View source for USS Wachapreague (AGP-8)

{|{{Infobox Ship Begin}}
{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image=[[Image:USS Wachapreague (AGP-8) 2.jpg|300px|USS Wachapreague (AGP-8)]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Wachapreague'' (AGP-8) on 20 May 1944, three days after [[Ship commissioning|commissioning]]
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag}}
|Ship name=USS ''Wachapreague''
|Ship namesake=The [[Wachapreague Channel]], an [[inlet]] on the eastern shore of [[Virginia]]
|Ship owner=
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Lake Washington Shipyard]], [[Houghton, Washington]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=1 February 1943
|Ship launched=10 July 1943
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. E. L. Barr
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=17 May 1944
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=10 May 1946
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=From [[seaplane tender]] AVP-56 to [[motor torpedo boat tender]] AGP-8 on 2 February 1943
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=5 June 1946
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship honors=Four [[Service star|battle stars]] for her [[World War II]] service
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[United States Coast Guard]] 27 May 1946
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=Served as U.S. [[Coast Guard cutter]] [[USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386)|USCGC ''McCulloch'' (WAVP-386)]], later WHEC-386, 1946-1972<br />Served as [[Republic of Vietnam Navy|South Vietnamese Navy]] [[patrol boat|patrol vessel]] [[RVNS Ngo Kuyen (HQ-17)|RVNS ''Ngo Kuyen'' (HQ-17)]] 1972-1975<br />Served as [[Philippine Navy]] patrol vessel [[BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-8)|BRP ''Gregorio del Pilar'' (PF-8)]] 1976-1985
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[Barnegat class seaplane tender|''Barnegat''-class]] [[seaplane tender]], converted during construction into a [[motor torpedo boat tender]]
|Ship type=
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=1,766 [[ton]]s (light)<br/>2,592 tons (full load)
|Ship tons burthen=
|Ship length={{convert|310|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|41|ft|1|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship height=
|Ship draught= 
|Ship draft={{convert|13|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power=6,000 [[horsepower]] (4.48 [[megawatt]]s)
|Ship propulsion=[[Diesel engine]]s, two shafts
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed=18.2 [[Knot (speed)|knot]]s
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=246
|Ship crew=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=[[Radar]]; [[sonar]]
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=2 x 5-[[inch]] (127-[[millimetre|millimeter]]) gun<br />8 x 40-millimeter [[anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] guns<br />8 x 20-millimeter antiaircraft guns<br />2 x [[depth charge]] tracks
|Ship armour= 
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Wachapreague'' (AGP-8)''' was a [[motor torpedo boat tender]] that served in the [[United States Navy]] from 1944 to 1946.

==Construction and deployment==

''Wachapreague'' (AVP-56) was laid down as a [[Barnegat class seaplane tender|''Barnegat''-class]] [[seaplane tender]] on 1 February 1943 at [[Houghton, Washington|Houghton]] [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]], by the [[Lake Washington Shipyard]]. 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 [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 17 May 1944, [[Lieutenant Commander]] Harold A. Stewart, [[United States Navy Reserve|USNR]], in command.

Following her [[Shakedown (testing)|shakedown]] training out of [[San Diego]],  [[California]], ''Wachapreague'' got underway on 18 July 1944 for [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]], en route to the [[South West Pacific theatre of World War II|South Pacific]]. Soon thereafter, she stopped briefly at [[Espiritu Santo]], [[New Hebrides]], and called at [[Brisbane]], [[Australia]], on 17 August 1944, before reaching her ultimate destination, [[Milne Bay]], [[New Guinea]], on 20 August 1944.

''Wachapreague'' dropped anchor at Motor Torpedo Boat Base 21, at that time the largest [[PT boat|patrol torpedo boat]] (PT boat) operating base in the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]]. She reported to Commander, [[Motor Torpedo Boat]]s, [[United States Seventh Fleet|7th Fleet]], and commenced tending the 10 PT boats from Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron (MTBRon) 12. This unit had previously taken a heavy toll of [[Japan|Japanese]] [[barge]] traffic and had wreaked much havoc upon Japanese shore installations, in almost nightly actions, during the [[New Guinea campaign]]. As [[Allies|Allied]] 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]] from Japanese occupation.

