Synopsis
Son of a U. S. Navy Rear Admiral, Irvin van Gorder Gillis distinguished himself academically at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1894 and soon operationally while serving aboard his first U. S. Navy warships. Assigned to a torpedo boat in the Spanish-American War, he was hailed a hero for disarming a live torpedo while it was still floating in the sea. A talented naval engineer as well as leader of men, Gillis was rapidly selected to command a series of U.S. Navy warships, and eventually he was assigned as Assistant U. S. Naval Attaché in Tokyo to observe the Russo-Japanese War. Following more sea duty in the Atlantic he was sent to Peking as the first U. S. Naval Attachéto China, a job he held three times over the following 12 years. Following the second of these tours, and during his first period of retirement from the Navy in 1914, he was designated as chief intelligence officer for the Navy in China while simultaneously working for Bethlehem Steel Corporation and Electric Boat Company as their China representative to sell warships to the Chinese Navy. In 1917 he was recalled to active duty to China to replace the incumbent who was reassigned to command a destroyer in World War I. Following the end of the war, Gillis was released from active duty and settled into his life as a civilian. Married to a Chinese princess, he remained in China from 1914 until his death in 1948, primarily collecting, sorting, cataloguing, binding and shipping tens of thousands of volumes of rare Chinese manuscripts that ultimately were to reside in Princeton University’s East Asian Library.
À propos des auteurs
BRUCE SWANSON was a China specialist for forty three years. Fluent in Chinese Mandarin, he held an MS degree in the subject from Georgetown University, and then earned an MBA degree from Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland. As a U. S. naval officer he served in Asia for six years and traveled extensively in that region. A well-known authority on Chinese maritime affairs, Swanson lectured at the U. S. Naval Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. His many articles on the Chinese navy and his frequent participation in conferences related to the maritime environment in Asia earned him international respect. A well-known authority on Chinese maritime affairs, Swanson lectured at the U. S. Naval Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. His many articles on the Chinese navy and his frequent participation in conferences related to the maritime environment in Asia earned him international respect.
VANCE MORRISON 30-years as a Surface Warfare Officer. Commanded an ASW Frigate and a Guided Missile Cruiser. Was an Intelligence Subspecialist and Mandarin Chinese linguist, served six years in Japan and China, and was U. S. Naval Attaché, as well as five months as Acting Defense Attaché, to the Peoples Republic of China from mid-1987 to mid-1989. Was Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Joint Matters (Senior Joint Planner) from 1989 until retirement from the Navy in 1992. As a civilian following retirement, was a systems analyst and manager for, initially, SWL Corporation, then GRCI Corporation and ultimately AT&T Corporation, providing support to the Navy Space Program and the National Reconnaissance Office.
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