USS Yakutat (AVP-32)

300 px USS Yakutat (AVP-32) off Seattle, Washington, on 30 March 1944, the day before she was commissioned
Career (US)
Name:	USS Yakutat
Namesake:	Yakutat Bay on the southern coast of Alaska
Builder:	Associated Shipbuilders, Inc., Seattle, Washington
Laid down:	1 April 1942
Launched:	2 July 1943
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Peter Barber
Commissioned:	31 March 1944
Decommissioned:	17 April 1946
Honors and awards:	Four battle stars for World War II service
Fate:	Loaned to U.S. Coast Guard 31 August 1948; permanently transferred to Coast Guard 26 September 1966 Transferred to South Vietnam 10 January 1971 Taken over by Republic of the Philippines April 1975 Transferred to Philippines 5 April 1976 or 6 April 1976 Probably scrapped ca. 1982
Notes:	Served as United States Coast Guard cutter USCGC Yakutat (WAVP-380), later WHEC-380, 1948-1971 Served as South Vietnamese patrol vessel RVNS Tran Nhat Duat (HQ-03) 1971-1975 Cannibalized for spare parts in Philippines without ever entering Philippine Navy service
General characteristics
Class and type:	Barnegat-class small seaplane tender
Displacement:	1,766 tons (light) 2,750 tons (full load)
Length:	311 ft 8 in (95.00 m)
Beam:	41 ft 1 in (12.52 m)
Draft:	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Installed power:	6,000 horsepower (4.48 megawatts)
Propulsion:	Diesel engines, two shafts
Speed:	18.6 knots
Complement:	215 (ships' company) 367 (with aviation unit)
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar; sonar
Armament:	3 x (as built), later 1 x, single 5-inch (127-millimeter) 38-caliber dual-purpose gun mount 1 x quad 40-millimeter antiaircraft gun mount 2 x dual 40-millimtere antiaircraft gun mounts 4 x dual 20-millimeter antiaircraft gun mounts 2 x depth charge tracks
Aviation facilities:	Supplies, spare parts, repairs, and berthing for one seaplane squadron; 80,000 U.S. gallons (302,833 liters) aviation fuel

USS Yakutat (AVP-32) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. Yakutat tended seaplanes in combat areas in the Pacific during World War II.

Construction, commissioning, and shakedown

Yakutat (AVP-32) was laid down on 1 April 1942 at Seattle, Washington, by Associated Shipbuilders, Inc.. She was launched on 2 July 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Peter Barber, a mother who had lost three sons when the battleship USS Oklahoma (BB-37) (BB-37) was sunk on 7 December 1941 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and was commissioned on 31 March 1944 with Commander George K. Fraser in command.

After her shakedown in the San Diego, California, area, Yakutat got underway on 25 May 1942 and arrived at San Pedro, California, late on 26 May 1944. Following post-shakedown availability in the West Coast Shipbuilders' yard at San Pedro, she departed for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 17 June 1944.

World War II Pacific Theater operations

Yakutat reached Ford Island at Pearl Harbor on 24 June 1944. Underway again at 07:00 hours on 28 June 1944, she headed for the Marshall Islands as an escort for escort aircraft carrier USS Makin Island (CVE-93). Arriving at Kwajalein on 6 July 1944, she shifted to Eniwetok within a week, where she embarked officers and enlisted men of a patrol service unit and took on board a cargo of 5-inch (127-millimeter) illuminating ammunition. She departed for Saipan on 14 July 1944.

Setting up base in Tanapag Harbor

Reaching recently secured Tanapag Harbor on 17 July 1944, Yakutat began setting up a seaplane base there and immediately commenced servicing seaplanes, providing subsistence and quarters for the aviators and aircrews attached to those aircraft. She provided the aircraft with gasoline and lubricating oil via bowser fueling boats and commenced servicing planes by the over-the-stern method as well.

Yakutat remained at Tanapag Harbor for the rest of July, all of August, and into September 1944. After shifting to the Garapan anchorage, Saipan, on 8 September 1944, she transferred all plane personnel to seaplane tender USS Coos Bay (AVP-25) and sailed for the Palau Islands on 12 September 1944. In company with seaplane tenders USS Chandeleur (AV-10), USS Pocomoke (AV-9), USS Onslow (AVP-48), and USS Mackinac (AVP-13), Yakutat reached Kossol Passage on 16 September 1944, the day after the initial American landings on Pelelieu.

