At noon on September 1, 1923, there occurred one of the most terrible cataclysms of history, the earthquake that destroyed Yokohama and a great part of Tokyo, killing thousands upon thousands of people and leaving more thousands injured, destitute and homeless. The earthquake was followed by fire that raged for days afterwards and completed the destruction inaugurated by the original misfortune.
Little is known to the service at large or to the American people of the relief work done by the United States Navy at the time of the Japanese earthquake, and an article setting forth the principal activities of our officers and men at this time will doubtless be of interest. The Asiatic fleet, under the able command of Admiral E. A. Anderson, U.S.N., went to render what assistance it could to the stricken people and to foreign nationals. This fleet upheld the best traditions of the service, and through its work added another page to the story of the glorious deeds of our Navy.
The Asiatic fleet passes the summer round about Chefoo, Shantung, North China, and late in August, 1923, the following vessels went to Dairen, Manchuria, as a part of the summer schedule for liberty and recreation: the Huron, flagship of Admiral Anderson; the Stewart, flag, Destroyer Squadron, Asiatic, Captain G. S. Lincoln, U.S.N.; Destroyer Division 38, comprising the Tracy, flag, Barker, Borie, Smith-Thompson, Whipple and John D. Edwards; the Hart and Rizal of the Mine Detachment, and the Black Hawk. Admiral Anderson did not accompany the Huron, but remained at Chefoo on the General Alava.
While lunching with the director of the South Manchurian Railway on Sunday, September 2, 1923, Captain C. D. Stearns, U.S.N., chief of staff of Admiral Anderson, received the first news of the earthquake at Yokohama and Tokyo.1 He immediately got into radio communication with Admiral Anderson at Chefoo and at the same time gave orders for all ships to make preparations to leave for Japan at short notice. The Stewart was ordered to stand by to leave immediately for Yokohama. Within twenty minutes of the receipt of the order for getting under way, the Stewart reported ready to proceed. Fortunately, all officers and a great majority of the crew were aboard. While awaiting final orders, the general recall was hoisted and word was sent ashore to recall as many men as possible.
1As regards information upon which the fleet movements were based, the following statement from the official report of the commander-in-chief to the chief of Naval Operations, dated October 13, 1923, and which is slightly at variance with the text of the article,. is quoted. “The first news of the Japanese earthquake received by the Asiatic fleet was at 1100, 2 September through an unofficial telegram to a Japanese newspaper at Darien, a detachment of the fleet being there for liberty purposes.”
Since the fleet and the governor at Darien were both unable to obtain definite information, the assumption was that what had happened in the Yokohama region was of sufficient magnitude to disrupt radio and cable communications and was therefore serious. In this case no news was apparently bad news. The following quotation from the official report indicates the orders given to the Stewart: “At 4:10 p. m., 2 September, no further news having been received, the U.S.S. Stewart was despatched to Yokohama with orders to inform the Japanese Government upon arrival of the commander-in-chief’s offer of the services and the resources of the U. S. Asiatic fleet and to express his deep sympathy. The Stewart also had orders to investigate and report on conditions at Yokohama and Tokyo, also to report on conditions of the Embassy, Consulate, Naval Hospital and their staffs, and for American citizens in general.” While enroute, additional orders were sent to the Stewart to make a running survey of the approaches to Yokohama with sonic depth finder and to report upon the conditions of lights, navigational aides, etc. The reports she submitted in obedience to the latter orders were of great benefit to shipping then enroute to Yokohama. On that same day at about 8:00 P. M., Division 38 left for Yokohama, with the squadron commander aboard the Tracy. The Borie, of that division, was sent to Nagasaki, and later, the John D. Edwards to Kobe. This was done for the purpose of forming a radio chain between the Stewart and the commander-in-chief, and was an essential feature, in the disposition of forces, and subsequent operations. The Huron and Black Hawk left for Chefoo to load with medical supplies, provisions, etc., preparatory to sailing for Japan,
The Huron, after arriving at Chefoo, bought all provisions obtainable; among other supplies she took aboard 10,000 pounds of fresh beef, which was killed and dressed after her arrival at Chefoo. The Black Hawk was despatched to Tsingtau to take on all provisions obtainable there. A few of the items taken aboard were rice, flour, beans, fresh meat, potatoes, canned goods and mats for temporary shelter. The 45th Division at Chinwangtao and the Bittern at Tientsin could not leave until their liberty parties were recalled from Peking. These ships took on all available tents, blankets and medical supplies from the Army at Tientsin and from the Marines at Peking. The Pecos, enroute to Manila, was ordered to make best speed, to take on oil, and to fill up to capacity with rice, salt, flour, beans, ether, bandages, cotton, surgical instruments, blankets, mosquito nets, picks, shovels, coffins, lumber, hardware, clothing and other emergency and medical stores, and to start for Yokohama. The Abarenda, up the Yangtze at Hankow, was ordered also to buy all emergency and medical supplies obtainable and to load day and night until she could start for Yokohama. Orders were sent at the same time to other ports to purchase and load all available supplies and to start ships for Yokohama. One went to the naval purchasing officer at Shanghai to fill the first eastbound Shipping Board vessel. He put 4,000 tons of supplies on board the S.S. President Grant and had them enroute to Yokohama in a short time.
