Mounted with PAI0563-PAI0564.; Specially drawn for the 'Sketch'.
The Yangtze Incident was a stand-off between the Royal Navy frigate HMS ‘Amethyst’ (1943) and Chinese batteries of the Communist People’s Liberation Army between 20 April and 30 July 1949. The ‘Amethyst’ was ordered upriver to Nanking, then the Chinese capital, to act as a protective gunship for the British embassy. However, while en route the ship came under sustained Chinese fire and ran aground. Attempts to rescue the ship were met with fierce resistance. ‘Amethyst’ lost 22 men with 31 wounded; a further 25 men were killed and 43 injured on board the ships trying to release her. The crew faced extremely difficult conditions until the ship was able to slip anchor on 30 July and eventually return, badly damaged, to the British fleet at Hong Kong. The affair marked the end of the Royal Navy’s use of China’s inland waterways.
In 1957, the engagement was immortalised in film as ‘The Yangtse Incident: the story of HMS Amethyst’. It was directed by Michael Anderson and written by Eric Ambler. During filming, the rivers Orwell and Stour were substituted for the Yangtze. Old Royal Navy field guns at nearby HMS ‘Ganges’ stood in for the Chinese batteries. The scrapping of HMS ‘Amethyst’ was delayed, allowing the ship to feature in the film, but other vessels were used for action scenes. The part ofLieutenant Keith Stewart Hett was played by the actor James Kenney (1930-87).