CHINA - BERRY, Charles Edmond, Yeoman 2nd Class, US Navy.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

[Photograph album, titled on front cover:] In Memory of My China Cruise. An evocative album containing over 300 photographs, both personal and from commercial studios, recording the active service of the USS Parrott (DD-218) on the China Station with the Asiatic Fleet - part of Destroyer Division 58 - including the Asiatic neutrality patrol in 1935 and 1936, offering a wealth of images of China, Japan, the Philippines, and the South Pacific on the eve of the Second Sino-Japanese War (7 July 1937-9 September 1945) and the Second World War. Studio photographs include a number from the renowned commercial photographers Afong (based in Yantai, formerly Chefoo), Joseffa, and Skvirsky, both established in Shanghai.It was compiled by Yeoman 2nd Class (E-5) Charles Edmond Berry and opens with two fine photographs of the officers and crew of the Parrott on deck, two colour-tinted photographs showing the ship at anchor and a humorous pictorial advertising photo from the Afong studio (including an image of the studio exterior) - clearly issued to all ships passing through Yantai - and featuring the Parrott at the centre. There follows an often joyful evocation of life onboard a US Navy destroyer prior to the Second World War, with photos of the after-parties at the famed Beach Cafe in Chefoo, which featured White Russian "hostesses" and tremendous amounts of alcohol, as well as the morning-after breakfasts. Berry has also included panoramic photos of the Asiatic fleet in harbour at Chef

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