Summary Information
- Publisher: United States Naval Academy. Special Collections & Archives.
- Publisher Address:
589 McNair Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5029, USA
Phone: 410-293-6917
https://www.usna.edu/Library/sca/index.php - Call number: MS 232
- Location: Special Collections & Archives Department - Manuscripts
- Title: Bruce Swanson Papers
- Dates: 1894-1974
- Size: 6.88 linear feet
- Container Summary: 6 manuscript boxes, 1 half-manuscript box, 4 flat boxes
- Creator: Swanson, Bruce, 1937-
- Language(s) of material: English
- Abstract: Bruce Swanson is an author, strategy analyst, and former officer in the U.S. Navy who specializes in Chinese maritime affairs. The Papers consist of photocopies of research materials used by Swanson in writing Eighth Voyage of the Dragon: A History of China's Quest for Seapower, and focus on Chinese sea power during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with special attention to the Communist period.
Biography of Bruce Swanson
Born in 1937, Bruce Swanson received an M.S. degree in Mandarin Chinese from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Loyola College of Baltimore. An authority on Chinese maritime affairs, Swanson authored Eighth Voyage of the Dragon: A History of China's Quest for Seapower, published in 1982, and A Plain Sailorman in China: The Life and Times of Cdr. I.V. Gillis, USN, 1875-1948, published in 2012. Swanson is also the author of numerous articles on the Chinese navy. In addition to his writings on the subject of the Chinese navy, Swanson has lectured at the United States Naval Academy and the Naval Postgraduate School.
Aside from his work as an author, Swanson has served as an officer in the United States Navy, being assigned to duties in Asia for six years, and later, as a strategy analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Description of Contents
The Bruce Swanson Papers, comprising 6.88 linear feet of documentation, span from 1894 to 1974. The Papers consist of photocopies of research materials used by Swanson in writing Eighth Voyage of the Dragon: A History of China's Quest for Seapower (Annapolis, MD, U.S. Naval Institute Press, 1982), and focus on Chinese sea power during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with special attention to the Communist period.
The Swanson Papers include many declassified U.S. naval documents; People's Republic of China news releases, briefs, and periodical articles; American periodical articles; scholarly papers; book chapters, and other materials. The Papers are primarily in English or are English translations, although some documents are in the original Chinese.
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Arrangement
The Bruce Swanson Papers are arranged by item number, as assigned by the collection creator.
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Access and Use
Access
Access is unrestricted.
Copyright and Permission
The Bruce Swanson Papers are the physical property of Nimitz Library. Copyright belongs to the authors or creators of the works, or their legal representatives. For further information, consult the Head, Special Collections & Archives.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to secure written permission to publish, reprint, or reproduce material from Special Collections & Archives. The researcher assumes responsibility for infringement of copyright or literary or publication rights. Please contact the Head, Special Collections & Archives for permission to publish and for further information.
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Acquisition and Appraisal
Provenance and Acquisition
Gift of Bruce Swanson in 1974.
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Related Materials
Related Archival Material
Additional material pertaining to Chinese naval history may be found in the David G. Muller, Jr. Papers, 1946-1984, MS 233 at Special Collections & Archives, Nimitz Library.
Materials Cataloged Separately
No materials have been removed from this collection and cataloged separately.
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Processing and Other Information
Preferred Citation
Bruce Swanson Papers, MS 232
Special Collections & Archives Department
Nimitz Library
United States Naval Academy
Selected Bibliography
The following sources were consulted during preparation of the biographical note:
Swanson, Bruce. Eighth Voyage of the Dragon: A History of China's Quest for Seapower. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1982.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Mary R. Catalfamo in 1988. Finding aid written by Mary R. Catalfamo in 1988 and revised by David D'Onofrio in May 2014.
