The Americans continued making the peninsula a center of military and economic activity. In 1903, the Commercial Pacific Cable Company laid submarine communications cable for telegraph through a station at Sumay, linking the United States to Asia, and each to Guam, for the first time. In the 1920 census, Sumay was Guam's second most populous village with 1,209 residents. On March 17, 1921, a U.S. Marine Squadron of 10 pilots and 90 enlisted men arrived and set up an base at Sumay for their amphibious aircraft, including a hangar. In 1926, the squadron built administration offices, but the next year was deployed to China to protect American lives in the Nanking incident of 1927. In September 23, 1928, Patrol Squadron 3-M arrived on Guam as replacements. However, the U.S. decided that Naval Air Station Sumay was too expensive and shut it down on February 23, 1931.