==The Philippines campaign==
===The Leyte campaign begins===

[[Image:USS Wachapreague refuels a PT boat.jpg|thumb|300px|left|USS ''Wachapreague'' (AGP-8) refuels a [[PT boat]] on 20 October 1944 during the voyage from [[Palau]] to [[Leyte]].]]On 13 October 1944, ''Wachapreague'' sailed in company with motor torpedo boat tenders [[USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6)]] and [[USS Willoughby (AGP-9)|USS ''Willoughby'' (AGP-9)]], seaplane tender [[USS Half Moon (AVP-26)|USS ''Half Moon'' (AVP-26)]], and two [[United States Army]] craft for [[Leyte]], 1,200 [[nautical mile]]s (2,222 [[kilometre|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 [[Knot (speed)|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]], [[Palau]], 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 (Philippines)|San Pedro Bay]] off Leyte, her PT boats, fresh and ready for action immediately, entered [[Leyte Gulf]] 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 warfare|guerrilla]] [[radio]] 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 forc]]es were approaching from three directions, PT boats tended by ''Wachapreague'' sped to action stations. In the van of the southern Japanese force steamed two [[battleship]]s and a [[heavy cruiser]], screened by four [[destroyer]]s; 30 nautical miles (56 kilometers) behind came the second group, consisting of three [[cruiser]]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]] [[Jesse B. Oldendorf]] deployed across the northern end of [[Surigao Strait]] to "[[crossing the T|cross the T]]." The devastation the American warships wreaked upon the Japanese force was nearly total. Only one Japanese ship -- destroyer [[Japanese destroyer Shigure|''Shigure'']] emerged from what became known as the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf|Battle of Surigao Strait]].

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]] [[Japanese cruiser Abukuma|''Abukuma'']] and forcing ''Abukuma'' out of the battle line, badly damaged. The Japanese flagship, heavy cruiser [[Japanese cruiser Nachi|''Nachi'']], 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 [[Japanese destroyer Shiranuhi|''Shiranuhi'']] on 26 October 1944.

MTBron 12's actions and the Battle of Surigao Strait itself were part of the larger [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]] of 23 October to 26 October 1944, a decisive defeat to the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] 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|USS ''PT-194'']] on 25 October 1944, a Japanese plane attacked the ship, only to be driven off by a heavy [[anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft]] 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]] attacked ''Wachapreague'' just as she was completing fueling operations with [[USS PT-134|USS ''PT-134'']]. As the ''PT-134'' pulled away from ''Wachapreague'''s side, a Japanese [[bomb]] landed some 18 [[foot (length)|feet]] (5.5 [[metre|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]], fired on three twin-motored [[Mitsubishi G4M]] "Betty" [[bomber]]s, claiming two kills as one "Betty" crashed into the sea and a second, trailing smoke, crashed behind a nearby [[island]].

===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 Bay]] and [[Bohol Sea|Mindanao Sea]] areas. On 13 November 1944, her task completed in those waters for the time being, ''Wachapreague'' sailed in company with ''Willoughby'' for [[Mios Woendi]]. 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 Gulf|Lingayen]], on [[Luzon]], in company with MTBRons 28 and 36.

===The Luzon campaign===
At [[noon]] on the day of departure, 4 January 1945, a Japanese suicide aircraft dived into a [[merchant vessel|merchant ship]] 100 [[yard]]s (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|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]] 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]] and [[Aparri, Cagayan|Aparri]], 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 Island]]. 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]].

