Britain was the first of many foreign powers to take advantage
of Chinese weakness to secure rights to trade and settle in treaty ports, concessions and enclaves
along the coast of China and major rivers. The process began with the
Treaty of Nanking at the end of the First Opium War (1841-2) and the
ceding of Hong Kong to Britain and accelerated with the fall of the
Quing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912.
Russia, France, Germany and Japan acquired treaty ports from the weak
government. By 1920 there were 60,000 foreigners living in the
International Settlement at Shanghai, China's largest city on the delta
of the Yangzte. All these powers had warships on
the China coast and along the four thousand mile long Yangzte River to protect their ports and citizens.
The situation
became even more volatile when Sun Yat Sen's Kuomintang (KMT) Nationalist Party lost control in Peking and regional war lords seized control of much of the country. In
1926 the KMT's National Revolutionary Army (NRA) headed by General
Chiang Kai-shek began the Northern Expedition to reunify China. The
Admiralty reinforced the China Station with the Third Destroyer
Flotilla from the Mediterranean Fleet but cancelled plans to send the 4th DF to the China Station in December.
There was large scale rioting against foreign interests when
the NRA captured the treaty port of Nanking (Nanjing) on the Yangzte in
March 1927. In response to the "Nanking Incident" the British
Navy sent the heavy cruiser HMS Vindictive, the light cruisers HMS Carlisle and Emerald and the flotilla of V & W destroyers to bombard the city and rescue foreign residents. The Times
reported that by the end of May there were 102 warships from seven nations on the Yangzte
with half at Shanghai. They included HMS Keppel, the Flotilla Leader, and HMS Wishart at Shanghai and further up river HMS Verity (Chinkiang), HMS Wild Swan (Kiukiang) and HMS Veteran, Wanderer and Witherington at Hankow (Wuhan).
A new destroyer flotilla, the 8th DF, was established on the China Station in 1927 and
remained there until May 1939. In 1931 the eight S Class destroyers in the Flotilla were replaced by V & Ws: Verity, Veteran, Whitehall, Whitshed, Wild Swan, Wishart, Witch and Wren. When they
were replaced by modern D Class destroyers in 1934 the ships'
Companies changed ships at Singapore and remained on the China Station
while the V & Ws took over the duties of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla in the the Mediterranean. Lord Louis Mounbatten, the CO of HMS Daring, took command of HMS Wishartand described the role of HMS Veteran and the V & Ws in the 1st DF in the Mediterranean on the website of HMS Wishart.
The political situation in China changed rapidly during these years. The KMT split with the Communists and in
1931 the Japanese invaded Manchuria from Korea and by 1934 Mao was
leading the Communist Party on the Long March North to escape the
Nationalist KMT. Throughout this period the Royal Navy's cruisers,
destroyers and riverboats were there to defend British interests. The
Nanking Massacre took place when the city was taken by Japanese forces
in 1937-8. Hong Kong fell in December 1941 followed by the capture of
Singapore and the crushing defeat of allied naval forces at the Battle
of the Java Sea on 27 February 1942.
****************
HMS Veteran
sailed in Chinese waters in 1926 as part of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla
which was ‘on loan’ to the China Fleet. In 1927 she departed Shanghai
for Nanking on the Yangzte carrying the Commander in Chief China Fleet,
Admiral Sir Edwyn S. Alexander-Sinclair KCB MVO (1865 - 1945), and arrived at Nanking on the 13 January where she transferred the C in C to the River Gunboat HMS Gnat. Veteran remained on the China Station until July 1928 when she returned to Britain with the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla via Port Said and Malta arriving at Devonport on the 1st September. She rejoined the 3rd DF in the Mediterranean until going into Maintenance Reserve at Chatham in April 1930.