Setting up a new base near Pelelieu

Proceeding to the seaplane operation area via a "comparatively well-marked channel" and "while sweeping operations went on continuously" nearby, Yakutat soon commenced laying out a seaplane anchorage. The following day, Yakutat serviced the first plane of Patrol Bomber Squadron 216 (VPB-216), furnishing aviation fuel and boat service.

Harassed by enemy bombs

With nine Martin PBM Mariner flying boats operational, VPB-216 was based on Yakutat, conducting long-range patrols and antisubmarine sweeps daily. During that time, Yakutat also served as secondary fighter director unit and experienced air alerts on six occasions. Japanese planes remained in the vicinity for varying lengths of time and occasionally dropped bombs in the lagoon area.

Yakutat serviced the VPB-216 planes into early November 1944. On 9 November 1944, she got underway for Ulithi Atoll and arrived there on 10 November 1944. Yakutat tended planes there from 13 November 1944 to 26 November 1944 before she underwent a drydocking for a routine bottom cleaning and hull repairs. She then sailed for Guam on 29 November 1944.

Saipan operations

Reaching Apra Harbor, Guam, on 30 November 1944, Yakutat loaded spare parts for Martin PBM Mariner flying boats before she got underway on 2 December 1944 to return to Saipan. She arrived later the same day, completed the discharge of her cargo on 4 December 1944 and, on 5 December 1944, took on board 13 officers and 30 enlisted men of VPB-216 for temporary subsistence.

Yakutat tended planes of Patrol Bomber Squadron 16 (VPB-16) and Patrol Bomber Squadron 17 (VPB-17) at Saipan through mid-January 1945. She departed Tanapag Harbor on the morning of 17 January 1945, steamed independently for Guam, and reached her destination later that day. However, she remained there only a short time, for she departed on 19 January 1945 for the Palau Islands and reached Kossol Roads on 21 January 1945. Yakutat discharged cargo there and fueled seaplanes until 6 February 1945, when she sailed in company with seaplane tender USS St. George (AV-16), escorted by patrol craft USS PC-1130, bound for the Caroline Islands.

Anchoring at Ulithi Atoll on 7 February 1945, Yakutat tended seaplanes there for most of February 1945. Highlighting her brief stay there was her going to the vicinity of a crashed Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane on 10 February 1945. After salvaging equipment from the plane, Yakutat sank the plane with gunfire and returned to her anchorage in the seaplane operating area.

On 25 February 1944, Yakutat sailed for the Marianas in company with St. George and reached Garapan harbor on 27 February 1945. She tended seaplanes there for a little less than a month before departing for Okinawa on 23 March 1945 to take part in Operation Iceberg, the conquest of the Ryūkyū Islands.

Supporting Operation Iceberg

Yakutat tended the PBM Mariners of Patrol Bomber Squadron 27 (VPB-27) for the rest of World War II. She established seadrome operations at Kerama Retto on the 28 March 1945 and spent the rest of the important Okinawa campaign in seaplane tending duties. The presence of Japanese aircraft in the vicinity on numerous occasions meant many hours spent at general quarters stations, lookouts' eyes and radar alert for any sign of approaching enemy planes. Yakutat provided quarters and subsistence for the crews of the Mariners and furnished the planes with gasoline, lubricating oil, and jet-assisted take-off (JATO) units. The Mariners conducted antisubmarine and air-sea rescue ("Dumbo") duties locally, as well as offensive patrols that ranged as far as the coast of Korea.

Rescuing plane crash survivors

Although Yakutat received a dispatch on 21 June 1945 to the effect that all "organized resistance on Okinawa has ceased," her routine remained busy. On 28 June 1945, for example, a Consolidated PB2Y Coronado flying boat crashed on take-off and sank approximately 500 yards (457 meters) off the starboard beam of the ship. Yakutat dispatched two boats to the scene and rescued eight men, while boats from another ship rescued the remaining three survivors from the Coronado. All eleven men were brought on board Yakutat, where they were examined and returned to their squadron, Patrol Bomber Squadron 13 (VPB-13).

