Charles Butler McVay Jr. (September 19, 1868[1] – October 28, 1949) was an admiral in the United States Navy after World War I.

It patrolled the waters off Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Key West and participated in the shelling of San Juan in May 1898.

In 1909, McVay was stationed at Norfolk, Virginia, as the Yankton had just returned from an around-the-world cruise with the Great White Fleet.

At this time, the United States, along with Japan and the major European nations, had garrisons in Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin.

U.S. Navy gunboats regularly patrolled the Yangtze River to protect foreigners during a turbulent period when China had no effective central government.