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Subject Headings
Name and Subject Terms
- China -- History, Naval
- Sea-power -- China -- History
- Swanson, Bruce, 1937-
Genre Terms
- Articles
- Excerpts
- Manuscripts
- Research notes
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Contents List
Box 1 Folder 1
No. 1 - Territorial Claims/Oil, 1973-1974
Paracels Incident/History of China's Claims in South China Seas.
Box 1 Folder 2
No. 2 - Maritime Militia, 1954-1974
The Theory Behind the Militia; Coastal Defense and Relationships with People's Republic of China Navy; Production; Fishing Agreements and Foreign Relations with Peru and Japan; Organization and Politics.
Box 2 Folder 1
No. 3 - Merchant Shipping, 1954-1974
People's Republic of China Merchant Shipping Policy/Strategy; Miscellaneous Information Related to Merchant Shipping Organization; Purchases from Foreign Countries - Easter Bloc General, Japan, Holland, Sweden, France; Examples of Indigenous Construction; Maritime Visits/Agreements; Visits Overseas Regarding Maritime Matters with England, France, Germany, Sri Lanka, North Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Chile, North Korea, Japan, Norway, Bulgaria, Zaire, Poland; Chippings and Transport in Communist China.
Box 2 Folder 2
No. 4 - PRC Navy 1946-1953, 1949-1954
1953 Strength, Disposition and Capabilities of People's Republic of China Navy; 1949-1953 the Creation of the 85th Seaman Division; 1952 Organization and Activities of the People's Republic of China Navy; 1951 Organization and Activities of the People's Republic of China Navy; 1951 Naval Events in South China; 1950 Early OOB Info and Organizational Changes; the Origins of the People's Republic of China Navy.
Box 3 Folder 1
No. 5 - PRC Navy 1954-1960, 1954-1972
Sings of the Sino-Soviet Split; Strength, Disposition, Activities of the People's Republic of China Navy 1954-1959.
Box 3 Folder 2
No. 6 - PRC Navy 1960 to Present [1974], 1961-1974
Strength, Disposition, Activities of the People's Republic of China Navy, 1961-1974.
Box 4 Folder 1
No. 7 - [Miscellaneous], 1951-1974
Public Security Force and Coastal Defense; Conscription System; People's Republic of China Navy and Production (Agriculture); Personality Information; Power Struggles and Purge; The Modern Version of to Buy or Build; Regionalism; The Lin Pao Affair; The Politics of the People's Republic of China Navy - Theory and Practice.
Box 4 Folder 2
No. 8 - PRC Naval Strategy & Some Factors that Influence It, 1956-1974
Box 5 Folder 1
No. 9 - Tactics & Battle Reports, 1951-1971
Box 6 Folder 1
No. 10 - Air Force, Marines, Naval Air, Junk Navy, Coastal Radar, 1952-1971
Box 6 Folder 2
No. 11 - Foreign Relations - Naval Implications, 1950-1974
U.S.S.R. after 1960; U.S.S.R. Prior to Split in 1959-1960; Japan; North Korea; Albania; United States; Algeria; Mali; Ethiopia; Sri Lanka; Romania; Congo; Tanzania; Taiwan.
Box 6 Folder 3
No. 12 - General Port/Facility Information, 1947-1974
General; Inland Rivers; Hainan Island; Canton/Whampoa; Chanchiang; San Men, Chekiang; Nanking; Yangtze River; Shanghai; Wu Shih, Kiangsu; Tsingtao; Luta (Lushun/Dairen); Tientsin; Po Hai Gulf (General).
Box 6 Folder 4
No. 13 - Misc. Info Re Soviet Navy and Its Probably Influence on the PRC Navy (1950-1960), 1950-1960
Box 6 Folder 5
No. 14 - Lasers, Computers/Electronics, Machine Building, Oceanography, 1956-1973
Box 6 Folder 6
No. 15 - Misc. Info Re PRC Naval Training, 1952-1971
Box 7 Folder 1
No. 16 - "The Red Chinese Navy and the Red Rift Naval Implications of Peking-Moscow Differences," by Capt. E.J. Cummings, Jr., USN, 1963
Box 7 Folder 2
No. 17 - "Political Aspects of the PRC Navy 1949-1972", 1974
Midshipman First Class Paper by Michael I. Turner.
