The Commander-in-Chief, China, was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 1865, the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...

and the China Station were a single command known as the

East Indies and China Station The Commander-in-Chief, East Indies and China was a formation of the Royal Navy from 1831 to 1865. Its naval area of responsibility was the Indian Ocean and the coasts of China and its navigable rivers. The Commander-in-Chief was appointed in 18 ...

.William Loney RN
/ref> The China Station, established in 1865, had as its

area of responsibility Area of responsibility (AOR) is a pre-defined geographic region assigned to Combatant commanders of the Unified Command Plan (UCP), that are used to define an area with specific geographic boundaries where they have the authority to plan and c ...

the coasts of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and its navigable rivers, the western part of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, and the waters around the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

. The navy often co-operated with British commercial interests in this area. Navy Office Singapore

The formation had bases at

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

(

Singapore Naval Base His Majesty's Naval Base, Singapore, also Her Majesty's Naval Base, Singapore (HMNB Singapore), alternatively known as the Singapore Naval Base, Sembawang Naval Base and HMS Sembawang, was situated in Sembawang at the northern tip of Singapore ...

), HMS ''Tamar'' (1865–1941 and 1945–1997) in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and Wei Hai (at

Liugong Island Liugong Island ( zh, s=, t=, p=Liúgōng Dǎo, w=Liu-kung Tao) is a small island located on the northeastern edge of Shandong Peninsula, China, at the mouth of Weihai Bay. It is known as the "birthplace of China's first modern navy" and is also ...

) (1898–1940). The China Station complement usually consisted of several older light cruisers and destroyers, and the Chinese rivers were patrolled by a flotilla of suitable, shallow-draught

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

s, referred to as "China gunboats". Ships on this station usually had a distinctive livery of white hull and superstructure and dark funnels. Between the two world wars, the Insect class gunboats were mainly used in the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

and they were present during the Japanese invasion of China. In 1937, on the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

river, the Japanese attacked , firing on her from a shore battery. A U.S. gunboat, was also attacked, by Japanese aircraft, and sunk. ''Ladybird'' sailed the 20 miles to the scene of the sinking, took on board some of the ''Panay'' survivors and took them to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. ''Scarab'' and ''Cricket'' were off Nanking in 1937 as the Japanese started to bomb the city. In response to increased Japanese threats, the separate China Station was merged with the

in December 1941 to form the

Eastern Fleet Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

Commanders-in-Chief, China

References

{{Royal Navy fleets Commanders-in-chief of the Royal Navy Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War I Military units and formations of the Royal Navy in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1941

Commanders-in-Chief, China

See also

References