Yangtze River Patrol 1903-1928
Recommissioned on 21 January 1903, Villalobos immediately commenced fitting out for service on the Yangtze River. She departed for China on 7 February and stopped at Dasol Bay, Philippines, from 8-14 February to conduct a "hydrographic reconnaissance" of the bay in company with gunboat Elcano, tender Callao, and collier Pompey.
Underway again on the 14 February 1903, the squadron put into Hong Kong on 17 February and remained there until 26 February, when Villalobos, in company with Pompey and Elcano, sailed for Swatow, China. Leaving the collier at Swatow, Villalobos and Elcano proceeded to Pagoda Anchorage and thence to Shanghai to inaugurate the United States Navy's Yangtze River Patrol. After a brief visit to this key Chinese seaport city, Villalobos pushed up the Yangtze on 27 March to Kiang-Yin to investigate conditions there and to check on the welfare of the American citizens.
At this time China had become a collection of feuding states governed by warlords. The Boxer Rebellion three years previously had resulted in the Boxer Protocol which gave eight foreign powers the right to station forces in the country to protect their nationals.
Villalobos steamed, in company with Elcano, to Chin-kiang and thence via Nanking and Wuhu to Hankow where she arrived on 10 April. She spent the next five days awaiting a favorable rise in the river level to permit passage to I'Chang before she got underway on the 15th for Chenglin, Yochow, and Shasi. After arriving at I'Chang on 19 April, the ship headed back downriver and returned to Hankow on 5 May to investigate the possibility of making passage to Changsha for needed supplies. Proceeding thence to Yochow and Chin-Chi-wan, she met a party of American engineers mapping out a route for the Hankow to Canton Railway.
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