Box 7 Folder 3
No. 18 - "The Politics of the Chinese People's Navy 1949-1969", 1974
Box 7 Folder 4
No. 19 - The Sino-Soviet Debate Over the Indian Ocean and the Third World Propaganda, 1969-1974
Box 7 Folder 5
No. 20 - The Law of the Sea & Naval Implications, 1971-1974
Box 7 Folder 6
No. 21 - The Cultural Revolution and the PRC Navy, 1966-1969
Box 8 Folder 1
No. 22 - No Title [Chicom Army - History and Description, undated
Box 8 Folder 2
No. 23 - No Title [Primarily Pre-PRC Naval History, 1968, undated
Box 8 Folder 3
No. 24 - Background Articles, 1959-1972
Nuclear Weapons and Science; Regionalism; Military Affairs; Cultural Revolution.
Box 9 Folder 1
No. 25 - General Notes on Japanese Fleet During Japan-China War. Notes on Yaloo, undated
Box 9 Folder 2
No. 26 - Naval Battles on the Yalu, September 17, 1894, 1907
Box 9 Folder 3
No. 27 - Chino-Japanese War 1894-1895, 1896
Box 9 Folder 4
No. 28 - Deductions Drawn from the Yaloo Fight; Sketch of "Ting Yuen" Showing Punishment Received, 1894
Box 9 Folder 5
No. 29 - General Notes on Ships of the Japanese Navy After Battle of Yalu, 1895
Box 9 Folder 6
No. 30 - Conditions of Chinese Vessels After Their Capture by the Japanese..., 1895
Box 9 Folder 7
No. 31 - "The Battle of the Yalu", undated
By Ensign Frank Marble, U.S. Navy.
Box 9 Folder 8
No. 32 - Biographical Sketches, 1967-1971
Box 9 Folder 9
No. 33 - "1915", 1915
Box 9 Folder 10
No. 34 - "1916", 1916
Box 9 Folder 11
No. 35 - "1912", 1912
Box 9 Folder 12
No. 36 - "1913", 1913
Box 9 Folder 13
No. 37 - "1914", 1914
Box 9 Folder 14
No. 38 - Policies of Nationalist (Kuomintang) Government China, 1928-1933
Box 9 Folder 15
No. 39 - Reorganization of the Chinese Navy, 1909
Box 9 Folder 16
No. 40 - A. The Yalu Fight; B. Condition of Chinese Ships After, 1894
Box 9 Folder 17
No. 41 - "The Chinese Navy General Data 1907-1937", 1907
Box 9 Folder 18
No. 42 - "Chinese Naval Stations 1895-1912", 1911
Box 9 Folder 19
No. 43 - "Regulations of the Chinese Navy 1910-1911", 1911
Box 9 Folder 20
No. 44 - "Ships, China - General Information 1940-1944", 1944
Box 9 Folder 21
No. 45 - "The Chinese Navy - 1943", 1943
Box 9 Folder 22
No. 46 - "Chinese Navy - General Data 1944", 1944
Box 9 Folder 23
No. 47 - "Lo Ming Link - Wilbur & Howe 1933", undated
Box 9 Folder 24
No. 48 - "Mao - Selected Works - Lo Ming Line 1933", undated
Box 9 Folder 25
No. 49 - "Instruction Chinese Navy 1944-45", 1945
Box 9 Folder 26
No. 50 - "Ships, China - General Information 1935-37", 1935-1937
Box 9 Folder 27
No. 51 - "British Naval Mission to China 1929-1934", 1934
Box 10 Folder 1
No. 52 - "1917-1920", 1914-1920
Box 10 Folder 2
No. 53 - "1927-1928", 1928
Box 10 Folder 3
No. 54 - "Political Conditions, China, 1928-1929", 1929
Box 10 Folder 4
No. 55 - "1929-1930", 1929-1930
Box 10 Folder 5
No. 56 - "China's Foreign Advisers", 1936
Box 10 Folder 6
No. 57 - "Shipment of Arms and Ammunition to China 1929-30", 1929-1930
Box 10 Folder 7
No. 58 - "Chinese Naval Schools", 1900-1914
Box 10 Folder 8
No. 59 - Wu-Chiang Kai-Shek's March 20th Coup of 1926, 1927-1974
Box 10 Folder 9
No. 60 - "1923-1924", 1924
Box 10 Folder 10
No. 61 - "Ships China 1929-1934", 1929-1934
Box 10 Folder 11
No. 62 - 1896 - Naval Aspects of the Sino-Japanese War, 1896
By Vice Admiral Sir E.R. Freemantle.
