American torpedo boats for China in 1938

A letter of the German naval attache in Japan dated Tokyo, Japan 27 June 1938 referring to the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri which on the 26^th reported that thirty large torpedo boats were gathering at Kowloon, Kowloon. The boats seemed to be ordered abroad and operated by foreigners of a yet unknown country. Ten boats were already commissioned on the Canton river. It were probably American boats. An earlier item reported that at Hong Kong 12 American speed boats were seen bound for China.

Source

High Command of the Kriegsmarine (OKM). Case 36. Website