Commander-in-Chief, China
The China Station was a naval force of the British Royal Navy. It existed from January 1865 to December 1941, its successor organization was the Eastern Fleet.
History
The China Station was on 17 January 1865 by the separation of the East Indies and China Station in the China Station and the East Indies and Cape of Good Hope Station, an independent naval force. The area of responsibility of the station included the China coast and navigable rivers of the Chinese mainland, the western part of the Pacific and the waters around the Dutch East Indies. This implied no territorial demands, although the Royal Navy was often used to enforce British Handeslinteressen in these territories.
Bases of the China Station were in Singapore, on or in HMS Tamar in Hong Kong (1844-1941 and 1945-1997) as well as in Weihai.
The China Station consisted mostly of older ships, the main light cruisers and destroyers. For patrol service on the Chinese rivers suitable gunboats were used with a shallow draft. These boats of Insect class were known as "China gunboats ". The ships of the China station had a white hull, white superstructure and dark chimneys.
Given the growing Japanese threat was the China combined station with the East Indies Station for Eastern Fleet in December 1941. The Eastern Fleet Command was in Singapore.