1932-1937 USS Guam P-3 US Navy Yangtze River Patrol Gunboat Menu Lot China
This is a lot of five vintage original menus dating between 1932 and 1937 from the United States Navy Yangtze River Patrol Gunboat USS Guam P-3 while on service in China which include a few photos, rosters of the ship's crew and officers, an intinerary and brief histories of the ship.
The USS Guam was built at the Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works in Shanghai, China, launched on 28 May 1927 and commissioned as USS Guam PG-43 on 28 December 1927. In 1928 the USS Guam was redesignated River Patrol Vessel P-3 and served primarily to safeguard American missionaries and American interests in China in the 1930s. This ship had a lively history during this time including operations against and skirmishing with Chinese bandits and Communists. In the late 1930s the USS Guam served as a radio spy ship tracking Japanese forces in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The USS Guam was renamed the USS Wake on 23 January 1941 and captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy in China the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The ship’s commander, Lt. Cmdr. Columbus Darwin Smith, was the first American to be captured by the Japanese during WWII. Darwin Smith would later escape Japanese captivity and embark on a harrowing 700 mile journey by foot where he was able to cross over into territory held by friendly Chinese Nationalist forces and eventually return to the United States.
At the end of the war the United States would recapture the ship from the Japanese and later she was given to Chinese Nationalist forces fighting Mao Zedong and the Communists. Communist forces captured the USS Guam from the Nationalists in 1949 and she remained in the service of the People’s Republic of China Navy until about 1960.
This lot includes the following menus, all printed in China:
#1.) Farewell Banquet To men of the U.S.S. Guam Leaving on U.S.S. Henderson – Browning’s Café Shanghai Tuesday, September 13, 1932. This menu is a four page pamphlet measuring about 6.5” x 4” and includes a list of 16 enlisted men and their ranks that were “Homeward Bound”. Also included is a list of the ship’s officers printed on the back cover page.
#2.) USS Guam 4th of July, 1934 Hankow, Hupeh, China. This menu is 10 pages including the covers measuring about 8.25” x 5.75” with a photo of the ship in China tipped onto the front cover. This menu includes a brief history of the ship under the title Events Of Interest Of The U.S.S. Guam The “trouble shooter” of the Yangtze Patrol noting various engagements with Chinese bandits and communists. Also included in this menu is the Program of Events for the day, a list of the ship’s officers and crew and a coarse poem titled The Great Yangtze.
#3.) Thanksgiving Day, 29 November 1934 Yangtze River Patrol Ichang, China. This menu is four pages measuring about 7.25” x 4.75” and includes rosters of both officers and crew.
#4.) 4th of July 1935 Ichang, China. This menu is an oblong format of eight pages including the covers measuring about 9” x 5.75” and includes a photo of the ship tipped on to the front cover and a photo of the crew tipped onto the inside front cover. Also included is a program of events for the day and a brief history of the ship under the title Events Of Interest In The Career Of The U.S.S. Guam - The “trouble shooter” of the Yangtze Patrol noting various engagements with Chinese bandits and communists. Also included is a list of the ship’s officers and crew printed on the inside back cover.
#5.) New Year 1937 USS Guam Nanking. This menu is an oblong booklet format of four pages measuring about 6.5” x 5.5” with a photo of the ship printed on the front cover along with a map of the Yangtze River showing different cities visited by the USS Guam in 1936. The inside front cover prints a list of the officers and crew of the ship and the back cover prints the ship’s itinerary for 1936 noting port, arrival and departure dates and how many days in port for each listing.
All menus are vintage originals printed in China in the 1930s. All menus are fully complete with moderate handling wear, some toning from age and a bit of light scattered or occasional foxing or spotting in places. A couple of the menus had ribbons originally of which only fragments remain. Overall condition is very good.