Avoiding typhoons

On 15 July 1945, Yakutat sailed for Chimu Bay, Okinawa—in company with seaplane tenders USS Norton Sound (AV-11), Chandeleur, Onslow, USS Shelikof (AVP-52), and USS Bering Strait (AVP-34) -- but returned to port due to a typhoon in the vicinity. However, she got underway again on 16 July 1945 and reached Chimu Bay the same day. She remained there, tending seaplanes, largely anchored but occasionally moving to open water to be free to maneuver when typhoons swirled by. On one occasion, while returning to Chimu Bay after a typhoon evacuation, Yakutat made sonar contact on a suspected submarine on 3 August 1945. She made one attack, dropping depth charges from her stern-mounted depth-charge tracks, but lost the contact soon thereafter.

The end of the war

Yakutat was at Chimu Bay when Japan capitulated and hostilities ended on 15 August 1945, bringing World War II to a close. With the officers and enlisted men of the crew assembled aft, Yakutat's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander W. I. Darnell, led his crew in offering thanks to God "for being kept afloat to see the final day of this war."

Awards and honors

Yakutat earned four battle stars for her World War II service.

Post-World War II U.S. Navy service

Although V-J Day meant that offensive operations against the Japanese ceased, it only meant the beginning of the long occupation of Japan and its possessions. Yakutat remained at Chimu Bay for the rest of August and for most of September 1945, before she departed for Japanese home waters on 20 September 1945, escorting St. George.

En route, the two seaplane tenders caught up with Vice Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's Task Unit 56.4.3, formed around the battleships USS Tennessee (BB-43) and USS California (BB-44), and became units of Task Force 56, and later, when redesignated, as Task Force 51.

Tending seaplanes in Japanese waters

Yakutat reached Wakanoura Wan, Honshū, on 22 September 1945, finding seaplane tender USS Floyds Bay (AVP-40) already there and operating as a tender for seaplanes. Yakutat underwent a brief availability alongside destroyer tender USS Cascade (AD-26) before she commenced her seaplane tending operations at Wakanoura Wan. She operated as a tender for seaplanes using that port until 12 October 1945, when she shifted to Hiro Wan, where she performed seaplane tender operations and seadrome control duties for a little over a month.

Underway on 14 November 1945, Yakutat arrived at Sasebo, Japan, on 15 November 1945, stayed there until 19 November 1945.

Return to the United States

On 19 November 1945, Yakutat departed Sasebo for the United States with 58 officers and 141 enlisted men embarked as passengers. After stopping at Midway Atoll for fuel on 27 November 1945, she continued on, bound for the Pacific Northwest.

Reaching Port Townsend, Washington, on 6 December 1945, Yakutat transferred all her passengers to landing craft infantry USS LCI-957 for further transportation, then shifted to Sinclair Inlet, Washington, where she offloaded all bombs and ammunition before reporting on the 7 December 1945 to the Bremerton Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Bremerton, Washington. Yakutat subsequently shifted south to the naval air station at Alameda, California, where she was decommissioned on 29 July 1946.

U.S. Coast Guard service

File:USCGC Yakutat (WHEC-380).jpg

Yakutat as Coast Guard cutter USCGC Yakutat (WHEC-380), ex-WAVP-380, in 1969.

Main article: USCGC Yakutat (WAVP-380)

Yakutat was loaned to the United States Coast Guard on 31 August 1948, and was commissioned as the cutter USCGC Yakutat (WAVP-380). Redesignated WHEC-380 and permanently transferred to the Coast Guard in 1966, Yakutat spent her long Coast Guard career on weather-reporting, law-enforcement, and search-and-rescue duties while on patrol in ocean stations in the North Atlantic. She also served two tours of duty (in 1967-1968 and in 1970) in the Vietnam War.

Foreign service

Main article: RVNS Tran Nhat Duat (HQ-03)

South Vietnamese service

Yakutat was transferred to South Vietnam at the beginning of 1971, becoming the Republic of Vietnam Navy patrol vessel RVNS Tran Nhat Duat (HQ-03). When South Vietnam collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975, Tran Nhat Duat fled to Subic Bay in the Philippines.

Acquisition for spare parts by the Philippines

Taken over by the Philippines, she was formally transferred to the Philippine Navy on 5 April 1976 or 6 April 1976. She was cannibalized for spare parts and probably scrapped ca. 1982 without every entering Philippine Navy service.

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
• AVP-32 NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive Yakutat WAVP-380 / WHEC-380 Yakutat
• Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Yakutat (AVP-32), 1944-1948
• United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: Yakutat, 1948 WHEC-380 Radio call sign: NBWJ Visual call sign: NBWJ/GERMANY ZULU
• Chesneau, Roger. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.

See also

• List of United States Navy ships