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USS Wachapreague (AGP-8)
Encyclopedia
USS Wachapreague (AGP-8) was a motor torpedo boat tender
Motor torpedo boat tender
Motor torpedo boat tender is a type of ship used by the U.S. Navy during World War II. The Motor torpedo boat tender's task was to act as a tender in remote areas for patrol boats and to provide the necessary fuel and provisions for the torpedo boats she was responsible for...
that served in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
from 1944 to 1946.
Construction and deployment
Wachapreague (AVP-56) was laid down as a Barnegat-classBarnegat class seaplane tender
|The Barnegat class was a large class of United States Navy small seaplane tenders built during World War II. Thirty were completed as seaplane tenders, four as motor torpedo boat tenders, and one as a catapult training ship.-Design:...
seaplane tender
Seaplane tender
A seaplane tender is a ship that provides facilities for operating seaplanes. These ships were the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War.-History:...
on 1 February 1943 at Houghton
Houghton, Washington
Houghton is one of the lakeside neighborhoods of the city of Kirkland, Washington. Consisting mostly of upscale, single-family homes, Houghton overlooks Lake Washington and is one of the wealthier districts of the Eastside suburbs of Seattle. The village was named for Willard Houghton, a local...
Washington, by the Lake Washington Shipyard
Lake Washington Shipyard
Lake Washington Shipyards was a shipyard in Houghton, Washington on the shore of Lake Washington. Today the shipyards are the site of the lakeside Carillon Point business park...
. She was reclassified as a motor torpedo boat tender and redesignated AGP-8 on 2 February 1943. She was launched on 10 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. E. L. Barr, and commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 17 May 1944, Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
Harold A. Stewart, USNR
United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
, in command.
Following her shakedown
Shakedown (testing)
A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...
training out of San Diego, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Wachapreague got underway on 18 July 1944 for Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, en route to the South Pacific
South West Pacific theatre of World War II
The South West Pacific Theatre, technically the South West Pacific Area, between 1942 and 1945, was one of two designated area commands and war theatres enumerated by the Combined Chiefs of Staff of World War II in the Pacific region....
. Soon thereafter, she stopped briefly at Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....
, New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
, and called at Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, on 17 August 1944, before reaching her ultimate destination, Milne Bay
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, on 20 August 1944.
Wachapreague dropped anchor at Motor Torpedo Boat Base 21, at that time the largest patrol torpedo boat
PT boat
PT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
(PT boat) operating base in the Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. She reported to Commander, Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
s, 7th Fleet
United States Seventh Fleet
The Seventh Fleet is the United States Navy's permanent forward projection force based in Yokosuka, Japan, with units positioned near Japan and South Korea. It is a component fleet force under the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the forward-deployed U.S. fleets, with...
, and commenced tending the 10 PT boats from Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron (MTBRon) 12. This unit had previously taken a heavy toll of Japanese
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
barge
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
traffic and had wreaked much havoc upon Japanese shore installations, in almost nightly actions, during the New Guinea campaign
New Guinea campaign
The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II.Before the war, the island of New Guinea was split between:...
. As Allied
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
forces wrapped up the New Guinea operations, Wachapreague received an additional five PT boats from Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 7 (MTBRon 7) as the Navy prepared for operations to liberate 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...
from Japanese occupation.
The Leyte campaign begins
USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6)
USS Oyster Bay , originally and later AVP-28, was a United States Navy motor torpedo boat tender in commission from 1943 to 1946.-Construction, commissioning, and shakedown:...
and USS Willoughby (AGP-9)
USS Willoughby (AGP-9)
The second USS Willoughby was a motor torpedo boat tender that served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946.-Construction and Deployment:...
, seaplane tender USS Half Moon (AVP-26)
USS Half Moon (AVP-26)
USS Half Moon was a seaplane tender that served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946.-Construction and early deployment:Half Moon was laid down as a small seaplane tender on 10 March 1942 by Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, Washington, and was launched as such on 12 July 1942,...
, and two United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
craft for Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
, 1,200 nautical miles (2,222 kilometers) away. The 45 torpedo boats were convoyed by the larger ships, refuelled while underway at sea, and successfully completed the voyage under their own power. Slowing to 9 knots, Wachapreague fueled two torpedo boats simultaneously, one alongside to starboard and one astern, eventually replenishing the fuel supply of all 15 of her brood. A brief two-day respite at Kossol Roads
Kossol Roads
Kossol Roads, Palau is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob. During World War II, it was used by the United States Navy as the location of a floating resupply and repair base....
, Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
, for repairs and a further refueling of the PT boats, preceded the final leg of the voyage.
