The China Station complement usually consisted of several older light cruisers and destroyers, and the Chinese rivers were patrolled by a flotilla of suitable, shallow-draught gunboats, referred to as "China gunboats".

[3] Ships on this station usually had a distinctive livery of white hull and superstructure and dark funnels.

Between the two world wars, the Insect class gunboats were mainly used in the Far East and they were present during the Japanese invasion of China.

In 1937, on the Yangtze river, the Japanese attacked Ladybird, firing on her from a shore battery.

Ladybird sailed the 20 miles to the scene of the sinking, took on board some of the Panay survivors and took them to Shanghai.