Editing United States Asiatic Fleet (section)

==Second Sino-Japanese War==

The [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] began on 7 July 1937 with the [[Marco Polo Bridge Incident]]. The [[United States]] was not a participant in the conflict, but it complicated the Asiatic Fleet's mission as the fleet continued to maintain a presence and take action to protect American lives and property.

On 14 August 1937, ''Augusta'' with Yarnell aboard arrived at [[Shanghai]] from [[Qingdao]] just after the [[Battle of Shanghai]] began. That day, aircraft of the [[Republic of China Air Force]] mistakenly attacked the [[Royal Navy]] [[heavy cruiser]] {{HMS|Cumberland|57|6}} in the harbor at Shanghai, but the bombs fell wide of ''Cumberland'' and did not damage her.<ref name=combinedfleetbeginning>[http://www.combinedfleet.com/Marco_t.htm Hackett, Bob, Sander Kingsepp, and Anthony Tully, "RISING STORM - THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY AND CHINA: 1931-1941: The Beginning of The Second Sino-Japanese War - "The Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the Fall of Peiping and Shanghai - 1937," combinedfleet.com, 1 November 2013 Accessed 14 December 2021]</ref> Two bombs also fell close alongside ''Augusta'', but there were no fatalities.<ref name=combinedfleetbeginning/>

Japanese [[Special Naval Landing Force]] and [[Imperial Japanese Army]] forces landed on the coast of China at [[Shantou]] on 21 June 1939 and seized the city 12 hours later.<ref name=combinedfleetswatow>[http://www.combinedfleet.com/Canton_t.htm Hackett, Bob, Sander Kingsepp, and Anthony Tully, "RISING STORM - THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY AND CHINA: 1931-1941: Amphibious Assault on Swatow (Shantou) - 1939," combinedfleet.com, 28 February 2013 Accessed 14 December 2021]</ref> At the time, 40 American citizens and 80 British nationals were ashore at Shantou and the Asiatic Fleet destroyer {{USS|Pillsbury|DD-227}} and the [[Royal Navy]] destroyer {{HMS|Thanet|H29|6}} were in the harbor.<ref name=combinedfleetswatow/> The Japanese peremptorily ordered the two ships to leave, and when the demand reached Yarnell aboard ''Augusta'' — anchored {{convert|1,500|mi}} to the north at [[Qinhuangdao]] — Yarnell requested instructions from the [[United States Government]], which in turn granted U.S. military personnel in China the authority to make decisions on their own initiative, a response to the [[Government of Japan|Japanese government's]] habit of blaming any confrontation between Japanese and international forces in China on local Japanese commanders.<ref name=combinedfleetswatow/> With this authority in hand, Yarnell ordered ''Pillsbury'' to remain at Shantou, sent the destroyer {{USS|Pope|DD-225}} there as a reinforcement, and informed his Japanese counterpart, the commander-in-chief of the [[China Area Fleet]], [[Vice Admiral]] [[Koshirō Oikawa]], that U.S. Navy ships would remain present anywhere where U.S. lives and property were in danger.<ref name=combinedfleetswatow/> ''Thanet'' also remained at Shantou, reinforced by the destroyer {{HMS|Scout|H51|6}}, and the Japanese did not take further action against any of the ships or against U.S. or British nationals at Shantou.<ref name=combinedfleetswatow/>