The Augusta remained in the Philippine Islands, receiving her usual yearly overhaul at Cavite and dry-docking at Olongapo, in the dry-dock Dewey, before she re-embarked Admiral Upham and sailed for Hong Kong on 15 March 1935. Arriving on the 16th, Augusta remained there until the 25th, while [472] CinCAF was embarked in the Isabel for a trip to Canton (17 to 20 March 1935). The cruiser's draft did not permit her to make the passage up the Pearl River to Canton. She got underway again on the 25th for Amoy and stayed there from 26 to 29 March, before she proceeded thence to Shanghai, arriving at that port city on the last day of March.

Augusta remained at Shanghai until 30 April, at which point she sailed for her second visit to Japan, reaching Yokohama on 3 May 1935. The ship remained there for two weeks, Admiral Upham disembarking on the day she arrived (3 May) and traveled by automobile to Tokyo, where he remained until the 9th when he returned to his flagship. Steaming thence to Kobe, and arriving there on 18 May for a week's sojourn, Augusta sailed for China on 25 May, and reached Nanking, the Chinese capital, on the 29th.

The flagship remained at Nanking until 4 June, at which point she sailed for Shanghai, arriving the following day. "Augie Maru," as her crew had affectionately nicknamed her, lingered at Shanghai until 27 June, when she sailed for North China, reaching Tsingtao on the 29th. She remained at that port city, operating thence on exercises and gunnery practice, for the rest of the summer.

Augusta departed Tsingtao on 30 September for Shanghai, and arrived at her destination on 1 October, where, four days later, Admiral Orin G. Murfin relieved Admiral Upham as CinCAF. On 8 October, with the new CinCAF embarked Augusta departed Shanghai for points south. Admiral Murfin transferred to Isabel to visit Bangkok (15 to 22 October) while he returned to the heavy cruiser to visit Singapore (24 to 30 October). Subsequently touching at Pontianak and Jesselton, North Borneo, (31 October to 1 November and from 3 to 5 November, respectively), "Augie Maru" visited the southern Philippine ports of Zamboanga (6 to 8 November) and Iloilo (9 to 10 November), before she returned to Manila on 11 November 1935.

• USS Isabel (PY-10) - a yacht built by Bath Iron Works, 1917; taken over by U.S. Navy for use as a small destroyer during World War I. 950 tons. 26 knots. 230’(wl) x 26’ x 8.5’. Crew 99. Two 3"/50, two 3"/23 AA guns

• For a brief chronology of the US Navy in Chinese waters during this period of time see the Yangtze Patrol & South China Patrol website