The Penstemon and the Inconstant
In the early 1930s, the Cantonese element of the Chinese Navy sought to acquire warships to increase strength, however the major powers were reluctant to supply warships of any size, either because it was felt the money could be better spent on smaller craft for anti-piracy work, or from a reluctance to offend Japan. The Cantonese Navy therefore acquired several obsolete and discarded warships including the ex-Portuguese gunboat Patria, the ex-RN Flower class sloop Penstemon, and possibly also the ex-French Minesweeper Inconstant .
Patria was a 630-ton gunboat built in Lisbon in 1903, which had been based at Macau. She was purchased by Canton in 1930 or 1931 (sources differ) and renamed Fu Yu. She was eventually sunk by Japanese aircraft – probably from the carriers Ryujo and Hosho - in late 1937. As Portugal was not a signatory to the Washington Naval Treaty, the acquisition of the Patria is outside the scope of this study.
Penstemon had been built for the Royal Navy in 1915-16, and sold privately on 20 April 1920 to become the merchant ship Lila. She was subsequently renamed Noemi, Stiges, and then Hai Li, before she was converted into the sloop Hai Chow at Hong Kong in 1932, nominally for the Salt Administration. As Penstemon had already been disposed of by the Royal Navy prior to the Washington Naval Conference, her subsequent acquisition by China for use as a warship would not constitute a violation of the prohibition on disposal of warships in such a manner that they might become a warship in a foreign navy.
Inconstant had been built for the French Navy in 1916 as an Ardent class anti-submarine gunboat. She became an Aviso de 2e classe in 1924, a Canonnière in 1925, and again an Aviso de 2e classe in 1929. She was deployed to the Far East in 1927, and subsequently condemned by the French Navy in 1933. The 1934 edition of Weyer's Taschenbuch der Kriegsflotten reported that she had been bought by the Chinese Navy in May 1933, but did not disclose her new name. Wright’s book The Chinese Steam Navy 1862-1945, repeated this claim, citing Taschenbuch der Kriegsflotten, but provided no additional information. No other reference to the Chinese acquisition of Inconstant has been located, and there is some doubt as to whether or not it actually occurred. If the Chinese did acquire Inconstant, and used her as a warship, then there may be a case to answer that the French disposed of her in such a way that she could become a warship in a foreign navy, in violation of the WNT.