Bombing of Panay Deliberate

Observers who witnessed the Japanese aerial attack on the USS Panay two days ago declared tonight the bombing was unmistakably deliberate, precluding a possibility of error. The observers were rescued by the Royal Navy HMS Bee.

Though the United States gunboat had American flags painting on her awnings and a carried flags in every mast, squadrons of Japanese planes bombed the Panay at 1:35 PM (this would just half past midnight in New York).

The British Royal Navy has requested the stationing of Japanese Officers on the HMS Bee and likewise on the HMS Ladybird, also posted in the Yangtze Patrol. The Japanese have yet to respond to this proposal.

Reports are coming in that Japanese Officers boarded the Panay just two scant hours before she was attacked. They asked questions about her destination and details about the offensive in Nanking. Japanese forces also came alongside her and trained their rifles on her.

The gunboat was assisting ships Meiping, Meihsia and a third ship. As they conducted their business in the Yangtze River, they hugged the North Shore. The Japanese also set these afire.

When asked about recognizing different flags, Colonel Hashimoto, a superior commanding officer in the area in charge of the Wuhu (芜湖) area, said he was out of touch with his headquarters and that his troops could not distinguish British from Chinese flags. Neutral military observers here suspect the same inability to recognize flags on the part of many Japanese pilots.

Japanese Apologize for the Panay

Yesterday the USS Panay was strafed and bombed by Japanese forces near Nanking China where offensives were taking place. It sank in the Yangzte River.

Japanese Foreign Minister Koki Hirota expressed "profoundest apologies" today for the sinking of the gunboat.

The Foreign Minister called on US Ambassador, Joseph C. Grew, to convey the Japanese Government's regrets. Mr. Grew said he had visited the Foreign Office this morning, before he had received the news of the sinking of the Panay, and had told Mr. Hirota that shells were falling near US ships.

The Ambassador had expressly asked the Japanese vessels and aircraft use caution.

News of the Panay incident was suppressed in Japan.

USS Panay sunk in Yangtze River

Japanese planes strafed, bombed and sunk the USS Panay earlier today at 1:38 local time. It was anchored in the Yangtze River near Nanking in China. The Japanese are currently involved in heavy fighting with the Chinese in and around Nanking.

The riverboat and three oil steamers Mei Ping, Mei An and the Mei Hsia came under fire from nine A4N. Two bombs from a B4Y also hit the Panay.

Of the Sailors on board, three were killed and twenty seven of the remaining forty-three were injured. Five civilians were also aboard including newsmen from Movietone and Universal News.

Many of the men swam to the Ohau, an American craft nearby. The Royal Navy also had the HMS Ladybird and the HMS Bee nearby that assisted with the wounded.

The Japanese have said that they saw no flags designating the ship as American. They are calling this an accident and do not wish any hostility with the United States.