H.M.S. Concord: Our part in the Yangtse Incident
All photos are copyright of the HMS Concord Association.
My name is Derek Hodgson, I served in HMS Concord from 1948 to 1950 in what was then known as the British Pacific Fleet. Our ship qualified for the Naval General Service Medal for its involvement in the Malayan Emergency but added to this was our participation in the 'Yangtze Incident. You may recall that during April 1949 HMS Amethyst on its way up the river Yangtze to relieve HMS Consort from its Embassy protection duties in Nanking was attacked by Chinese communist forces. Amethyst was severely damaged and Consort proceeded down river to help but was itself attacked and had to withdraw. H.M. Ships London and Black Swan were then sent from Shanghai to assist but they were also attacked and were not able to reach the stricken Amethyst. Amethyst remained incarcerated by the Chinese for a 101 days. During the attack the captain of Amethyst Lt.Cdr. Skinner was killed and was subsequently replaced by a Lt.Cdr. Kerans sent down from the British Embassy in Nanking.
Kerans let it be known to the C'in C' Ashore Admiral Brind that he was prepared to try a dash down river to freedom. His only request was that HMS Concord would be sent up river to Woosung, the site of a heavy gun battery, to support him in case they opened fire. This was agreed and on 30th July 1949 he sent a signal, also routed to Concord that he intended making a break for it at high water which was at 2200hrs. Some time after, a signal was sent from the Admiralty ordering Amethyst not to proceed but it was too late, the ship had sailed. Two questions are raised here, why did the Admiralty try to stop Kerans? after all, the conditions were just right and further delay would mean Kerans supply of fuel oil would soon mean that an escape would be impossible. Secondly, why was the signal from Admiralty delayed? Kerans had already announced the time he was leaving. Could it be that certain people in authority did not relish the political repercussions arising from such an action but the Naval Chiefs in the Far East thought otherwise. They were their men being held captive.
Lt.Cdr. Kerans commenced his journey down river and was, to the dismay of the C in C Afloat Admiral Madden as Flag Officer on board HMS Belfast was almost immediately fired upon and hit. I should mention that in the Archives held at Churchill College, Cambridge, amongst copies of all the top secret signals sent during the night of the 30th/31st July 1949, there is a copy of a letter sent by a Commander Dickens, who was in the staff of Flag, to his father Admiral Dickens. This letter is very informative and it adds a more personal touch to the events that night. When hearing of the new attack on Amethyst the Commander states that ' There was silence within and complete gloom. The point was that the Woosung Fort might be expected to be fully alert by the time Amethyst got there and some efficient gunnery might just make the difference. If Amethyst got shot up, 'what then' it was likely to get a pretty sticky time from the communists so the A.O.C was sent for and he brought two Sunderland aircraft to immediate notice. The efficient gunnery referred to I believe must be the added fire power of Concord with its four 4.5 guns together with its sophisticated range and direction finding equipment. The fire power of Amethyst was severely restricted by the damage received weeks before. However, should the heavy guns at Woosung have opened up, both ships would have been in range for a considerable time and the lack of maneuverability in the narrow channel would have made life very difficult indeed. Consequently, ay 2253 a further three destroyers were sent from Sasebo and Concord was ordered to sail to within 20 miles from Woosung, to a place called Kuitoan and await further orders. A later signal mentioned that there was a possibility of further gun batteries located there so there was already some danger at this point.
At 0301 Concord was ordered to sail as far as Chump Wreck Buoy and should Amethyst pass Woosung at dawn and come under fire, Concord was to engage the batteries and make smoke if necessary. This signal also stated that Concord should not go above identified batteries but this order was late cancelled as in their words 'We had tried to tie him down too much - the usual error of back seat driving, this would give Rodney (The captain of Concord) much more freedom, providence could not go back now!'. We then quickly sailed the remaining miles to a point off Woosung.
More signals were sent until finally, the message from Amethyst stated 'Woosung in sight' followed soon after by 'Concord in sight'. There was great relief as the fact that Concord had passed Woosung and not been fired upon was a very hopeful sign and they began to believe that the escape would be successful. However, after passing Amethyst, Concord had yet to find a place to turn round, catch up with Amethyst so as to shield her when passing the Fort, this was done but both ships had to remain at action stations for a further hour and a half before they could safely go alongside each other to refuel etc. The Amethyst had only enough fuel left for a further half an hours steaming..
The whole operation was fraught with danger and both ships had been put under extreme pressure in its undertaking. The danger for Amethyst is obvious but Concord, in its entering what was a war zone, was also, after the experience of the four ships only weeks before, in a considerably vulnerable position.
Anyway, some hours later the two ships set sail for what we thought would be Hong Kong but no, as soon as we were out of territorial waters, Captain D in Cossack turned up, we were boarded and our ships log was removed and we were detailed to sail north and that they would escort Amethyst to Hong Kong. We felt as though we had been slapped in the face, after all we had been put at risk and the least we expected would be that we would act as escort but such is life in the junior ship of a flotilla!! Some weeks later we finally received some UK papers and we were somewhat surprised with the lack of reference to the part the Concord had played, they mentioned that we had only gone as far as the mouth of the river and there waited in case Amethyst was fired upon, not that we had actually sailed up to the area of the Fort. I should heave mentioned that shortly after sailing north we were instructed that when we eventually went back to Hong Kong, we were to remain silent about the part we played. We should have known then that there was to be a cover up.
In 1999, the truth was disclosed when under the 50 year rule, top secret papers could then be viewed. Our association chairman visited the archive centre at Kew and found our long missing log, he was very surprised to read of the important part Concord played during the escape of the Amethyst and so started the big enquiry and mystery as to why the ships company of Concord had not also received the General Service Medal issued to the four ships Amethyst, London, Black Swan and Consort. The ships log and signals, telegrams and letters discovered at Churchill College, Cambridge show why. There had indeed been a massive cover up.
A confidential message to the Foreign Office and others from the British Ambassador reads as follows: NO, REPEAT NO, PUBLICITY SHOULD BE GIVEN TO THE FACT THAT H.M.S CONCORD ENTERED CHINESE TERRITORIAL WATERS.
The official press release from the Admiralty stated CONCORD, WAITING AT THE MOUTH OF THE YANGTZE WAS PREPARED TO GO UP RIVER TO AID AMETHYST IF NEEDED.
The inadvertent press conference given by Admiral Brind was very different and he was heavily censured for doing so. It read as follows: THE NAVY WAS READY TO FIGHT FOR AMETHYST, CONCORD HAD TRAINED ITS BIG GUNS ON THE WOOSUNG FORTS GUARDING THE YANGTZE AND A WHOLE FLOTILLA OF DESTROYERS WAS CLOSING IN TO JOIN HER. Fortunately for the admiral only one paper printed this message and the official version was the one publicised.
Years later the present defence minister Bob Ainsorth in answer to a a question from a Scottish MP Jim Devine stated the following:; BY THE TIME HMS AMETHYST REACHED HMS CONCORD'S POSITION AT THE MOUTH OF THE RIVER YANGTZE ON THE MORNING OF THE 31 JULY 1949, SHE HAD SUCCEEDED IN MAKING HER ESCAPE.
I am afraid that this is still the situation today. It is alleged by Ainsworth that the HD Committee responsible for issuing the medal would have been fully aware of the action taken by Concord but this is most definitely not so. All signals were top secret and they would not have been able to read same. If Concord was mentioned they would only know of the official reports of her action.
Derek Hodgson HMS Concord 1948/50
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