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Gunboat Photo Archive

Wake (PR 3)
ex-Guam (PR 3)



Call sign (1931):
Negative - Easy - Cast - Sail

Wake (PG 43)


Wake served the Navies of the United States, Imperial Japan, the Republic of China, and the People's Republic of China.
Shallow-draft River Gunboat:

  • Laid down by the Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works, Shanghai, China
  • Launched 28 May 1927
  • Commissioned USS Guam (PG-43), 28 December 1927
  • Reclassified as a River Gunboat, PR-3, 15 June 1928
  • Renamed Wake in January 1941
  • Surrendered to Japanese forces at Shanghai 8 December 1941
  • Struck from the Naval Register 25 March 1942
  • Renamed HIJNS Tatara by Japan
  • Recovered by U.S. forces in August 1945
  • Transferred to Nationalist China in 1946 and renamed RCS Tai Yuan
  • Captured by Communist Chinese forces in 1949
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 350 t.
  • Length 159' 5"
  • Beam 27' 1"
  • Draft 5' 3"(mean)
  • Speed 14.5 kts.
  • Complement 59
  • Armament: Two 3" gun mounts and eight .30 cal. Lewis machine guns
  • Propulsion: Two 950hp triple expansion steam engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Guam (PR 3)
    Guam 553k 28 May 1927
    Shanghai, China
    Under construction
    Library of Congress photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Guam 287k 1 July 1927
    Shanghai, China
    Under construction inboard of Tutuila (PG 44)
    Library of Congress photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy
    Guam 287k
    Guam 318k 14 December 1927
    Woosung, China
    Running standardization trial 8.00 knots
    Library of Congress photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy
    Guam 487k
    Guam 420k 15 December 1927
    Woosung, China
    Running standardization trial 12.00 knots
    Library of Congress photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy
    Guam 502k Original photo: Underway on the Yangtze River in 1932
    Photo from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
    Second replacement photo: 15 December 1927
    Woosung, China
    Running standardization trial 15.62 knots
    Library of Congress photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Original photo: HyperWar U.S. Navy in WWII
    Replacement photo: Robert Hurst
    Second replacement photo: Michael Mohl
    Guam 503k 15 December 1927
    Woosung, China
    Running standardization trial 15.62 knots
    Library of Congress photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Guam 289k c. 1930s
    At anchor on the Lower Yangtze
    Artwork by Tony Bryan from Yangtze River Gunboats 1900-49, by Angus Konstam. Pub. in Great Britain and the USA by Osprey Publishing    		 Robert Hurst
    Luzon & Guam 219k Luzon (PR 7) on 4 July 1932, at Ichang, China, with Guam alongside "dressed" for the 4th
    Courtesy of Mr. W. G. Kelly, 1970
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 81249    		 Mike Green
    Guam 60k U.S.Naval Institute photo Dudley Knox Library
    Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey CA
    Yangtze River Patrol Memorial Exhibit
    Guam 540k Library of Congress photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy Michael Mohl
    Guam 172k U.S. Navy photo Jim Kurrasch, Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center
    Guam/Tutuila 160k Guam and Tutuila at Lung Men Hao, China
    Photo from the collection of Chief Walter E. Pegg    		 Jay Milewski
    Guam/Tutuila
    120904318    		 96k U.S. Navy river gunboat USS Guam (PR 3), moored astern of USS Panay (PR-5) at Ichang, China, on 18 May 1937, prior to their inspection by the Commander in Chief Asiatic Fleet. The British river gunboat HMS Gannet (1927) is in the background, seen above Panay. Courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Yarnell, 1975.

    U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 81615.

    		 Robert Hurst
    Guam/Tutuila
    120904319    		 238k

    Capture of USS Wake (PR 3), 8 December 1941. Japanese special naval landing force personnel celebrate after they captured USS Wake on the first day of World War II in the Pacific. The Shanghai "Bund" is in the background. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation.

    U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 96568.

    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Wake (PR 3)
    Guam 45k Photo from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Robert Hurst
    Guam 191k 4 July 1931
    Changsha, China
    Photo from the collection of Chief Walter E. Pegg    		 Jay Milewski
    IJNS Tatara
    Guam 86k c. January 1942
    Shanghai, China    		 Wikipedia
    RCS Tai Yuan
    Guam 45k Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Robert King Awtrey, USN - USNA Class of 191130 August 1926 - 1928
    02LCDR Samuel Gunnell Moore, USN1928
    03LCDR Edward Sparrow, USN1932
    04LCDR Jerome Addison Lee, USN1934
    05LCDR George Elmer Maynard, USN - Retired as Rear Admiral1936
    06LCDR Woodson Vaughn Michaux, USN1938
    07LCDR Orville Francis Gregor, USN1939
    08LCDR Andrew Earl Harris, USNApril 1940 - 25 November 1941
    09LCDR Columbus Darwin Smith, USNR25 November 1941 - 8 December 1941
    10LT Yasumura Taiichi, IJN15 December 1941
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Guam (PG-43)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    USS Guam (PG 43)/USS Wake (PR 3)
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Index Back to the Patrol Gunboat (PG) Photo Index Back to the River Gunboat (PR) Photo Index
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