The Stewart arrived off Oshima Island, about seventy-five miles from Yokohama, at daybreak on Wednesday morning and headed up for Yokohama. It was from here on that the signs of the earthquake were noticeable. Whole villages could be seen demolished and burned; trees were uprooted; slides had occurred on the hills; wreckage was encountered in the bay; there was a cloud of smoke over the active volcano on Oshima, and all signs pointed to a terrible disaster.
Whenever under way for any length of time the Stewart took deep sea soundings with the sonic depth finder. From Oshima to Yokohama harbor the soundings taken in many places did not agree with those shown on the chart, thus showing the effects of the earthquake.
From the entrance to the Gulf of Tokyo to the anchorage at Yokohama Harbor the scene was indescribable. The bay was covered with wreckage and dead bodies floated everywhere, some apparently having suffered death from drowning, some from fire, others from both. As the Stewart approached Yokohama, the most noticeable thing was the heavy clouds of black smoke which hung over the city. Fires were counted in fifteen different sections. Northward toward Tokyo similar clouds of smoke could be seen
Yokohama Harbor was filled with craft of all descriptions. Most noticeable of all were two liners, the British Empress of Australia, and the French André Le Bon, the captains and crews of which performed such noble deeds, and without whom the foreigners in Yokohama would have been in a sorry plight indeed in the few days following the disaster.
It could be seen, upon nearer approach, that the entire breakwater had sunk to the water’s level, and in some places below it. The breakwater entrance could be located only by the breakwater lights, which, curious to say, were still burning.
The scene, looking shoreward, was terrible—the harbor filled with wreckage, dead bodies, partly burned boats and sampans; fires in the city; everything demolished and on the ground, with here and there a wall standing; three or four buildings standing bravely amid the ruins, among them the Yokohama Specie Bank and the new telephone building; a few houses still standing on the bluff; the naked flagpole where the U. S. Consulate had been; over all the black smoke and the stench of burned flesh.
The Stewart anchored inside the breakwater at about 8:00 a. m. Within a very short time many refugees, Americans and Europeans alike, had made their way aboard, not wanting anything, but just happy in the fact that help had arrived in the guise of an American man-of-war, and happy to be standing under the Stars and Stripes.
Some of the refugees told tales of hairbreadth escapes; all of them had lost everything they had in the disaster; some had lost husbands, wives, children; all had some sorrow and some personal loss. Remarkable tales were told: how one man and his sons had saved the S.S. André Le Bon from destruction by fire at the pier, where she was tied up with some of her machinery on shore undergoing repairs; how another man had escaped from an office where all others were killed; how people fell with buildings and came out alive; what heroic deeds had been done by some people; how bravely the mass of the Japanese people had borne up.
Among others to come aboard were the assistant naval and military attachés, who were able to furnish valuable information to the commanding officer concerning the ambassador, the consuls and the Americans at Yokohama and Tokyo. No sooner had the Stewart anchored, therefore, than the commanding officer undertook to locate the ambassador and consuls; calls were made on the Japanese Navy, represented at Yokohama, and on the harbor authorities, notifying them of the expected arrival of the remainder of the Asiatic fleet.
The motor sailing launch of the Stewart was loaded with provisions and medical supplies and sent to Tokyo under charge of an officer to furnish immediate assistance to the American ambassador and staff. Arrangements were made to begin taking care of Americans and foreigners and to render all aid possible to the Japanese Government. Attempts were made repeatedly to get into radio communication with the commander-in-chief, but this could not be accomplished, owing to the heavy volume of radio traffic. As a matter of fact, this traffic was so heavy and so continuous that it was found necessary after the arrival of the destroyer squadron to send a destroyer to sea every night to maintain communication with the commander-in-chief, prior to his arrival on the Huron, and afterwards to maintain communication with the outside world.