While Wachapreague dropped anchor at northern San Pedro Bay
San Pedro Bay (Philippines)
San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
off Leyte, her PT boats, fresh and ready for action immediately, entered Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...
on 21 October 1944, the day after the initial landings on Leyte. On 24 October 1944, Wachapreague shifted to Liloan Bay, a small anchorage off Panoan Island, 65 nautical miles (120 kilometers) south of San Pedro Bay, which scarcely afforded the ship room to swing with the tide. Soon after her arrival at Liloan Bay, Wachapreague contacted the Philippine guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
network for a mutual exchange of information as to Japanese forces in the area.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf
On the afternoon of 24 October 1944, upon receipt of word that three powerful Japanese task forces were approaching from three directions, PT boats tended by Wachapreague sped to action stations. In the van of the southern Japanese force steamed two battleshipBattleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s and a heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
, screened by four destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s; 30 nautical miles (56 kilometers) behind came the second group, consisting of three cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s and four destroyers. The American PT boats met the Japanese southern force head-on; three coordinated destroyer torpedo attacks soon followed; while American battleships and cruisers under Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Jesse B. Oldendorf
Jesse B. Oldendorf
Jesse Bartlett "Oley" Oldendorf was an admiral in the United States Navy, famous for defeating a Japanese force in the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War II...
deployed across the northern end of Surigao Strait
Surigao Strait
Surigao Strait is a body of water in the Philippines located between the islands of Mindanao and Leyte. This strait connects the Bohol Sea with Leyte Gulf and is regularly crossed by ferries that transport goods and people between Visayas and Mindanao...
to "cross the T
Crossing the T
Crossing the T or Capping the T is a classic naval warfare tactic attempted from the late 19th to mid 20th century, in which a line of warships crossed in front of a line of enemy ships, allowing the crossing line to bring all their guns to bear while receiving fire from only the forward guns of...
." The devastation the American warships wreaked upon the Japanese force was nearly total. Only one Japanese ship -- destroyer Shigure
Japanese destroyer Shigure
was the second of ten s, and the first to be built for the Imperial Japanese Navy under the Circle One Program . Along with the destroyer , she developed a reputation within the Imperial Japanese Navy for being "lucky" or "unsinkable", emerging as the sole surviving Japanese warship from numerous...
emerged from what became known as the Battle of Surigao Strait
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.It was fought in waters...
.
PT boats from MTBRon 12 then threw the second task group off balance at the head of the strait, slamming a torpedo into the side of light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
Abukuma
Japanese cruiser Abukuma
was a Nagara-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy, named after the Abukuma River in the Tōhoku region of Japan.-Background:Abukuma was the sixth vessel completed in the Nagara-class of light cruisers, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as the flagship of a...
and forcing Abukuma out of the battle line, badly damaged. The Japanese flagship, heavy cruiser Nachi
Japanese cruiser Nachi
was the second of four Myōkō-class heavy cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy — the other ships of the class being , and . She was named after a mountain in Wakayama Prefecture....
, collided with another ship in the melee and found her own speed reduced to 18 knots. This second echelon of Japanese ships, correctly surmising that the first had fallen upon some hard times, then fled, hotly pursued by American planes which administered the coup de grace to sink the already crippled Abukuma and destroyer Shiranuhi
Japanese destroyer Shiranuhi
was the second vessel to be commissioned in the 19-vessel destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late-1930s under the Circle Three Supplementary Naval Expansion Program .-Background:...
on 26 October 1944.
MTBron 12's actions and the Battle of Surigao Strait itself were part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.It was fought in waters...
of 23 October to 26 October 1944, a decisive defeat to the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
from which it never recovered. Yet, while the Japanese capacity for seaborne operations lessened, they nevertheless could still strike back from the skies. While the crew of Wachapreague labored to repair the badly damaged torpedo boat USS PT-194 on 25 October 1944, a Japanese plane attacked the ship, only to be driven off by a heavy anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
barrage. Later that day, Wachapreague shifted to Hinunagan Bay for refuelling operations that would enable her six PT boats to return to San Pedro Bay. Japanese nuisance attacks from the air continued, however, and a dive bomber
Dive bomber
A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...
attacked Wachapreague just as she was completing fueling operations with USS PT-134. As the PT-134 pulled away from Wachapreagues side, a Japanese bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
landed some 18 feet (5.5 meters) from the PT boat's stern, killing one man and wounding four on board PT-134. Moving out under cover of a smoke screen, Wachapreague vacated her anchorage just before 14 Japanese planes struck and, while clearing the bay
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
, fired on three twin-motored Mitsubishi G4M
Mitsubishi G4M
The Mitsubishi G4M 一式陸上攻撃機, 一式陸攻 Isshiki rikujō kōgeki ki, Isshikirikkō was the main twin-engine, land-based bomber used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. The Allies gave the G4M the reporting name Betty...