Box 10 Folder 12
No. 64 - "Political Conditions of China, 1933-1934", 1933
Box 10 Folder 13
No. 65 - "1931-32", 1932
Box 10 Folder 14
No. 66 - "1933-34", 1933-1934
Box 10 Folder 15
No. 67 - "1935-39", 1935-1938
Box 10 Folder 16
No. 68 - "Political Conditions in China - 1927", 1927
Box 10 Folder 17
No. 69 - China's Discover of Africa - Ming Period - by Duyvendak, 1949
Box 10 Folder 18
No. 70 - "The Emergence of China As A Sea Power during the Late Sung and Early Yuan Periods", 1955
Box 10 Folder 19
No. 71 - "The Chinese War Junk" Pre 20th Century, 1948
By G.R.G. Worchester
Box 10 Folder 20
No. 72 - "The Background and Causes of China's Traditional Disesteem of Sea Power", 1971
Box 10 Folder 21
No. 73 - Lo - "Decline of the Early Ming Navy", undated
Box 10 Folder 22
No. 74 - Hirth/Rockhill - "Chau Ju-Kua: His Work in the Chinese and Arab Trade in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries", 1912
Box 10 Folder 23
No. 75 - Reischauer - Notes on T'ang Dynasty Sea Routes, 1940-1941
Box 11 Folder 1
No. 76 - Fitzgerald - "Mongol and Ming in South-East Asia", 1972
Box 11 Folder 2
No. 77 - Thompson - "Junk Passage- Taiwan Straits 18th Century", 1968
Box 11 Folder 3
No. 79 - Su - "Places Visited by Cheng Ho (1405-1433)", 1967
Box 11 Folder 4
No. 80 - Hsu - "The Great Policy Debate in China, 1874: Maritime Defense vs. Frontier Defense", 1965
Box 11 Folder 5
No. 81 - "1925-26", 1928
Box 11 Folder 6
No. 82 - Piracy and Water Police, 1946-1949
Box 11 Folder 7
No. 83 - "1948", 1947-1948
Box 11 Folder 8
No. 84 - "1947", 1947
Box 11 Folder 9
No. 85 - "1948", 1946-1948
Box 11 Folder 10
No. 86 - "The Chinese Navy, Promotion, Pay, Etc.", 1907-1910
Box 11 Folder 11
No. 87 - "Mainland China as a Potential Sea Power" - Naval War College Review, undated
By LCDR Donald D. Pizinger.
Box 11 Folder 12
No. 88 - The Army in the Cultural Revolution, undated
Box 11 Folder 13
No. 89 - Selected Soviet Military Translations, 1959
Box 11 Folder 14
No. 90 - 1959 Articles from "Liberation Daily", 1959
Box 11 Folder 15
No. 91 - Chinese Army - Washington Post, 1972
Box 11 Folder 16
No. 92 - Reference Materials/Misc. Notes, undated
Box 11 Folder 17
No. 93 - KMT Navy Pre-1949 - Houchins, 1971
Box 11 Folder 18
No. 94 - "1949", 1949
Box 11 Folder 19
No. 95 - "1946", 1946