HMS Veteran D72 lying alongside a sister ship at Hong Kong with the hulk of HMS Tamar (1863) behind
HMS Tamar was scuttled in 1941 to stop the Japanese getting it and after the war the naval base shore took on its name The photograph believed to have been taken by William Arthur Booth (1901-77) an engineer in the RAF Courtesy of his grand daughter Nikki Bennett
Leading Seaman Herbert Charles Jepp JX 125487 (right) joined HMS Veteran when she recommissioned
with a Chatham crew for service with the 8th Destroyer Flotilla
on the China Station on 16 December 1931 arriving there in March
1932. His
grandson provided the photograph of the ship's company taken on the
China Station in 1934. LS Jepp is the tall figure standing slightly
apart top right.Get in touch if you recognise a member of your family in this photograph.
Veteran
usually served with the river gun boats and some of the submarines. One
of the favourite trips during the Hong Kong summer was a visit to the
British base at Wei Hai Wei, where the crews had an easy time, with
picnics ashore and shooting competitions on the rifle range. There was
also a canteen ashore, where it was possible to buy a pint of beer and
a roast chicken (called a Wei Hai Wei Runner) for one Hong Kong dollar
(about 7p). She ‘Paid off’ at Hong Kong on the 6th April 1934 and
immediately recommissioned as was the custom on the China Station thus
ensuring that there were experienced “China Hands” aboard for each
commission. Half the crew stayed with the ship while a new crew took
over from the other half, who went on leave.
On the 17th of December 1934, Lt Cdr Selby left the ship and Cdr G.N. Oliver assumed command. Veteran, paid off and recommissioned, with the crew of HMS Diana, replacing the crew of Veteran; Veteran’s old crew took over HMS Diana and remained on the China Station until the outbreak of war. Veteran, with her new crew, became part of the First Destroyer Flotilla based at Malta as described on the website of HMS Wishart.
The Ship's Company of HMS Veteran while based on the China Station in 1934 The CO, Lt Commander I.R.H. Black,
with lieutenants E.A.C. Ball, J.G.D. Hill, G.R. Carver, A.B. Cluett
(Comm Engineer) and T.A. Porter (Guns)
Double Click to view full size and to identify faces Courtesy of Greg Jepp, the grandson of LS Herbert Charles Jepp JX125487
The "Crossing the Line" certificate issued by Neptunus Rex to LS Jepp is dated 2 February 1934 Veteran must have crossed the line on many occasions while visiting the ports of call recorded on the certificate Courtesy of Greg Jepp
Leading Seaman H.C. Jepp is seated beneath the barrell of A Gun Courtesy of Greg Jepp
HMS Daring
arrived at Singapore at 0930 on the 11 December 1934 to find "8th Destroyer
Flotilla, with whom ships were to be exchanged, already there".
On the 15 - 16 December the two Flotillas carried out a joint exercise
"Attack on Singapore". Wishart came alongside Daring
at 1200 on the 16th and the following day the officers and crews were
transferred. The Flotilla Leader of the newly formed 1st DS was was HMS
Keppel with Captain Baillie-Grohman D.S.O., O.B.E as CO and Captain (D). The First Division consisted of Wild Swan, Whitehall, Veteran and Verity. HMS Wishart was in the Second Division with Witch, Whitshed and Wren. Their COs signed their names alongside their ship on the "visiting card" above.
Visit the website of HMS WIshart to find out more about HMS Veteran and the 1st DF in the Mediterranean in 1935-6.
If
you want to find out more about the wartime service of a member of your
family who served on HMS Veteran
you should first obtain a copy of their service record
If
you have stories or photographs of HMS Veteran you would like to
contribute to the web site please contact Bill Forster
Return
to the Home Page for HMS Veteran Return to the Home Page of the V & W Destroyer Association Return to the Index Page for the 69
V & W Class Destroyers
Leading Seaman Herbert Charles Jepp JX 125487 (right) joined HMS Veteran when she recommissioned
with a Chatham crew for service with the 8th Destroyer Flotilla
on the China Station on 16 December 1931 arriving there in March
1932. His
grandson provided the photograph of the ship's company taken on the
China Station in 1934. LS Jepp is the tall figure standing slightly
apart top right. Get in touch if you recognise a member of your family in this photograph.
