USS Varuna (AGP-5)

Last updated
USS Varuna (AGP-5) moored pierside, circa in 1944.jpg
Varuna, circa 1944
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS Varuna
Namesake Varuna
Builder Dravo Corporation, Neville Island, Pennsylvania
Laid down23 August 1942
Launched9 December 1942
Sponsored byMrs. R. J. Mitchell
Completed26 March 1943
Commissioned31 August 1943
Decommissioned4 January 1946
RenamedVaruna (AGP-5), 13 January 1943
Stricken1 May 1946
Honors and
awards
4 battle stars (World War II)
FateSold for scrap 1946
General characteristics
Class and typePortunus-class motor torpedo boat tender
Displacement3,960 long tons (4,024 t)
Length328 ft (100 m)
Beam50 ft (15 m)
Draft13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion2 × General Motors 12-567 diesel engines, 2 shafts, twin rudders
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement283 officers and enlisted
Armament

USS Varuna (AGP-5) was a Portunus-class motor torpedo boat tender of the United States Navy during World War II.

Contents

The ship was laid down on 23 August 1942 by the Dravo Corporation at Neville Island, Pennsylvania as the LST-1-class tank landing ship LST-14. Launched on 9 December 1942, sponsored by Mrs. R. J. Mitchell, the ship was renamed Varuna and redesignated AGP-5 on 13 January 1943, and completed as an LST by Dravo Corp. on 26 March 1943. Placed in reduced commission on that date, she was towed to Tampa, Florida, where she was converted to a motor torpedo boat tender (AGP), and commissioned on 31 August 1943.

Service history

1943

Following her shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico, Varuna sailed for the Pacific on 4 October and proceeded via Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the Panama Canal which she transited on the 22nd. When two days out of Balboa, the ship left the convoy to receive an emergency appendectomy patient from LST-219. Following a successful transfer, and while steaming to rejoin the convoy, Varuna and LST-219 collided on 27 October. There were no casualties on either ship, but the damage sustained forced both vessels to return to Panama for repairs.

Drydocked at Balboa from 9 to 20 November, Varuna got underway on 3 December for the Society Islands and arrived at Bora Bora on Christmas Eve. She remained there until the 28th, when she got underway on the second leg of her passage, and arrived at Pago Pago, Samoa, on 2 January 1944.

1944

Varuna did not linger long in Samoan waters, for she pushed toward Suva, Fiji Islands, on 5 January and then proceeded via Nouméa, New Caledonia, and Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, to the Solomon Islands. She reached Lunga Point, Guadalcanal, on the 11th and then moved to Tulagi where she unloaded her cargo of motor torpedo boat (MTB) base equipment. Calling at Rendova Harbor, Rendova Island, and later at Blanche Harbor, Treasury Islands, Varuna conducted her first repair job on 17 February, when she repaired MTB (also known as patrol torpedo (PT) boat) PT-105. She remained at the Blanche Harbor base through the remainder of the month of February — repairing an average of four PT-boats per day — before she shifted her operations to Nissan Harbor, Green Island.

Establishing the PT-boat base at Green Island, Varuna was now situated at the base perhaps nearest to Japanese territory. Located half-way between New Ireland and Bougainville — both occupied by the Japanese and both well north of the nearest Allied bases — Green Island served as a staging area for the five MTB squadrons attached to Varuna. These PTs were earmarked to harass the Japanese seaborne supply lane from New Britain, New Ireland, and the Shortland Islands, and to assist in the blockade of Rabaul.

The ship's historian later recorded that it was while at Green Island that "Tokyo Rose" first mentioned Varuna. The vessel had been cut off from vital supplies while at Green Island and had been unable to get any more — or so said "Rose". Several days later, as the historian recounted, a PC came alongside to offer Varuna a share of her own meager stores. "The Varuna declined with thanks", the historian wrote, saying that "she had plenty of everything."

Varuna operated out of Green Island until 31 July, when she returned to the Treasury Islands for a 20-day stay. Returning to Green, she loaded men and equipment of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron (MTBRon) 27, and departed her erstwhile base on the 24th, reaching Manus in the Admiralties two days later. Although initially slated to stage from there, a change of plan routed Varuna and her PT boats to Mios Woendi on the northern tip of New Guinea. Departing Manus on 7 September, the MTB tender and her brood — MTB-Rons 27 and 28 — arrived at Mios Woendi. on the 13th, via Humboldt Bay, New Guinea.

For the next 17 days, Varuna took on stores, fuel, water, and gasoline in preparation for her next operations and, in company with MTBRon 27, departed for the Palaus. Arriving in Naval Base Kossol Roads on 1 October, the MTB tender set up shop providing support services for the PT's which had been assigned the task of patrolling the large fleet anchorage there. In addition, the "Peter Tares" (PT's) were to patrol and blockade the Japanese-held island of Babelthuap and other small islands of the group.

