Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst 1957

On 19 April 1949, the Royal Navy frigate HMS Amethyst sails up the Yangtze River on a mission to deliver supplies to the British Embassy in Nanjing, the Chinese capital. Suddenly, without warning, shore batteries manned by the People’s Liberation Army open fire, and after a brutal volley the Amethyst is left grounded in the river mud and badly damaged. A first try to pull her free with HMS Consort fails as that ship is struck and forced to withdraw, and a second attempt by HMS London in concert with HMS Black Swan is also halted by heavy fire. The scene shifts from a routine resupply to a tense, fragile struggle for survival under hostile fire.

Fifty-four crew members are dead, dying, or seriously wounded, and the ship’s captain dies from his injuries. An attempt to evacuate the wounded is only partially successful, and the officers learn that two seamen have been captured by the PLA and are being held at a nearby military hospital. In the midst of this chaos, Lieutenant-Commander John Kerans [Richard Todd], the assistant naval attaché in nearby Nanjing, is ordered to go to the beleaguered vessel and take command. The weight of leadership falls on Kerans as he weighs risky choices against the brutal reality of being trapped in hostile territory.

Kerans decides to gamble with a dangerous plan: to steam down the Yangtze at night, without a pilot or proper charts, trusting seamanship and instinct more than any map. But before he can set the ship in motion, he encounters a hard-line stand from Colonel Peng [Akim Tamiroff], the PLA commissar who makes a chilling demand: either the British government issues a full apology and assumes responsibility for the incident, or the Amethyst will remain his prisoner. Peng also refuses to allow the two wounded men to leave unless they provide statements declaring the British to have been at fault—a demand that Kerans and his crew refuse.

Undeterred, Kerans uses a mix of diplomacy, restraint, and quiet cunning. He dismisses Peng’s ultimatums, yet manages to maneuver the situation so that the seamen are released. As talks progress, Amethyst is patched up and its engines restored. The ship is discreetly altered to disguise her shape, and she slips her anchor in the cover of darkness, following a local merchant ship that serves as a guide through the treacherous shoals. The PLA batteries awaken to the Amethyst’s escape, and the merchant vessel bears the brunt of the artillery as Amethyst powers forward at top speed, determined to reach safety.

The voyage presents a gauntlet of danger: sunken ships block the river, and with no reliable charts or instruments, Kerans relies on intuition and a bit of luck to thread the needle and slip past Woosung’s guns and searchlights. Once the Amethyst is spotted, a long, brutal barrage unfolds as she fights her way toward the river’s mouth and the promise of open sea. The dawn breaks over a tense escape, and the crew finally greets HMS Concord with relief and gratitude after weathering the ordeal.

Never – repeat never – has another ship been more welcome

The Amethyst’s voyage ends with a triumphant message sent to headquarters: Have rejoined the fleet south of Woosung … No major damage… No casualties…God save the King! The story closes with scrolling text, reproducing the very words spoken by King George VI, praising the crew for their courage, skill, and determination, and cementing the episode as a striking example of perseverance under pressure.