USS Palos ( PG - 16 ) The second USS " Palos " ( PG - 16 ) , a shallow draft gunboat built for service on the Yangtze River , China , was pre - constructed at Mare Island Navy Yard in 1912 ; dismantled and shipped to Shanghai , China : laid down by the Shanghai Dock and Engineering Co . , on 28 April 1913 ; launched on 23 April 1914 ; sponsored by Mrs . Lee S . Border , wife of Naval Constructor Border who supervised the gunboat ' s construction ; and commissioned on 24 June 1914 , Lt . Frank Rorschach in command . Service history . 1914 – 1917 . One of two light draft warships designed for service on the Upper Yangtze River over inland , " Palos " departed Shanghai on 29 June to begin patrolling . Steaming upriver through steep gorges and swift rapids , the gunboat became the first U . S . warship to reach Chungking , from the sea , on 28 August . Remaining at that port until 23 September , she then joined her sister - ship in protecting American lives and property on the upper reaches of the Yangtze . Except for a brief period from 6 April to 14 August 1917 when she was interned at Shanghai before an international agreement allowed Allied warships to continue patrols , " Palos " spent her entire career as part of the Yangtze Patrol . 1917 – 1929 . During the course of her service , the gunboat protected American interests in China down the entire length of the Yangtze , at times convoying U . S . and foreign vessels on the river , evacuating American citizens during periods of disturbance and in general giving credible presence to U . S . consulates and residences in various Chinese cities . In the period of great unrest in central China in the 1920s , " Palos " was especially busy patrolling the upper Yangtze against bands of warlord soldiers and outlaws . The warship engaged in continuous patrol operations between Ichang and Chungking throughout 1923 , supplying armed guards to merchant ships , and protecting Americans at Chungking while that city was under siege by a warlord army . As the Nationalist Revolution progressed in the Middle Yangtze Valley , " Palos " stood down river and operated about Hankow and Kiukiang through 1927 . She was reclassified PR - 1 on 15 June 1928 , and continued her river patrol operations until being placed in reserve in June 1929 when six new river gunboats joined the Yangtze Patrol . 1929 – 1937 . Basing out of Shanghai , " Palos " cruised the lower Yangtze and its tributaries , making less frequent patrols to the upper river except when unrest required additional naval presence . The gunboat was still active , however , despite her reserve status , In the summer of 1930 , the warship proceeded to Changsha , a treaty port on Tungting Lake below Hankow and provided protection for American , British , and German nationals from guerilla activity , receiving official thanks from the German government for her work . She was placed in full commission on 5 September 1931 in response to the need for additional gunboats to supplement the Yangtze Patrol in relief work for the disastrous summer floods , the worst in the Yangtzes history , which inundated of land and left millions homeless . " Palos " continued Yangtze Patrol operations until October 1934 and then departed Shanghai for Chungking to take up duty there as permanent station ship . After a long and difficult voyage through the rapids , the gunboat docked at the Chungking Navy Club on 12 November and remained there until decommissioned and struck from the Navy List on 21 May 1937 . She was subsequently sold to the Ming Sung Industrial Co . on 3 June and scrapped .