British And American Ships Leave Shanghai: Nationals Left Behind

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 April 1949, Page 5

British And American Ships Leave Shanghai: Nationals Left Behind

(Rec. 11.30 a.m.) SHANGHAI, April 26. British and American warships today moved from their usua moorings in Whangpoo to Woosung at the mouth of the Yangtse, about 10 miles from Shanghai. The ships which moved were the British cruiser London, the destroyer Constance,, the American cruiser E Dorado, the flagship of Vice-Admiral Oscar Badger, commander of the United States West Pacific Fleet, and the transport Chilton, the floating base for 600 United States marines. . The British sloop Black Swan at present holds lone watch in Shanghai’s “battleship row,” directly opposite the teeming Bund.

The British Navy announcement indicated that the British vessels will remain at their present berths to render any possible assistance to Commonwealth nationals during the change-over period. Plans for the final evacuation of United States citizens in American warships were abandoned on the strength of reports of a new Communist offensive to cut Shanghai off from the sea. Sense Of Foreboding

The Americans, who had been packing their bags in preparation for leaving in the warships, watched from the windows along the waterfront with a sense of foreboding as the ships steamed past. Many of the Americans chartered small private boats and set off in pursuit of the fleet.

Two hundred Americans had registered for emergency accommodation aboard the naval vessels. The United States liners President Wilson and President Vanburen, are due tomorrow. The airfields are choked with people of all nationalities begging for places in the air evacuation fleet. Business of all kinds in Shanghai is at an almost complete standstill. Food Situation Worse The food situation is growing worse as the Communists cut off the outlying food areas. The money position makes living more difficult. The gold yuan, the official currency issued last August

at the rate of four to the United States dollar, is quoted today at 400,000 to the dollar. Nanking residents are reported to be pleased by the conduct of" the Communists. A New York Times dispatch from Nanking said that, despite widespread looting of abandoned buildings and the razing of the Ministry of Justice, which was burned to the ground, both the Chinese and foreign residents of Nanking were congratulating themselves on the relative peacefulness of the transition from Nationalist to Communist control. The dispatch said that thus far the Communist troops have proved to be models of decorum, compared with the Nationalist soldiers.