Forgotten Souls: A Social History of the Hong Kong Cemetery

Chapter 11: The Americans

The American Navy A surprising number of sailors from the U.S. Navy were buried in the Cemetery during these early years, many being members of the largest American fleet ever assembled up to that time. Of the four earliest sailors, who were all from the U.S. Navy steam ship Constellation, three died on the same day, 14 September 1842. The most senior was Lieutenant Lewin Handy [11A/5/10] who was twenty-nine years old. The other two were G.W. York [11A/10/2] of Bangor, Maine and E.J. Hume [11A/8/1]. It would be interesting to know whether these three deaths had some related cause. The fourth sailor, Robert Brand [11B/2/1], ‘beloved son of John Heal and Jane Brand’, died aged twenty but the date of his death in October 184? is too faded to be read. The squadron, which provided the headstones of the majority of American sailors buried in the Hong Kong Cemetery during these early years, was led by Commodore Matthew C. Perry. It was on a historic mission to open up Japanese Chapter 11 The Americans 11.1. A line of headstones to sailors from the U.S. squadron commanded by Commodore Matthew C. Perry. Lim_txt.indd 235 28/12/2010 4:15 PM Forgotten Souls 236 ports to American trade. Hong Kong was a convenient stopping off place to replenish supplies and repair vessels, which had just crossed the Pacific. A port of call in Japan for the shipping which had made the long journey across the Pacific Ocean was particularly sought after at a time when American commercial ties with China were expanding so rapidly. Japan had, up to this time, maintained a policy of strict isolation with only the Dutch allowed limited access to its ports. In 1825, Japan had decreed that any foreign ship approaching its shore would be fired on and destroyed, and foreigners attempting to land would be killed. Two previous attempts to open Japanese harbours to American ships in 1846 and 1849 had failed. This time, the preparations of Commodore Perry were immaculate and his timing fortuitous. The tide of opinion in Japan was turning against the policy of rigid isolation. So there was a sense of jubilation when the talks were going so well that an exchange of presents was arranged. The American presents included an entire miniature train set with engine, tender and passenger carriage plus track whose circuit measured fifty yards in diameter. Japanese officials perched on top of the engine or clung to the top of the carriage as they were whisked round at speeds of up to forty miles per hour. Other presents included a magnetic telegraph system of over one mile in length down which messages could be passed. The signing of the treaty with Japan in March 1854 was of enormous significance to both Japan and America. Twenty-three sailors have headstones dating from between 1853 and 1855. The highest ranking of these sailors was James Hendricks [10/8/1], captain of the USS Plymouth, who died in 1854. The Plymouth, a 22-gun sloop-of-war, was the flagship of the East Indies squadron. The ship was scuttled in the Norfolk Naval dockyard in 1861 to prevent it falling into Confederate hands. Among the sailors from the squadron who died at the hands of pirates, six were killed during what may have been the first example of Anglo-American co-operation since the War of American Independence. 11.2. Monument in memory of Captain James Hendricks of the USS Plymouth, d. 29.7.1854 . Lim_txt.indd 236 28/12/2010 4:15 PM The Americans 237 One of the largest monuments in the Cemetery once stood in Leighton Road and was moved to its present site in the Cemetery to relieve traffic congestion. It is dedicated jointly to the dead of the steamer sloop, HMS Rattler, and the steam frigate USS Powhatan [21A/1/33]. Dating from August 1853, it commemorates four British sailors from Rattler and five Americans from the Powhatan ‘who fell in a combined boat attack on a fleet of piratical junks off Kuhlan’ about 150 miles south-east of Hong Kong. 1 The description of the fight in the Gazette praised the pirates for their courage although they were fighting for the wrong cause. According to the inscription, on another headstone, one sailor, Seaman W.M.T...