"Betty" bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
s, claiming two kills as one "Betty" crashed into the sea and a second, trailing smoke, crashed behind a nearby island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
.
The Leyte Campaign concludes
Wachapreague arrived at San Pedro Bay late on 26 October 1944 and conducted tending operations at that site until 13 November 1944. During this time, her PT boats operated with devastating effect against Japanese shipping in the Ormoc BayOrmoc Bay
Ormoc Bay is a bay on the island of Leyte in the Philippines. The bay is an inlet of the Camotes Sea. The city of Ormoc lies at the head of the bay and exports rice, copra and sugar. The World War II Battle of Ormoc Bay took place from November 11 until mid-December in Ormoc Bay during late 1944....
and Mindanao Sea
Bohol Sea
The Bohol Sea, also called the Mindanao Sea, is located between Visayas and Mindanao in the Philippines. It lies south of Bohol and Leyte and north of Mindanao...
areas. On 13 November 1944, her task completed in those waters for the time being, Wachapreague sailed in company with Willoughby for Mios Woendi
Mios Woendi
Mios Woendi is the name of an island and was a forward base for United States Navy during World War II. The US Navy code word for the base located in Schouten Islands, was Stinker...
. Returning two weeks later, Wachapreague now tended a total of 22 PT boat -- from Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons (MTBRons) 13, 16, and 28 -— as well as six more from Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron (MTBRon) 36 and two from Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron (MTBRon) 17, at San Pedro Bay. Wachapreague remained at San Pedro until 4 January 1945, when she headed for Lingayen
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
, on Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, in company with MTBRons 28 and 36.
The Luzon campaign
At noonNoon
Noon is usually defined as 12 o'clock in the daytime. The word noon is also used informally to mean midday regarding the location of the sun not the middle of a persons day. Although this is a time around the middle of the day when people in many countries take a lunch break...
on the day of departure, 4 January 1945, a Japanese suicide aircraft dived into a merchant ship
Merchant vessel
A merchant vessel is a ship that transports cargo or passengers. The closely related term commercial vessel is defined by the United States Coast Guard as any vessel engaged in commercial trade or that carries passengers for hire...
100 yards (91 meters) ahead. At dusk, seven Japanese planes attacked; one of them crashed in the sea some 100 yards ahead of Wachapreague, another came under fire as it plunged toward the merchant ship SS Kyle V. Johnson, and a third headed for Wachapreague, only to be knocked into the sea by a heavy antiaircraft barrage. Later that evening, USS PT-382 came alongside Wachapreague and transferred two men they had rescued from the water who had been blown overboard from Kyle V. Johnson during the earlier heavy air action.
Wachapreague entered Lingayen Gulf
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
on 13 January 1945 and anchored near the town of Damortis. On 16 January 1945, she shifted her anchorage to Port Sual to tend PT boats from MTBRons 28 and 36. These boats gradually extended their patrols northward to the coastal towns of Vigan City
Vigan City
The City of Vigan is a 5th class city in the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. It is the capital of the Province of Ilocos Sur...
and Aparri
Aparri, Cagayan
Aparri is a 1st class municipality in the province of Cagayan, Luzon, Philippines. According to the latest census, Aparri has a population of 69,024 people.Aparri has an approximate income of Php 90,000,000.00...
, wreaking havoc on Japanese barge traffic and shipping along the northwest coast of Luzon, shelling shore installations and destroying some 20 barges. Wachapreague meanwhile continued to make all electrical and engine repairs for the squadron PT boats and handled all major communications for the motor torpedo boat squadrons until she departed Lingayen on 12 March 1945 to replenish at Leyte.
The Borneo campaign
Underway again on 23 April 1945, Wachapreague accompanied MTBRon 36 to Dutch North Borneo and took part in the invasion of Tarakan IslandTarakan Island
Tarakan is an island off the coast of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is a marshy island situated in the eastern Celebes Sea, off the northeastern coast of Borneo. The island occupies an area of .-Petroleum:...
. While the guns still pounded the shore and the invasion itself was underway, Wachapreague entered the Tarakan Bay on 1 May 1945 to establish an advance base for her PT boats. For the next four months, until the end of World War II in August 1945, Wachapreague operated from this bay, tending MTBRon 36 PT boats while they in turn conducted daily offensive runs up the coast of Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
.
In the course of these operations, the PT boats sought out and destroyed Japanese shipping at Tawao, Cowie Harbor, Noneokan, Dutch North Borneo, shelling and rocketing shore installations. As the Japanese later attempted evacuation by small boats and raft
Raft
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...
s, the PT boats netted some 30 prisoners. In addition to these tasks, the PT boats assisted landing ship tank (LST) retractions from the beachhead
Beachhead
Beachhead is a military term used to describe the line created when a unit reaches a beach, and begins to defend that area of beach, while other reinforcements help out, until a unit large enough to begin advancing has arrived. It is sometimes used interchangeably with Bridgehead and Lodgement...
s by speeding across the water astern of the landing ships and creating swells which enabled the LST's to back off the beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
and float free.
