval codes.<ref name="prados" /> 
[[File:Kingoro Hashimoto.jpg|thumb|Japanese colonel Kingoro Hashimoto in 1937, who deliberately ordered artillery attacks on the sinking Panay and British ships near Nanjing]]
Writer Nick Sparks believes that the chaos in Nanjing created an opportunity for renegade factions within the Japanese army who wanted to force the U.S. into an active conflict so that the Japanese could once and for all drive the U.S. out of China.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17110447|title=A Japanese Attack Before Pearl Harbor|website=NPR.org}}</ref>

The ''Panay'' was not the only Western vessel attacked on the Yangtze during the Battle of Nanking. The Japanese pilots responsible for the ''Panay'' attack would bomb the British ship ''SS'' ''Wantung'' on the same afternoon.<ref name=":1" /> Colonel Kingoro Hashimoto, who had founded a right-wing secret society in Japan and targeted the ''Panay'' as it sank, had also deliberately shelled the British vessels ''SS Scarab'' and ''HMS Cricket'' beforehand''.'' When informed that the ships had clearly flown the [[Union Jack|British flag]], Hashimoto responded "I do not recognize any flag but my own." Hashimoto had also issued orders to his troops to fire on all ships on the Yangtze "[[War crime|regardless of nationality]]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Harmsen |first=Peter |title=Nanjing 1937, Battle for a Doomed City |date=2015 |publisher=Casemate |pages=232}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:ANCExplorer Fon Huffman grave.jpg|thumb|Grave at Arlington National Cemetery of Fon Huffman]]
Fon Huffman, the last survivor of the incident, died in 2008.<ref name=iht>{{cite news|title=Obituaries in the news: Fon B. Huffman|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/07/america/Deaths.php|agency=[[Associated Press]]|publisher=[[International Herald Tribune]]|date=7 September 2008|access-date= 13 September 2008}}</ref> The last surviving Japanese pilot who participated in the attack was [[Kaname Harada]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=King |first=Dan |url=http://www.historicalconsulting.com/last_zero_fighter.html |title=The Last Zero Fighter: Firsthand Accounts from Japanese WWII Naval Pilots and Airmen |access-date=20 July 2017 |archive-date=12 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812211946/http://www.historicalconsulting.com/last_zero_fighter.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2025|reason=A reference to the book itself, rather than the description, maybe better for verifiability.}} who died in 2016.

The episode has been cited by [[Philip K. Dick]] in his novel ''[[The Man in the High Castle]]'', depicted in a collectible picture-card of the 1940s, in the series ''Horrors of War'' with the title "The sinking of the Panay."{{fact|date=March 2025}}

The incident features in the 2005 novel ''A Winter in China'' by the British writer [[Douglas Galbraith]]. It is also described in the historical fiction novel ''[[Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8|Pearl Harbor]]'' by [[Newt Gingrich]] and William R. Forstchen.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

The 2009 film ''[[John Rabe (film)|John Rabe]]'' portrays a fictionalized version of the incident.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

==See also==
* [[Japan–United States relations]]
* [[Amethyst incident]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Ashbaugh, William. "Relations with Japan." in ''A Companion to Franklin D. Roosevelt'' (2011) pp: 612+.
* LaFeber, Walter. ''The clash: a history of U.S.-Japan relations'' (1997) pp 196–198. [https://www.amazon.com/Clash-U-S-Japanese-Relations-Throughout-History/dp/0393318370/  excerpt]
* Konstam, Angus. ''Yangtze River Gunboats 1900–49'' (Bloomsbury, 2012).
* Peifer, Douglas Carl. (2016). ''Choosing war: presidential decisions in the Maine, Lusitania, and Panay incidents.'' New York, NY: Oxford University Press.  ISBN 978-0190939601  [http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=47461 online review]
* Peifer, Douglas Carl (2018) . [https://www.ijnhonline.org/presidential-crisis-decision-making-following-the-sinking-of-the-panay/ "Presidential Crisis Decision Making Following the Sinking of the Panay."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303212039/https://www.ijnhonline.org/presidential-crisis-decision-making-following-the-sinking-of-the-panay/ |date=3 March 2023 }} International Journal of Naval History 14, no. 2/November .
* Perry, Hamilton Darby. ''The Panay Incident: Prelude to Pearl Harbor'' (1969).
* Roberts Jr, Frank N. "Climax of Isolationism, Countdown to World War." ''Naval History'' 26.6 (2012): 32+
* Schnurr, Jeremy. "'The Best Possible Time for War?' The USS Panay and American Far Eastern Policy During the Roosevelt Presidency" (MA thesis. University of Ottawa, 2012) [https://ruor.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/20486/4/Schnurr_Jeremy_2012_thesis.pdf online]; bibliography pp 165–72
* Swanson, Harlan J. "The 'Panay' Incident: Prelude To Pearl Harbor." ''U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings'' (Dec 1967) 93#12 pp 26–37.
* Tolley, Kemp. ''Yangtze Patrol: The US Navy in China'' (Naval Institute Press, 2013).

==External links==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-0AgWVeRCo Castle Film – ''Bombing of USS Panay'' – USS ''Panay'' Sinking ]
*[https://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=John+M.+Allison+Nanking&srchst=p The New York Times - Search]
*[http://www.jacar.go.jp/nichibei/reference/index11.html (パネー号事件と日米関係)"The ''Panay'' incident and Japan-US relations"], in ''US-Japan War Talks'', the [[Japan Center for Asian Historical Records]] [http://www.jacar.go.jp/english/index.html Japan Center for Asian Historical Records] {{in lang|ja}}

{{Attacks on US Navy ships}}
{{1937 shipwrecks}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Nanjing in World War II]]
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