The Offshore Patrol (OSP), also known as the Mosquito Fleet was a small naval branch of the United States Army, intended for inshore defense of the Philippines. It was active from February 9, 1939 to June 30, 1946. The OSP became part of the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) on July 26, 1941, with General Douglas MacArthur as Commander. During the Japanese invasion of the Philippines, the Patrol engaged in limited naval operations along the coastlines of Bataan and Corregidor, against the tight enemy blockade, to bring much-needed provisions to the beleaguered Filipino and American troops during the battle. Undaunted by enemy superiority, the ubiquitous patrol boats fought with zeal, courage and heroism, hitting Japanese warships with torpedoes when given the opportunity. The unit relied on speed and surprise to attack larger vessels at close range.
USS Charger (CVE-30) was an escort carrier of the United States Navy during World War II converted from a commercial C3-P&C cargo/passenger liner hull built as Rio de la Plata intended for the Moore-McCormack company's American Republics Line serving the east coast of South America. The ship was requisitioned for conversion to an escort carrier type intended for Royal Navy use and initially commissioned as HMS Charger (D27). Days later the transfer was rescinded with the ship returning to U.S. Navy control to become USS Charger which operated throughout the war as a training ship on the Chesapeake Bay with two ferry missions to Bermuda and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three was a United States Navy squadron based at Cavite, Philippines, from September 1941 to mid-April 1942. It was commanded by Lieutenant John D. Bulkeley and made up of six motor torpedo boats: PT-31, PT-32, PT-33, PT-34, PT-35, and PT-41, the last as the squadron flagship. The other six boats of the squadron remained at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and were there when war broke out, eventually being shipped to the Solomons.
USS Parrott (DD-218) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II and was the second ship named for George Fountain Parrott.
USS Napa (AT-32), originally Yucca, was a Bagaduce-class fleet tug of the United States Navy. The ship was laid down as Napa on 5 March 1919, at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington; launched on 24 July 1919; and commissioned on 5 December 1919, Lt. W. R. Giddens in command.
Kenneth Dillon Bailey was a United States Marine Corps officer who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroic conduct during action during the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. He also earned the Silver Star Medal during the initial landing on Tulagi in the Solomon Islands and the Purple Heart.
SS President Coolidge was an American luxury ocean liner that was completed in 1931. She was operated by Dollar Steamship Lines until 1938, and then by American President Lines until 1941. She served as a troopship from December 1941 until October 1942, when she was sunk by mines in Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides, part of current-day Vanuatu. President Coolidge had a sister ship, SS President Hoover, completed in 1930 and lost when she ran aground in a typhoon in 1937.
USS Samaritan (AH-10) was a hospital ship that served with the US Navy in World War II. Prior to that, she served as a US Navy transport ship under the name USS Chaumont (AP-5).
USS Canopus (AS-9) was a submarine tender in the United States Navy, named for the star Canopus.
USS Lanikai, was a schooner-rigged diesel powered yacht commissioned into the United States Navy during both World War I and World War II, before being transferred to the Royal Australian Navy.
Jack Miller was a United States Marine Corps officer who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroic actions as one of Carlson's Raiders during the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II.
USS George F. Elliott (AP-13) was a Heywood-class transport acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I and then reacquired by the Navy for service as a troop carrier during World War II. In 1942, she was attacked off Guadalcanal by Japanese planes and sank shortly thereafter.
USS Wakefield (AP-21) was a troop transport that served with the US Navy during World War II. Before her war service, she was the luxury ocean liner SS Manhattan.
SS Point Bonita was constructed in 1918 and launched 27 March 1918 after a hull being built for foreign owners at Albina Engine and Machine Works was requisitioned during World War I by the United States Shipping Board (USSB). The ship saw service as the Navy transport USS Point Bonita, assigned Identification Number 3496, from 7 October 1918 to 7 April 1919, was returned to the USSB and saw civilian service with several commercial companies as San Pedro and Oliver Olson before again seeing service in World War II as USS Camanga (AG-42). After return to commercial service as Oliver Olson the ship was wrecked at the entrance to Bandon harbor in Oregon.
President Taylor was a cargo-liner, ex President Polk, ex Granite State, requisitioned for war service in December 1941 and allocated by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) to the U.S. Army and operating as a troopship in the Pacific Ocean in World War II when grounded and eventually lost on 14 February 1942.
Trabajador was a 111 foot (33.8 m) tug launched in 1931 by Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Co., Ltd. for Visayan Stevedore-Transportation Company and registered as a United States vessel in Iloilo, Philippines.
Maryann, sometimes seen as Maryanne or Mary Anne, was a yacht requisitioned and converted by the United States Navy during the defense of the Philippines in World War II and destroyed 5 May 1942 at Corregidor to prevent capture. The yacht was "in service" and not commissioned.
Fisheries II was a vessel requisitioned by the United States Navy during the defense of the Philippines during World War II. The vessel was "in service" and not commissioned.
SS Sierra Cordoba was a Norddeutscher Lloyd passenger and cargo ship completed 1913 by AG Vulcan Stettin. The ship operated between Bremen and Buenos Aires on the line's South American service and was equipped with wireless and "submarine sounding apparatus" with accommodations for 116 first class, 74 second class and 1,270 "between decks" passengers. A description after the ship had been seized and restored in 1919 noted she was among the fastest and best equipped ships of the line with accommodations for 115 first class passengers and 1,572 third and steerage class passengers as well as a crew of 179 officers and men.
