The Commander in Chief of the United States Asiatic Fleet (Yarnell) to the Secretary of the Navy (Swanson) December 23, 1937 [Received 1:15 a.m.] The following are finding[s] of facts of the Court of Inquiry ordered to investigate the bombing and sinking of the U.S.S. Panay. The Court was composed of Captain H. V. McKittrick, Commander M. L. Deyo, Lieutenant Commander A. C. J. Sabalot, members, and Lieutenant C. J. Whiting, Judge Advocate. The findings are approved. The record of the Court will be forwarded to the Department by airmail leaving Manila about 29 December. The Court finds as follows: (1) That on December 12, 1937, the U.S.S. Panay, a unit of the Yangtze Patrol of the United States Asiatic Fleet, was operating under lawful orders on the Yangtze River. (2) That the immediate mission of the U.S.S. Panay was to protect nationals, maintain communication between the United States Embassy, Nanking, and office [of] the Ambassador at Hankow, provide a temporary ...