USS Wake ( PR - 3 ) USS " Wake " ( PR - 3 ) was a United States Navy river gunboat operating on the Yangtze River , that was seized by Japan on 8 December 1941 . Originally commissioned as the gunboat Guam " ( PG - 43 ) , she was redesignated river patrol vessel PR - 3 in 1928 , and renamed Wake " 23 January 1941 . Service history . She was launched on 28 May 1927 as " Guam " by the Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works in Shanghai , China , and commissioned on 28 December 1927 . Her primary mission was to ensure the safety of American missionaries and other foreigners . Later , the ship also functioned as a " radio spy ship , " keeping track of Japanese movements . However , by 1939 , she was " escorted " by a Japanese warship wherever she went , as China fell more and more under Imperial Japanese control . In 23 January 1941 , she was renamed Wake , as " Guam " was to be the new name of a large cruiser being built in the U . S . On 25 November 1941 , Lt . Cdr . Harris was ordered to close the Navy installation at Hankow , and sail to Shanghai . On 28 November 1941 , Lt . Cdr . Harris and most of the crew was transferred to gunboats that had been ordered to sail to the Philippines . Columbus Darwin Smith — an old China hand who had been piloting river boats on the Yangtze River — was asked to accept a commission in the U . S . Navy and was appointed captain of " Wake " with the rank of Lt . Commander . When Pearl Harbor was attacked on 7 December 1941 , Shanghai immediately fell to Japan . Smith was in command on 8 December 1941 ( 7 December in Hawaii ) , with a crew of 14 , when the Japanese captured the ship , which was tied up at a pier in Shanghai . Smith had received a telephone call the night before from a Japanese officer he knew . The officer asked where Smith would be the next morning as he wanted to deliver some turkeys for Smith and his crew . The Japanese did the same to other American officers and officials so as to determine where they would be on 8 December . However , Commander Smith received word from his quartermaster about the Pearl Harbor attack and rushed to the ship only to find it under guard by the Japanese . Surrounded by an overwhelming Japanese force , the crew attempted unsuccessfully to scuttle the craft . " Wake " surrendered , the only U . S . ship to do so in World War II . Commander Smith and his crew were confined to a prison camp near Shanghai , where the U . S . Marines and sailors captured on Wake Island were also later imprisoned . The Japanese gave " Wake " to their puppet Wang Jingwei regime in Nanjing , where she was renamed . 15 December 1941 refit began at Kiaguan Engineering and Dock Works . Refit finished 26 January 1942 . 11 October 1942 runs aground off Nanking . 12 October returns to Kianguan E . & D . W . for repairs . Repairs finished 5 November 1942 . On 3 June 1944 attacked by B - 24s without damage . 18 June attacked by 3 B - 25s without damage . Attacked by 6 P - 51 Mustangs on 2 December , by 2 P - 51s on 7 December & 3 P - 51s on the 18th . Sails for Kianguan on 24 December . Enters Kianguan E . & D . W . for repairs and an AA upgrade on 1 January 1945 . Repairs finished 3 February 1945 . In 1945 , at the end of the war , she was recaptured by the U . S . The U . S . gave the ship to the Chinese nationalists , who renamed her Tai Yuan ( 太原 ) . Finally , the ship was captured by Communist Chinese forces in 1949 . As of 2010 , no other ship of the U . S . Navy has been named " Wake " , though a " Casablanca " - class escort carrier launched in 1943 was named .