USS Tutuila ( PR - 4 ) USS " Tutuila " ( PG - 44 ) was a gunboat in the service of the United States Navy from 1928 until her transfer to China under lend - lease in 1942 . Construction . " Tutuila " was laid down on 17 October 1926 at the Kiangnan Dockyard and Engineering Works in Shanghai , China ; launched on 14 June 1927 , sponsored by Miss Beverly Pollard ; and commissioned on 2 March 1928 , with Lieutenant Commander Frederick Baltzly in command . Service history . Yangtze Patrol , 1928 - 1937 . Assigned to the Yangtze Patrol ( YangPat ) and redesignated river gunboat PR - 4 on 16 June 1928 , " Tutuila " cruised on shakedown up the Yangtze River from Shanghai to Yichang , where she joined her sister ship " Guam " in mid - July . Convoying river steamers through the upper reaches of the Yangtze on her first passage through the scenic gorges , she flew the flag of Rear Admiral Yates Stirling , Jr . , Commander , Yangtze Patrol ( ComYangPat ) . " Tutuila " s shallow draft enabled her to traverse the treacherous rapids of the gorges with ease , so that the fluctuating water levels did not hinder her year - round access to the upper stretch of the Yangtze . Her duty with YangPat offered excitement and variety : conducting roving armed patrols ; convoying merchantmen ; providing armed guards for American flag steamers ; and " showing the flag " to protect American lives and property in a land where civil strife and warfare had been a way of life for centuries . Dealing with sniping by bandit s or warlord troops in the 1920s and 1930s required both tact and — on occasion — a few well - placed rounds of or gunfire . One incident which called for a mixture of diplomacy and force came in 1929 , when Lt . Cdr . S . D . Truesdell was in command of the gunboat . He called on the Chinese warlord from whose territory some rifle shots had come . During a discussion of the incident , the general explained that his men were merely " country boys , who meant no harm " . Truesdell replied that he , too , had some " country boys " among his own crew . He noted that he had found them tinkering with the after 3 - inch gun , pointing it at the general ' s conspicuous white headquarters as they practiced their range - finding . Truesdell ' s rejoinder bore immediate fruit ; the sniper fire ceased . Sino - Japanese War , 1937 - 1941 . In 1937 , the complexion of life for the Yangtze gunboats changed . The undeclared Second Sino - Japanese War began in July and spread to the Yangtze valley in August – September . Japanese river operations effectively bottled up the river for neutral gunboats , and their proximity to war zones produced incidents such as the sinking of by Japanese aircraft on 12 December 1937 . On 3 August 1938 , " Tutuila " followed up the river to Chungking , as the YangPat flagship carried the American Ambassador — Nelson T . Johnson — to that river port . " Tutuila " remained at Chungking as station ship with little hope of relief . Further Japanese operations resulted in the capture of Hankow in October 1938 , making river travel below the former Chinese capital city subject to harassment and obstruction by the Japanese Navy . Such conditions resulted in the stranding of " Tutuila " at Chungking , where she remained through 1941 . After the fall of Hankow , the Chinese moved their capital up river to " Tutuila " s station , Chungking . Japanese forces thus stepped up the intensity of their attacks on that city , and air raids were common occurrences during the spring , summer , and fall . Only winter bad weather prevented the Japanese from year - round heavy raids . Moored at Lungmenhao Lagoon , " Tutuila " bore a charmed life until 31 July 1941 , when Japanese bomb s landed close aboard , holing the ship at her waterline and destroying the ship ' s motor skimmer with its outboard motor . By late 1941 , as the situation in the Far East worsened , four gunboats remained with YangPat and one in the South China Patrol . Admiral Hart ' s reduction of naval forces in Chinese waters cut this number to two . " Luzon " — with Rear Admiral William A . Glassford , ComYangPat , aboard — departed from Shanghai for Manila on 28 November 1941 in company with . " Wake " remained at Shanghai as station ship ; " Tutuila " , beyond hope of escape , remained marooned at Chungking . departed Hong Kong at approximately the same time and arrived in the Philippines shortly after hostilities commenced . World War II , 1941 - 1942 . Shortly after his arrival in Manila , RAdm . Glassford deactivated the Yangtze Patrol on 6 December 1941 . Within a few days , Japanese air attacks had devastated Pearl Harbor ; and hostilities were underway with a rapidity which caught " Wake " unawares at Shanghai , where she was captured . For " Tutuila " , however , this news only heightened the anxiety . Her residual complement of two officers and 22 enlisted men was ordered to depart from Chungking without their ship . She was then taken under the jurisdiction of the Naval Attaché attached to the American Embassy , Chungking . She was decommissioned on 18 January 1942 , the same day " Tutuila " s crew flew out of the city . Republic of China Navy , 1942 - 1949 . The attaché delivered the ship to an authorized representative of the Republic of China on 16 February 1942 . Then , under terms of lend - lease , the U . S . Navy leased the gunboat to China on 19 March , her name becoming Mei Yuan , which can be translated as " of American origin " . The name " Tutuila " was struck from the U . S . Naval Vessel Register on 26 March . The ship was permanently transferred to the Chinese government on 17 February 1948 . She served the Nationalist Navy until near the end of the Civil War which ravaged China after World War II . As Communist forces advanced upon Shanghai , the Nationalists abandoned and scuttled " Mei Yuan " to prevent her capture . Her subsequent fate is unknown .