Clarence Stewart Williams - Commander in Chief, U.S. Asiatic Fleet

Commander in Chief, U.S. Asiatic Fleet

On October 14, 1925, Williams relieved Admiral Thomas Washington as commander in chief of the Asiatic Fleet and was promoted to the temporary rank of full admiral. As senior American officer in the Far East, Williams directed the American military intervention to protect foreign nationals in China at the beginning of the Chinese Civil War.

In 1926, the Kuomintang allied with the Chinese Communist Party to launch the Northern Expedition with the objective of unifying the country by suppressing local warlords and abrogating the unequal treaties imposed on China by the Western powers. Following the Nanjing Incident, in which Kuomintang troops targeted foreign properties and personnel, Western and Japanese warships and marines were dispatched to protect and evacuate foreign nationals living in cities on the Yangtze River. As Kuomintang forces approached Shanghai, home to a large international settlement, the American minister to China, John Van Antwerpt MacMurray, requested military intervention to protect their lives and interests. The State Department directed Williams to protect lives by evacuating Americans from the interior but not to protect private property unless lives were endangered. American forces were authorized to cooperate with other foreign forces, but not to participate in joint military actions.

At the height of the crisis, 171 warships of various nations were anchored off Shanghai. The American force included four cruisers, four destroyers, an oiler, a transport, a minesweeper, and the 3rd Marine Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler. Williams was the senior officer of the international armada, although the British had more ships. Once Shanghai was secured, Williams sent reinforcements to Tientsin with orders to defend Americans in that city; to protect the Tientsin-Peking railroad; and, if necessary, to rescue MacMurray and the American legation from Peking. The threat to foreign nationals gradually faded as the strong foreign military presence helped deter further violence targeted against foreigners, and as the uneasy alliance between the Kuomintang and the Communists disintegrated into the Chinese Civil War.

Williams was relieved as commander in chief of the Asiatic Fleet by Admiral Mark L. Bristol on September 9, 1927 and reverted to his permanent rank of rear admiral, retiring shortly thereafter.