USS Chincoteague

This article is about the United States Navy ship. For other meanings, see Chincoteague.

USS Chincoteague (AVP-24) off the United States West Coast in mid-1945 after an overhaul.
History
United States
Name	USS Chincoteague
Namesake	Chincoteague Bay, on the coast of Maryland and Virginia
Builder	Lake Washington Shipyard, Houghton, Washington
Laid down	23 July 1941
Launched	15 April 1942
Sponsored by	Mrs. G. Rowe
Commissioned	12 April 1943
Decommissioned	21 December 1946
Honors and awards	Six battle stars for World War II service
Fate	Loaned to United States Coast Guard 7 March 1949 Transferred outright to Coast Guard 26 September 1966
Notes	Served in Coast Guard as cutter USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375), later WHEC-375, 1949-1972 Served in South Vietnamese Navy as patrol vessel RVNS Ly Thuong Kiet (HQ-16) 1972-1975 Served in Philippine Navy as patrol vessel BRP Andres Bonifacto (PF-7) 1976-1985; sold for scrapping 2003
General characteristics
Class and type	Barnegat-class seaplane tender
Displacement	1,766 tons (light 2,592 tons (trial)
Length	310 ft 9 in (94.72 m)
Beam	41 ft 2 in (12.55 m)
Draft	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) (lim.)
Installed power	6,000 horsepower (4.48 megawatts)
Propulsion	Diesel engines, two shafts
Speed	18.2 knots (33.7 km/h)s
Complement	215 (ship's company) 367 (including aviation unit)
Sensors and processing systems	Radar; sonar
Armament	3 x 5-inch (127 mm) guns 8 x 40-millimeter guns 8 x 20-millimeter guns 2 × depth charge tracks
Aviation facilities	Supplies, spare parts, repairs, and berthing for one seaplane squadron; 80,000 US gallons (300,000 L) aviation fuel

USS Chincoteague (AVP-24) was a United States Navy seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1946.

Construction and commissioning

Chincoteague was launched on 15 April 1942 by Lake Washington Shipyard at Houghton, Washington, sponsored by Mrs. G. Rowe. She was commissioned on 12 April 1943 with Commander I. E. Hobbs in command.

World War II service

New Guinea campaign

Chincoteague departed from San Diego, California, on 13 June 1943 for Saboe Bay in the Santa Cruz Islands, where she arrived on 6 July 1943 to support the New Guinea campaign as tender for Fleet Air Wing 1 (FAW-1). On 16 July 1943 the Japanese launched eight air attacks at Saboe Bay, killing nine of Chincoteague's crew and damaging the ship badly through one direct hit and two near misses. Taken in tow by seaplane tender USS Thornton (AVD-11), and then by tug USS Sonoma (AT-12), Chincoteague reached Espiritu Santo on 21 July 1943 for emergency repairs, and later was towed to San Francisco, California, for thorough overhaul.

Central and Southwest Pacific operations

Chincoteague put out from San Diego on 27 January 1944 for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and operations in support of the consolidation of the northern Solomon Islands, the occupation of the Marshall Islands, and air action in the Treasury Islands. She tended seaplanes at Kwajalein, Eniwetok, in the Treasury Islands, and at Green Island. In addition, she carried freight, mail and passengers among the Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Gilbert Islands, Mariana Islands, New Hebrides, and Phoenix Islands, and voyaged from Guadalcanal to Auckland, New Zealand, returning with aircraft engines. Escorting a convoy, Chincoteague sailed from Eniwetok on 24 September 1944 for Pearl Harbor, and overhaul. She returned to active operations on 6 December 1944 at Kossol Roads in the Palau Islands, where she conducted salvage and rescue operations for the next two months.

Iwo Jima campaign and operations at Ulithi Atoll

Chincoteague arrived at Guam on 13 February 1945 to join the assault force bound for Iwo Jima, and on 20 February 1945, arrived off the bitterly contested island to tend seaplanes until 8 March 1945. Similar operations at Ulithi Atoll followed until 8 June 1945, when she sailed for an overhaul on the United States West Coast, where she was when World War II ended with the cessation of hostilities with Japan on 15 August 1945.

Awards

Chincoteague received six battle stars for World War II service.

Post-World War II U.S. Navy service

On postwar occupation duty, Chincoteague sailed to the Far East to care for seaplanes at Okinawa and Tsingtao, China, between 18 October 1945 and 16 March 1946. She then sailed for San Diego; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Beaumont, Texas.

Decommissioning and reserve status

On 21 December 1946, Chincoteague was decommissioned and placed in reserve.

U.S. Coast Guard service

Main article: USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375)

USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375) in 1964.

On 7 March 1949, Chincoteague was lent to the United States Coast Guard, in which she was commissioned that day as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375). She was reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC-375 on 1 May 1966, and was transferred permanently from the Navy to the Coast Guard on 26 September 1966. Her primary duty was to patrol ocean stations in the North Atlantic Ocean, providing weather data and engaging in search-and-rescue and law-enforcement operations. The Coast Guard decommissioned her in June 1972 and returned her to U.S. Navy custody.

Foreign service

Republic of Vietnam Navy service

Main article: RVNS Ly Thuong Kiet (HQ-16)

Chincoteague was transferred to South Vietnam on 21 June 1972; renamed RVNS Ly Thuong Kiet (HQ-16), she entered service in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as a patrol vessel. In 1974, she participated in the Battle of the Paracel Islands.

When South Vietnam collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975, Ly Thuong Kiet fled to the Philippines.

Philippine Navy service

Main article: BRP Andres Bonifacio (PF-7)

Transferred to the Republic of the Philippines on 5 April 1976, she was commissioned in the Philippine Navy as frigate RPS Andres Bonifacio (PF-7). She was decommissioned by around 1993.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive USS Chincoteague (AVP-24) USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375) (WHEC-375)
• Department of the Navy Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Chincoteague (AVP-24), 1943-1949
• United States Coast Guard Historian's Office: Chincoteague, 1949 WHEC-375 Radio call sign: NBOZ
• Chesneau, Roger. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. New York: Mayflower Books, Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-8317-0303-2.
• Moore, John E., Captain, RN, FRGS. Jane's Fighting Ships 1973-1974. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1973.