©2010-2011 Bob Hackett and Sander Kingsepp
13 April 1939:
Laid down at Fujinaga Zosensho as a 350-ton river gunboat.
30 October 1939:
Launched and named SUMIDA.
31 May 1940:
Completed. Registered in the Yokosuka Naval District.
Attached to the First China Expeditionary Fleet’s 11th Squadron. CO is unknown.
13 June 1940:
Departs Kure.
14 June 1940:
Arrives at Sasebo.
16 June 1940:
Departs Sasebo.
17 June 1940:
Arrives at Shanghai.
1 July 1940:
Attached to the Yangtze River Squadron’s Lower River
Division.
15 October 1940:
LtCdr Monta Kazuharu (50) is appointed CO.
1 November 1940:
Attached to the Yangtze River Squadron’s Middle River
Division. Conducts a patrol towards Hangkow.
10 June 1941:
Arrives at Shanghai.
11 June 1941:
Enters dock.
18 June 1941:
Undocked.
30 June 1941:
Departs Shanghai. Conducts a patrol upriver towards
Hangkow.
11 August 1941:
Attached to the China Area Fleet’s First China Expeditionary Fleet.
20 August 1941:
LtCdr Yamasaki Kakichi (50) is appointed CO.
1 April 1942:
Attached to the Yangtze River Squadron’s Upper River Division.
22 June 1942: Operation SE (SE-Go Sakusen):
SUMIDA, and river gunboats KATADA and SETA and four small unidentified gunboats are attached to the Tung-Ting Lake Force, one of several forces participating in Operation SE. That same day, SUMIDA is damaged in an air raid by five fighters at Cheng-ling-chi at 29-26N, 113-08E. Cdr Yamazaki and 11 cremen are KIA. Cdr Yamazaki is prompted Captain, posthumously. [1]
24 June 1942:
Arrives at Hangkow. Undergoes temporary repairs.
27 June 1942:
LtCdr (later Cdr) Hashimoto Masao (56) is appointed CO.
3 July 1942:
Departs Hangkow.
7 July 1942:
Arrives at Shanghai.
10 July 1942:
Enters dock.
25 July 1942:
Undocked.
19 August 1942:
Departs Shanghai. Attached to the Yangtze River
Squadron’s Lower River Division.
20 August 1943:
Attached to the Yangtze Area Special Base Force. Arrives at Kiangnan (Konan) Engineering and Dock Works, Shanghai. Armored glass is installed.
26 August 1943:
An unknown officer is appointed CO.
1 September 1943:
Attached to the Yangtze River Squadron’s Middle River Division.
4 September 1943:
Departs Shanghai. Later, patrols the Hankow area.
22 June 1944:
Hankow. Twenty B-24 “Liberators” of the USAAF Fourteenth Air Force bomb the dock area. SUMIDA is damaged in the attack and eight crewmen are KIA.
10 October 1944:
Attached to the Yangtze Area Special Base Force’s First Gunboat Division.
25 November 1944:
Hankow. Twenty-one B-24s of the USAAF Fourteenth Air Force bomb the warehouse area and dock areas. SUMIDA is slightly damaged in the attack.
10 January 1945:
The First Gunboat Division is deactivated. Attached to the Yangtze Area Special Base Force’s 22nd Gunboat Division.
10 May 1945:
The 22nd Gunboat Division is deactivated. Attached to the Yangtze Area Special Base Force’s 21st Gunboat Division.
September 1945:
After the termination of the war, SUMIDA is ceded to the Republic of China (Nationalist Party). Renamed NAN CHANG.
3 May 1947:
Removed from the Navy List.
30 November 1949:
Captured by the Chinese Communists. Renamed CHIANG HSI by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
Author's Notes:
[1] Cheng-ling-chi ("castle mausoleum beach") is situated on the right bank of the Yochow Reach, the eastern outlet of the Tung-Ting Lake. Cheng-ling was the treaty port of Yochow (Yüeh-Yang), first opened to foreigners on 13 November 1899.
Thanks go to Matthew Jones and to Erich Muehlthaler of Germany for info on the attack at Cheng-ling-chi ("castle mausoleum beach"). Thanks also go to Jean-francois Masson of Canada.
-Bob Hackett and Sander Kingsepp
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