Panay Incident; Part of the Second Sino-Japanese War Pacific War: USS Panay sinking after Japanese air attack. Live Statistics. The Panay Incident April 12, 2015 PE Matt History , Sino-Japanese War 0 USS Panay was a river gunboat built in Shanghai in 1927-8 for the US Navy’s Yangtze River patrol. December 12, 1937. It was a sudden and deliberate attack that might have led to war, save for swift diplomacy, and luck. Japan and the United States were not at war at the time. On December 12, 1937, the American navy gunboat Panay was bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft. The USS Panay incident was a Japanese attack on the American gunboat Panay while it was anchored in the Yangtze River outside Nanking (now spelled Nanjing), China on 12 December 1937. For some Americans, World War II started early. USS Panay incident. Recent. Four years before Pearl Harbor, the United States and Japan were involved in an incident that could have led to war between the two nations. The USS Panay incident was a Japanese attack on the American gunboat Panay while it was anchored in the Yangtze River outside Nanking (now spelled Nanjing), China on 12 December 1937. Chuck Lyons. The Japanese claimed that they did not see the American flags painted on the deck of the gunboat, apologized, and paid an indemnity. Just better. Quite the same Wikipedia.

Languages. English Articles. Improved in 24 Hours. Added in 24 Hours. In December 1937, four years before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor propelled the United States into the war, Japanese planes attacked an American gunboat, the USS Panay, on China’s Yangtze River, strafing and bombing the boat, sinking it, killing three American crew members, and the wounding 45 others. Japan and the United States were not at war at the time. Nanking, China. As early as 1854, U.S. Navy vessels sailed the Yangtze, a right secured by treaty due to America’s status as a trading nation and military power. The gunboat USS Panay.