U.S.S. BEAVER IN [TSINGTAU] CHINA. [Together With 10 Early Post Cards of Tsingta

Shanghai & Tsingtao 1926. Two b.w. photos, very good, black corners mounted to an album board page, clean, no fading, together with 10 early period post cards of Tsingtau or Qingtao, China. R A R E MOMENTOS OF A U.S. NAVAL OFFICER IN TSINGTAO: This item consists of a few fascinating and historic items from an unnamed U.S. Naval officer serving aboard the U.S.S, Beaver. Two historic photos documenting the visit of three high level Chinese military officers to the Beaver, and a small but early group of photo postcards of a visit to Tsingtao. * This item consists of two very nice photographs of the U.S.S. Beaver & its Naval officers and three Chinese military guests, both dated 1926, and were photo album extracts. Together with: Eleven early period photo postcards, the first of which is a very early ca. 1897-1897 period double panoramic view of the main street in Tsingtao/Tsingtau [Qingdao] . THE TWO B.W. PHOTOGRAPHS: The first photo shows with caption in the photo: "Two Chinese Officers visiting the U.S.S. Beaver Tsingtao China." This shows what appears as a very high Chinese Naval officer, perhaps an Admiral with his sword, and another similarly dressed Chinese Naval officer, with a third Chinese army General with many chest medals and his sword. The Chinese group are flanked by the U.S. Naval Captain and his executive officer [?] a Lt. Commander, aboard the U.S.S. Beaver. . The second photo shows an unnamed person in a Rickshaw, caption reads: "Shanghai China 1926." This is likely an American Naval officer on shore leave. There is a Chinese Rickshaw man posing for the camera. It is our opinion, that this collection was his, a memento of a visit to Tsingtao, China in 1926. There, he collected the below listed fascinating and quite early postcards as a souvenir. . Both photos are corner mounted on a black board, with gilt on 3 edges, photo size is 14.6 x 18.7 cm, board size is 20 x 14 cm., both are in very good, clean condition. There is no fading or other flaws. The versos show where other photos were removed, with a few corners remaining and one other caption dated 1925. * THE PHOTO-POSTCARDS ELEVEN IN ALL: a. No caption. This is a very RARE and exceptionally early primitive photograph of the main street in Tsingtau. There is no date, but from the look of the vacant land and minor number of foreign buildings, one can place this photo to have been taken about 1897-1899, most likely by the Germans who occupied that area from 1897., they immediately developed the area into their possession. This early double-panoramic photo view is quite RARE. Double post card panoramas of this early period are exceptionally RARE and obscure. . A rare two-postcard panoramic view of Tsingtau, verso hinge restored and reinforced using Japanese Washi hand-made mulberry paper & rice glue, now stable, b.w. photo, double-post standard card size: 27.6 x 9 cm. . b. No caption. An early view of the primitive Tsingtao beach area, ca. 1900, b.w. photo. . c. "TSINGTAU PANORAMA" published by Warehouse Max Grill, Tsingtau, China, printed in Germany, b.w. collotype photo. . d. "STRAND RATHING REACH' [sic should be spelled Bathing Beach sic], + Japanese title. Japan, collotype b.w. photo. . e. "A FAMOUS PLACES AT TSINGTAU" + Japanese title. Japan, collotype b.w. photo. . f. "THE JAPANESE CONSULATE GENERAL, TSINGTAU" + Japanese title. Japan, collotype b.w. photo. . g. "THE TSINGTAU TOBKUBEN KOSHO AT CHINE" + Japanese title. Japan, collotype b.w. photo. . h. "SHANTUNG ROAD TSINGTAU" + Japanese title. Japan, collotype color photo. . i."TSINGTAU KRONPRINZENSTR." published by Verlag von Max Grill, Kaufhaus, Tsingtau, China, [printed in Germany], b.w. collotype photo. . j. "TSINGTAU, FRIEDRICHSTRASSE" published by verlag Buchorucherel Adolf Haupt, b.w. collotype photo. With penned message in German, dated 23.9.08 [1908], post marked sans postal stamp. *** RARITY: Early photographs of U.S. Naval vessels, and Chinese military visitors are unusual. This example is quite nice and records the friendly relations held by both the Chinese and the Americans. *** THE U.S.S. BEAVER [AS-5] Per Wikipedia: "USS Beaver (AS-5) a steel-hulled, single-screw, freight and passenger steamer built in 1910 at Newport News, Virginia, by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co. for the Union Pacific Railroad Company. It was purchased from the San Francisco & Portland Steamship Co. on 1 July 1918; given the classification Id. No. 2302; converted to a submarine tender at the Mare Island Navy Yard; and commissioned there on 1 October 1918, Lieutenant Commander James A. Logan in command." . "The ship was transferred to the Pacific in the 1920's and assigned to the Pacific Station, her first service was to escort four of the newly constructed O-class submarines (O-boats) from San Pedro, California, to Coco Solo in the Canal Zone. There she was assigned as tender to Submarine Division 14 (SubDiv 14). At this time, because diesel submarines had limited range and were prone to engine failures, their operations were generally confined to the coastal waters off American submarine bases." . "In order to expand operations and provide bases for the growing numbers of submarines being built during World War I, the U.S. Navy commissioned Beaver and four other tenders and began looking for new base locations. In the Pacific, with Japan viewed as the major threat to American security, naval and military planners began building up the defenses of Hawaii and other possessions." . CHINA SEA SERVICE: "Beaver got underway from Mare Island, California on 14 April 1925, bound ultimately for the Asiatic Station. In company with five submarines of SubDiv 16, she first stopped at Honolulu for maneuvers with the Battle Fleet in Hawaiian waters. The following month, after turning over the flag of Pacific Submarines to Savannah, Beaver sailed for the Philippines with six S-boats of SubDiv 16, arriving at Manila on 12 July." . "Over the next seven years, Beaver tended SubDiv 16 in Philippine and Chinese waters. As service on the Asiatic Station was influenced by the monsoon seasons, the tender followed a standard pattern of annual operations. In the spring and summer, she shifted base from Manila Bay to Tsingtao, China, and supported submarine cruises up and down the Chinese coast. These included stops at Hong Kong, Swatow, Amoy, Shanghai, Weihai, and Tientsin. From the latter port, leave parties often visited Peking. In the fall and winter, as the monsoons moved southwest toward French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies, the tender and her charges shifted back to the Philippines for operations out of Cavite." [end of Wikipedia quotes] * QINGDAO also known in the past as: Tsingtau, historically known as Tsingtao, is a major city in eastern Shandong Province, Eastern China. . In 1891, the Qing government decided to make Qingdao a defense base against naval attack. In May 1897 German troops seized and occupied the fortification, China conceded the area to Germany the following year, and the Kiautschou Bay concession existed from 1898 to 1914. . POST WORLD WAR II: After World War II the KMT allowed Qingdao to serve as the headquarters of the Western Pacific Fleet of the U.S. Navy in 1945. On 2 June 1949, the CCP-led Red Army entered Qingdao and the city and province have been under PRC control since that time. * U.S. NAVY IN QINGDAO: During the 1920's through 1945, Qingdao was a common liberty port for American naval ships. *** REFERENCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Beaver_(AS-5) * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qingdao#Ancient_times ** .