One destroyer of the 38th Division was left at Nagasaki and one at Kobe to afford radio communication. In connection with the Peking and Shanghai U. S. Naval Radio Stations this service was established and was invaluable to all concerned, as the badly crippled Japanese radio stations were heavily overcrowded. This service handled all communications from the American State, War and Navy Departments, in addition to the forwarding of hundreds of incoming and outgoing commercial, personal and press messages.
It is worthy of note that the Stewart was the first foreign man-of-war to arrive at Yokohama after the earthquake. H.M.S. Despatch arrived off Yokohama at about 2:00 P.M. the same day and at 4:00 P.M. the 38th Destroyer Division arrived. By 5:00 P.M. the Whipple was underway for Tokyo with supplies for Americans and foreigners there. This destroyer was the first foreign man-of-war to enter Tokyo harbor in over seventy years, so far as is known.
A daily service was maintained between Tokyo and Yokohama by American destroyers during the stay of the Asiatic fleet, and a station ship was kept at Tokyo. This was of the utmost value to all nationalities, as it provided transportation between the two cities and assisted materially in the functioning of the diplomatic and business interests.
The destroyer squadron received reports that Americans and foreigners in the coast towns and summer resorts had not been looked after. At 1:00 A.M., upon the night of arrival of the destroyers, the Barker got under way and went to the assistance of the Americans at Odawara and returned late that day with fifty-two refugees. The Whipple brought back from Tokyo eighty-five people, mostly women and children. The Smith-Thompson started around the peninsula at daybreak and later brought back 150 foreigners, ten of them stretcher cases from Kamakura, Zushi and Hirama. A few days later the John D. Edwards took supplies and picked up the last marooned foreigners desiring to leave, as far south at Shimidzu.
The Huron arrived at Yokohama at about noon on Friday, September 5, and one of the admiral’s staff was immediately sent ashore to find the Japanese authorities. He located Captain Y. Torisaki, commander of the Japanese naval forces ashore, and informed him that the fleet had supplies aboard and asked what disposition he wished made of them. They went together to the governor of Kamakura Prefecture, who was quick to grasp the fact that the supplies were being placed entirely at their disposal, and who realized in what spirit they were being offered. The next morning these supplies were transferred ashore and turned over to the Japanese authorities.
Upon arrival, Admiral Anderson called a conference of all interested in foreign relief work and plans were made for most expediently carrying on this work. Tons of food and clothing were turned over to the Empress of Australia and the André Le Bon, on board which ships were hundreds of refugees. Admiral Anderson went to Tokyo to confer with Ambassador Woods, who had a temporary embassy at the Imperial Hotel. Here further plans were made for carrying on relief work.
In the meantime, the 45th Division arrived from Chinwangtao, the Black Hawk from Tsingtau, and the Abarenda from Hankow. Captain C. S. Freeman, U.S.N., commander of Destroyer Division 45, was sent to Kobe to take charge of all relief work there. Hundreds of foreign refugees from around the stricken area had been pouring into Kobe since the earthquake. The General Alava had arrived at Kobe with medical supplies and was carrying on relief work. The Black Hawk was sent to Tokyo, where she unloaded what supplies she had taken aboard. In addition to those supplies turned over to the Japanese at Tokyo, sufficient supplies were furnished the embassy to care for 700 foreigners and 1,700 Japanese for three weeks. Supplies were also turned over to Ambassador Claudel of France to care for his embassy and for a Catholic Convent. A tent camp was erected and food supplied at the embassy grounds in Tokyo, and another was prepared for the consulate general and for American business men at Yokohama. Transportation was furnished from Kobe to those American business men who had returned or were sent to Yokohama to look after their interests. Headquarters were provided on the Huron for American civilian relief committees. Ambassador Woods made the Huron home for his wife, mother and himself until the Huron left Yokohama. In other words, during her stay at Yokohama the Huron was the center of American activities in Japan.
Working parties from all ships were sent ashore with American and foreign business men to recover valuables and records. Over forty-seven safes and vaults were broken open and the contents recovered. In most of them the contents were intact; one contained $3,000,000; another had been rifled of $400,000 worth of diamonds and jewelry by safe blowers; in others the intense heat had turned all papers into ashes. In one the only paper currency undamaged was a big stack of Russian roubles.