Post-World War II Navy career
Wachapreague tended PT's after the end of the war, basing at Tarakan, until she headed home and arrived at San Francisco, California, on 5 December 1945. After upkeep at the Mare Island Naval ShipyardMare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
, Wachapreague got underway for the East Coast of the United States
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
on 20 March 1946 and reported at Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, on 6 April 1946 for inactivation. She was decommissioned
Ship decommissioning
To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
on 10 May 1946 and transferred outright to the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
on 27 May 1946. Her name was struck from the Navy List
Navy List
A Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country....
on 5 June 1946.
Wachapreague received four battle stars
Service star
A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service...
for her World War II service.
United States Coast Guard career
.jpg)
USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386)
USCGC McCullough , later WHEC-386, was a Casco-class United States Coast Guard Cutter in service from 1946 to 1972. She was the fourth ship of the United States Revenue Cutter Service or United States Coast Guard to bear the name....
in honor of the financier Hugh McCulloch
Hugh McCulloch
Hugh McCulloch was an American statesman who served two non-consecutive terms as U.S. Treasury Secretary, serving under three presidents.-Biography:...
(1808-1895) who served as Secretary of the Treasury
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
for President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
s Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
, and Chester A. Arthur
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur was the 21st President of the United States . Becoming President after the assassination of President James A. Garfield, Arthur struggled to overcome suspicions of his beginnings as a politician from the New York City Republican machine, succeeding at that task by embracing...
, reclassified as a Coast Guard seaplane tender, and designated WAVP-386. McCulloch initially operated out of Boston, and later into the 1970s out of Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, patrolling ocean stations in the North Atlantic Ocean. Spending an average of 21 days per month at sea, McCulloch patrolled the direct line of air routes to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, relayed weather data to the United States Weather Bureau
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
, maintained an air-sea rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
station for overseas civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
and military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
flights, and engaged in law-enforcement
Law enforcement agency
In North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
activities. Reclassified as a High Endurance Cutter
High endurance cutter
The designation of High endurance cutter was created in 1965 when the United States Coast Guard adopted its own designation system. High endurance cutters encompassed its largest cutters previously designated by the United States Navy as Coast Guard gunboats , Coast Guard destroyer escorts , and...
and redesignated WHEC-386 in 1966, McCulloch remained engaged in these duties until more modern techniques of weather reporting and data gathering came into use and thus made the seagoing weather ships obsolete.
Republic of Vietnam Navy service 1972-1975
McCulloch was transferred to South VietnamSouth Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
in June 1972, one of seven former Barnegat-class ships transferred by the Coast Guard to the South Vietnamese Navy
Republic of Vietnam Navy
The Republic of Vietnam Navy was the naval force of the former Republic of Vietnam from 1955 to 1975. The early fleet consisted of boats from France. After 1955 and the transfer of the armed forces to Vietnamese control, the fleet was supplied from the United States...
in 1971 and 1972. In South Vietnamese service she was renamed RVNS Ngo Quyen (HQ-17)
RVNS Ngo Quyen (HQ-17)
RVNS Ngo Quyen was a South Vietnamese frigate of the Republic of Vietnam Navy in commission from 1972 to 1975. She and her six sister ships were the largest South Vietnamese naval ships of their time...
. She served as one of South Vietnam's largest and most heavily armed naval units, and served in patrol and coastal interdiction
Interdiction
Interdiction is a military term that refers to the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area. A distinction is often made between strategic and tactical interdiction...
duties during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. In late April 1975, upon the defeat of South Vietnam, Ngo Quyen, heavily laden with refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s, fled to 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...
. As she and her sisters had become ships without a country, Ngo Quyen was acquired by the Republic of 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...
in 1975, and the transfer was made formal on 5 April 1976.
Philippine Navy service 1977-1985
The former Ngo Quyen was commissioned in the Philippine NavyPhilippine Navy
The Philippine Navy is the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Philippines . Its official name in Filipino is Hukbong Dagat ng Pilipinas, literally, "Sea Force of the Philippines"....
in February 1977 as patrol vessel BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-8)
BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-8)
The BRP Gregorio del Pilar was an Andres Bonifacio class frigate of the Philippine Navy in commission from 1977 to 1990. She was one of six ex-United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tenders/ex-United States Coast Guard Casco-class high endurance cutters received from the United States after...
until decommissioned in 1985. She was discarded in April 1990 and probably scrapped.