HULSEBUS-EDGAR

PRELUDE  TO  PEARL  HARBOR

In 1937 duty aboard U.S. Navy ships in the Yangtze Patrol was considered one of the most comfortable assignments in the Navy.  Treaty rights to patrol Chinese rivers had been won by several nations, including the United States, in 1858.  Duties of the Yangtze Patrol were simple – to watch over the safety and protect the rights and property of American businessmen and missionaries in China.  Involvement in a war seemed highly unlikely but it was sneaking up fast as Japan invaded Manchuria and then southern China where they sent 500,000 invading troops.  By late 1937 Japanese forces had overrun much of China and by December air raids were coming almost daily in Nanking which caused liberty ashore to be curtailed for the U.S. sailors.  The river gunboat USS PANAY, with Seaman First Class (Coxswain) Edgar Hulsebus aboard, was one of the ships assigned to the Yangtze Patrol.

On Saturday, December 11, 1937, a group of Standard Oil river freighters were anchored close together in the Yangtze River just above Nanking when Japanese artillery shells began exploding in the city and in the river near the ships.  The following morning intense shelling began again with a number of shells again landing in the water near the anchored ships.  So, PANAY instructed the Standard ships to accompany it away from the scene for safety.  The group traveled roughly twenty-five miles above Nanking to a spot where the river is about a mile wide where they anchored with the expectation that they were away from the Japanese action.  Shortly after lunch the Navy’s traditional Sunday dinner had started when a bridge lookout passed the word that a flight of planes was approaching from high overhead, coming from upriver.  At 1:38 PM the planes were seen to commence power diving toward the PANAY and bombs were dropped.  PANAY was hit by several bombs and immediately the crew commenced firing toward the planes which were clearly seen as Japanese.  Coxswain Hulsebus was a member of a machine gun crew that engaged the Japanese planes but while manning his gun position a bomb exploded nearby injuring him with shrapnel and severing his spine causing him to loose movement below his waist.  It is reported that although severely injured he stayed at his duty station until the damage to PANAY was so severe she rolled onto her side and sank.  As the ship was abandoned, Coxswain Hulsebus was evacuated by boat to the nearby shore.  During the following several days spent evading Japanese troops, the survivors were helped by friendly Chinese until the group successfully reached safety.  Coxswain Hulsebus was taken to a Shanghai hospital where he died on December 19, 1937.  His body was returned to the United States and has been buried at Forest Grove Cemetery in Canton, Missouri. 

NAVY  CROSS  CITATION

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Coxswain Edgar W. G. Hulsebus, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty during the bombing and loss of the USS PANAY (PR-5), when that vessel was attacked by Japanese airplanes during patrol in the Yangtze River, China, on 12 December 1937.  Coxswain Hulsebus was a member of the crew which courageously operated the machine gun battery against the attacking planes, even though these guns could not bear forward from which direction most of the attacks were made.  He remained at his post of duty until he was fatally wounded and carried from the ship.  The conduct of Coxswain Hulsebus throughout this action reflects great credit upon himself and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.  He gallantly gave his life for his country.

While it did not immediately lead to war, the PANAY sinking certainly hardened attitudes in the United States toward Japan and “Remember the PANAY” became a well-known slogan as World War II developed.  Coxswain Hulsebus was the second PANAY crewmember to die and some historians have written that Coxswain Hulsebus is thus the second sailor to die in World War II action against the Japanese.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)