Other parties dug in the piles of broken masonry and stores to locate and identify the remains of victims. Friends or relatives, British, French and American, indicated the spots where they had fallen. Those who could be found were cremated and buried with Christian services, or else turned over to friends or relatives. Japanese remains which were recovered were turned over to the authorities.
The S.S. Selma City, a Shipping Board vessel, had been holed in the quake and later was beached. A working party from the Huron was sent to give assistance. The hole in the hull was covered over, a collision mat was put over the covering, a fifty-ton cement patch was poured inside, and she was floated and saved.
The S.S. President Wilson arrived in Yokohama with her boilers salted up and short of fresh water. American destroyers were sent alongside of her to make and supply fresh water, and working parties cut out, plugged and replaced a number of boiler tubes on this ship. Other Shipping Board ships came into Yokohama short of water and were supplied by American destroyers. Various destroyers went alongside the incoming liners, took the Yokohama and Tokyo bag mail from them, and went alongside the battleship Ise and delivered it to the Japanese.
At the request of the Japanese authorities, two destroyers were furnished to transport Japanese refugees from Yokohama and Tokyo to Shimidzu. Under like conditions, two destroyers were anchored off Honmoku every night to light up with their search lights that undestroyed suburb of Yokohama. U. S. Navy motor sailing launches were used to unload supplies from Japanese men-of-war. The sailors worked until midnight and at times later, coaling and unloading supply ships.
Washington put the vessels of the Shipping Board under Admiral Anderson’s command. The U. S. Steel Corporation offered its freighters, but they were not needed. Officers and men of the Merchant Marine responded in true sailor fashion to the need of the stricken. When the captain of the S.S. Suruga heard that the ambassador’s mother was on the Huron he sent his brass bed to her.
For several days after the arrival of the fleet all information furnished the various United States press services was supplied by naval officers designated by Admiral Anderson, by direction of the Navy Department, for this duty. The Navy alone turned over between $650,000 and $700,000 worth of supplies to the Japanese authorities. The promptness with which they were delivered enhanced their value fourfold. Food, clothing and medical supplies were the chief articles. More than 700,000 feet of lumber, with nails, saws and hammers, was another item.
When Admiral Anderson and Ambassador Woods called on Premier Yamamoto, the latter spoke as follows:
Out of Japan’s disaster has come a realization of the friendship of America and other nations in our hour of need. The prompt arrival of the American Asiatic fleet and the way it took hold has been an inspiration to our people.
Premier Yamamoto wrote to Ambassador Woods:
At this moment it is my agreeable duty to express to your excellency and also to request you to kindly convey to the American Government and to Admiral Anderson the gratified appreciation of the Japanese Government and people for the timely and unexampled generous action taken by the American Navy. I may add that I, in the capacity of the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of the Navy, am sending to Admiral Anderson Mr. T. Matsudaira and Rear Admiral K. Yamauashi as my personal representatives to offer our sense of heartfelt thanks for the services rendered by the fleet.
The following is an extract from a letter of Rear Admiral Kobayashi to Admiral Anderson:
Taking this opportunity, Rear Admiral S. Kobayashi, commanding the Japanese Third Squadron, wishes to express his Navy’s sincere and heartfelt thanks to the U. S. Navy for the prompt and invaluable assistance his command have given to the Japanese nation in this terrible disaster.
One vernacular newspaper, referring to the American and British men-of-war in Yokohama harbor, wrote in this manner:
They have dispatched a part of the squadrons under their command to the headquarters where our fleet is located and will receive orders from our government. They issued orders to meet the emergency on their own responsibility. An unparalled situation has developed. The fleets are cooperating as if they were the fleet of a single country. This situation has moved our navy in a pronounced manner.
S. Sheba, publisher of the Japanese Times at Tokyo, wrote to Admiral Anderson:
Your prompt and assiduous work for the sufferers of the great earthquake and fire has so appealed to the heart of every living Japanese that no one can help but be convinced of the great friendship of your nation toward us.
At the same time the prompt action and efficient manner in which the relief work has been carried out by the officers and men of your command saved lives and was of the greatest value otherwise.
On September 21, believing that the emergency had passed and that the fleet’s work was done, Admiral Anderson sailed from Yokohama for Shanghai with the greater part of the U. S. Asiatic fleet.