Yates Stirling Jr.
On July 20, 1924, he became Captain of the Yard, Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., with additional duty as Assistant Superintendent of the Naval Gun Factory. He was promoted to rear admiral on October 6, 1926 and in December that year Stirling was designated Chief of Staff to Admiral Charles F. Hughes, Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet, based at San Pedro, California. At the October 27, 1927 Navy Day Ceremonies at San Pedro harbor, despite an all-day downpour, thousands of Southern Californians gathered for the festivities, including ships' tours, band performances of patriotic music and the key-note address given by Stirling, "Merchant Marine, the Navy and the Nation".
Yates Stirling Jr.
In 1921, the Yangtze Patrol's command billet was upgraded to a rear admiral and it came under the operational control of the Asiatic Fleet. The Navy Department proclaimed that, "The mission of the Navy on the Yangtze River is to protect United States interests, lives and property, and to maintain and improve friendly relations with the Chinese people." The ships comprising the Patrol were the USS Isabel (flagship) and five gunboats, based at Hankow, 700 miles from the mouth of the river. The Yangtze River, the main artery of China, was then navigable for 1,750 miles, floated about 59 per cent of China's commerce, and reached over 50 per cent of its population of 159,000,000. In 1920 the United States exports to China were valued at $119,000,000 and imports from there at $227,000,000. At least half of this, and probably more, were handled via the Yangtze River. As the Navy's Annual Report stated, "Considering the perpetual banditry, piracy, and revolutionary conditions obtaining in this area, without the protection of our Navy this commerce would be practically nonexistent."