US Navy Gunboats 1885–1945A study of the history of the US Navy's gunboats and their role in building a worldwide American naval presence abroad and in combat, from the Yangtze era through to World War II. For more than half a century, American gunboats were the ships often responsible for policing small crises and provided deterrence and fast response capabilities around the world showing the flag, landing armed parties, patrolling river and littoral areas, and protecting ex