Kemp Tolley was an officer in the US Navy and is the author of books on the history of the US Navy, like The Yangtze Patrol. He was a 1929 graduate of the United States Naval Academy

United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...

, where he was a member of Phi Alpha Theta

Phi Alpha Theta

Phi Alpha Theta is an American honor society for undergraduate and graduate students and professors of history.The society is a charter member of the Association of College Honor Societies and has over 350,000 members, with about 9,500 new members joining each year through 860 local chapters.-...

. Tolley himself served in the Yangtze Patrol

Yangtze Patrol

The Yangtze Patrol, from 1854 to 1945, was a prolonged naval operation to protect American interests in the Yangtze River's treaty ports. Initially the patrol was carried out by ships of the United States Navy's East India and Asiatic Squadrons. In 1922, the "YangPat" was established as a formal...

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At the time of his birth in 1908, Admiral Tolley's father, Lt Col

Lieutenant Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...

 Oscar Kemp Tolley, U.S. Army, was stationed in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

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During his civilian life, he lived in the historic Corbett Village in Monkton, Maryland

Monkton, Maryland

Monkton is an unincorporated community in northern Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It has a population of about 4,856 people. It is in area, with approximately...

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Further reading

• Barrow, Clay. "Midshipman Tolley." Naval History. September/October 1995, v. 9, n. 5, pages 17–21. A profile of Kemp Tolley, "one of the most colorful men in the history of the U.S. Navy," by a former editor of the U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings. Tolley wrote Yangtze Patrol, Cruise of the Lanikai, Caviar and Commissars and dozens of published articles.
• Buckley, Thomas H. "Yangtze Patrol: The U.S. Navy in China. By Kemp Tolley." The Journal of American History, September 1972, v. 59, no. 2, pages 453-454
• Jacobus, Stephen "Shakey Jake". "Tolley's Way – One Gentleman's Adventurous Naval Career." Naval History, September/October 1995, v. 9, n.5, pages 22–23. Biographical sketch of Admiral Kemp Tolley, author of Yangtze Patrol, who served in China and many other adventurous places.
• Rosenberg, David A. "Yangtze Patrol: The U.S. Navy in China." Military Affairs, October 1974, v. 38, page 120. A review of Kemp Tolley's book on the Yangtze Patrol.
• Tolley, Kemp. "The Chameleon." Shipmate, October 1966, v. 29, pages 2–5.
• Tolley, Kemp. "Chinese Huntsman." Shipmate, June–July 1966, v. 29, pages 12–16.
• Tolley, Kemp. "A Day in the Life of a Chungking Gunboat." Shipmate, June–July 1967, v. 30, pages 8–12 and 17.
• Tolley, Kemp. "Three Piecee and Other Dollars Mex." Shipmate, July 1965, v. 28, pages 8–10.
• Tolley, Kemp. "YangPat – Shanghai to Chungking." U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings
  Proceedings (magazine)
  Proceedings is a monthly magazine published by the United States Naval Institute since 1874. The 96-page publication features articles about Naval and Military matters written by active and retired military personnel plus renowned authors and scholars of their subject.-External links:* * ** by...
  
  , June 1963, v. 89, pages 80–89. This article emphasizes United States gunboat operations during the years 1937 to 1941.