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| USS Tulsa (PG-22) |
| Technical Data: The "patrol gunboat" USS Tulsa was commissioned on December 3, 1923, |
| one of the last United States Navy ships outfitted with auxiliary sails. Built at the Charleston, |
| South Carolina, Navy yard, the Tulsa stretched 241 feet from stem to stern, with a beam of |
| forty-one feet, three inches and a displacement of 1,270 tons. Powered by oil, she had a top |
| speed of twelve knots and carried a crew of nine officers and 157 enlisted men. |
| Brief History: Under Commander Mac Gillivray Milne, the Tulsa initially served in Central |
| America and the Caribbean Islands, including Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Cuba. In 1929, the |
| Tulsa departed for China where it served in various capacities, patrolling rivers and coastal |
| areas. During World War II, the Tulsa earned two battle stars, engaging Japanese forces |
| near the Philippine Islands and Australia. The Tulsa was decommissioned on March 6, 1946, |
| and struck from the roles of the Navy on April 17 of that year, designated for disposal. |
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The USS Tulsa in China: On April 1, 1929, the USS Tulsa was designated flagship of the |
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South China Patrol, operating out of Hong Kong and Canton for cruises up the Pearl River and |
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along the south China coast. In June, she was relieved as flagship and moved up the coast for |
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a two-week deployment with the Yangtze Patrol. While on that mission, she steamed upriver as |
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far as Hankow. In July 1929, she was assigned duty as station ship at Tientsin in north China. |
| There, she served as a mobile source of information for Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet. |
| Charley's Story: Charley Plummer boarded the Tulsa in late December, 1928, at Mare Island, |
| California, where the ship was, in his words, "fitting out for duty in Asia." Less than one month |
| later, the Tulsa steamed across the Pacific toward Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, first layover en route |
| to the strange, enchanting land of China. For the next five years and ten months, Charley took |
| his watch at the helm, steering the Tulsa up and down the Chinese coastline during a period of |
| open hostilities between communist forces and the Nationalist Party of Chiang Kai-shek. Living |
| conditions were grueling, but the heat and sweat and grime were quickly forgotten, with each |
| new exotic port-of-call. China fascinated Charley, and he absorbed as much of the culture as |
| he could, memorizing words and phrases, eating questionable foods in back alley restaurants, |
| spending nights with beautiful almond-eyed women on sampans in the harbor. After nearly six |
| years in Asia, the captain thought Charley was becoming too "Chinese," so, in November, 1934, |
| he was transferred back to the United States for a well-deserved stint of shore duty. |
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(Click here for photos from Charley's time on the Tulsa) |
