Yangtze River Gunboats

[Brian James]

Italian Yangtze River Gunboat RM Sebastiano Caboto pictured at Shanghai c1934.She was built in 1913 and was sent to Tientsin,where the Italians maintained a minor Naval Force.During the 1920's she toured the Treaty Ports and sailed up the Yangtze as far as Hankow.She was far too deep draughted to be an effective River Gunboat and soon returned downriver.In 1926 she was sent to Shanghai to protect Italian interests there,apart from regular visits to Shanghai and Hankow,she was based in Tientsin until her return to Italy in 1935.