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]]s, the PT boats netted some 30 prisoners. In addition to these tasks, the PT boats assisted [[landing Ship, Tank|landing ship tank]] (LST) retractions from the [[beachhead]]s by speeding across the water astern of the landing ships and creating swells which enabled the LST's to back off the [[beach]] 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 Shipyard]], ''Wachapreague'' got underway for the [[East Coast of the United States]] on 20 March 1946 and reported at [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], on 6 April 1946 for inactivation. She was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] on 10 May 1946 and transferred outright to the [[United States Coast Guard]] on 27 May 1946. Her name was struck from the [[Navy List]] on 5 June 1946.

''Wachapreague'' received four [[Service star|battle stars]] for her World War II service.

==United States Coast Guard career==
{{main|USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386)}}

[[Image:USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386).jpg|thumb|300px|left|[[United States Coast Guard Cutter|Coast Guard cutter]] USCGC ''McCulloch'' (WAVP-386), the former USS ''Wachapreague'', in the [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] sometime between May 1946 and the Coast Guard{{'}}s 1967 adoption of the [[United States Coast Guard#Symbols|"racing stripe"]] markings on its ships.]]In Coast Guard service, ''Wachapreague'' was renamed [[USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386)|USCGC ''McCulloch'']] in honor of the financier [[Hugh McCulloch]] (1808-1895) who served as [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]] for [[President]]s [[Abraham Lincoln]], [[Andrew Johnson]], and [[Chester A. Arthur]], 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, North Carolina|Wilmington]], [[North Carolina]], patrolling [[Ocean Weather Station|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]], relayed weather data to the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|United States Weather Bureau]], maintained an [[Search and rescue|air-sea rescue]] station for overseas [[civilian]] and [[military]] flights, and engaged in [[Law enforcement agency|law-enforcement]] activities. Reclassified as a [[High endurance cutter|High Endurance Cutter]] 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.

==Career in foreign navies==
===Republic of Vietnam Navy service 1972-1975===
{{main|RVNS Ngo Kuyen (HQ-17)}}

''McCulloch'' was transferred to [[South Vietnam]] in June 1972, one of seven former ''Barnegat''-class ships transferred by the Coast Guard to the [[Republic of Vietnam Navy|South Vietnamese Navy]] in 1971 and 1972. In South Vietnamese service she was renamed [[RVNS Ngo Kuyen (HQ-17)|RVNS ''Ngo Kuyen'' (HQ-17)]]. She served as one of South Vietnam's largest and most heavily armed naval units, and served in patrol and coastal [[interdiction]] duties during the [[Vietnam War]]. In late April 1975, upon the defeat of South Vietnam, ''Ngo Kuyen'', heavily laden with [[refugee]]s, fled to the [[Philippines]]. As she and her sisters had become ships without a country, ''Ngo Kuyen'' was acquired by the [[Philippines|Republic of the Philippines]] in 1975, and the transfer was made formal on 5 April 1976.

===Philippine Navy service 1977-1985===
{{main|BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-8)}}
The former ''Ngo Kuyen'' was commissioned in the [[Philippine Navy]] in February 1977 as patrol vessel [[BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-8)|BRP ''Gregorio del Pilar'' (PF-8)]] until decommissioned in 1985. She was discarded in April 1990 and probably scrapped.<ref>http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/McCulloch_1946.pdf</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w1/wachapreague.htm}}
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-w/agp8.htm Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS ''Wachapreague'' (AGP-8, originally AVP-56), 1944-1946]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/43/4356.htm NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive USS Wachapreague AVP-56 / AGP-8 USCGC McCulloch WAVP-386 / WHEC-386]
* [http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/McCulloch_1946.pdf ''McCulloch'', 1946 WAVP / WHEC-386]
* Chesneau, Roger. ''Conway{{'}}s All the World's Fighting Ships 1922&ndash;1946''. New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.

{{Barnegat class small seaplane tender}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wachapreague (AGP-8)}}
[[Category:Barnegat class seaplane tenders]]
[[Category:Motor torpedo boat tenders of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:United States Navy ships transferred to the United States Coast Guard]]
[[Category:United States Navy ships transferred to the Republic of Vietnam Navy]]
[[Category:United States Navy ships transferred to the Philippine Navy]]
[[Category:United States Navy Virginia-related ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Washington (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]