Varuna received a "flash red" alert on the 30th at 0855; and, while other ships got underway, she received orders to remain at anchor to act as communication link for screening vessels and the PT's and to render assistance as necessary. At 1220, the ship picked up a single twin-engined Mitsubishi Ki-21 "Sally" coming in low and fast. It dropped one bomb near a floating drydock and roared on towards the anchored MTB tender. Varuna opened fire with 3-inch, 40-millimeter, and 20-millimeter guns, repelling the attack by enveloping the plane in tracer fire and causing the attacker to veer off in the direction of Babelthuap.

1945

Varuna remained at Kossol Roads until the day after Christmas 1944, when she sailed for San Pedro Bay, Leyte, arriving on 29 December. She remained in the bay until 25 January 1945, tending the boats from MTBRon 27 and repairing boats from other squadrons engaged in the local operations against the Japanese. In addition, towards the end of this period, Varuna staged for the invasion of Olongapo and Subic Bay on the island of Luzon.

She served in this support role in the capture of the Olongapo region, tending and repairing "Peter Tares". As American forces began their march to recapture Manila and the Bataan Peninsula, Varuna's boats blockaded the Bataan shoreline, serving a dual purpose in keeping reinforcements from coming in and those trapped Japanese from getting out; blockading Corregidor and Fort Drum in Manila Bay; and patrolling the bay. This action continued until late in April, with Varuna remaining in Subic Bay until 5 May.

Following a period of repairs which included a dry-docking, the MTB tender anchored off Samar to prepare for the impending strike against the Japanese-held island of Borneo. Departing Samar on 23 June, Varuna steamed singly for Tawi Tawi in the Sulu Archipelago, arriving on 26 June. She spent the following day fueling and making repairs to boats from MTBRons 10 and 27 before getting underway on the 28th.

Arriving off Balikpapan on 1 July, Varuna found that rough seas in Makassar Strait made docking of the PT's to be almost impossible. Allied forces meanwhile rapidly secured a beachhead, forcing the Japanese defenders into the hinterlands, and minesweeping operations cleared a channel to the inner harbor of Balikpapan. There, Varuna again set up shop to tend her group of torpedo boats. Up to this point, the Japanese had made little resistance from the air; but, late in July, the enemy began nearly continual air attacks for five days running. On one such attack, bombs splashed astern of Varuna but far enough away so as to not cause any damage.

Her boats, during this period, conducted regular patrols off the Borneo coast and across Makassar Strait to the Celebes. Varuna tended her brood, supporting their harassing activities to the enemy until 0237 on 15 August 1945, when word came to cease offensive action. Two atomic bombs and increased Allied pressures had forced Japan to accept the unconditional surrender terms of the Potsdam Declaration.

Varuna subsequently proceeded for Bobon Point, Samar, to assist in the decommissioning of PT boats. Arriving on 10 September, the MTB tender spent the next two months in the Philippines supporting this activity. On 20 November, she sailed for the United States and proceeded — via Guam, Pearl Harbor, and the Panama Canal — to New York City. Decommissioned on 4 January 1946, Varuna was struck from the Navy list on 1 May 1946 and sold to Stavanger Tankrederi for scrap soon thereafter.

Awards

Varuna received four battle stars for her World War II services.

Related Research Articles

USS <i>San Pablo</i> (AVP-30) Tender of the United States Navy

USS San Pablo (AVP-30) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender which was in commission as such from 1943 to 1947 and then served as a commissioned hydrographic survey ship, redesignated AGS-30, from 1948 to 1969. Thus far, she has been the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for San Pablo Bay, a shallow northern extension of San Francisco Bay in California.

USS <i>Phaon</i>

USS Phaon (ARB-3) was planned as a United States Navy LST-1-class tank landing ship, but was redesignated as one of twelve Aristaeus-class battle damage repair ships built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named for Phaon, she was the only US Naval vessel to bear the name.

USS <i>Hilo</i> Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Hilo (AGP-2) was a converted yacht that saw service as a motor torpedo boat tender in the United States Navy during World War II. It was originally the yacht Caroline built for Eldridge R. Johnson and launched 18 July 1931. Caroline was at the time the second largest yacht and largest American built Diesel yacht. It was built with a laboratory as well as palatial quarters and was loaned and equipped by Johnson for the Johnson-Smithsonian Deep-Sea Expedition of 1933 that explored the Puerto Rico Trench. The yacht was sold in 1938 to William B. Leeds and renamed Moana replacing an earlier Leeds yacht of the same name.

USS <i>Jamestown</i> (PG-55) Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS Jamestown (PG-55) was a patrol gunboat and after 13 January 1943 a Jamestown-class motor torpedo boat tender acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her task in her final classification was to provide a "home base" for torpedo boats in remote parts of the ocean during the war, and to provide them with necessary services, such as fuel, food, and repairs.

USS <i>Portunus</i> (AGP-4) Tender of the United States Navy

USS Portunus (AGP-4) was an LST-1-class tank landing ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for use during World War II as a motor torpedo boat (MTB) tender. She was named after a Roman god of the sea, who had jurisdiction over ports and the shores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mios Woendi</span> Island in Papua, Indonesia

Mios Woendi island is an island in the Schouten Islands of Papua province, eastern Indonesia. It lies in Cenderawasih Bay 50 kilometres off the northwestern coast of the island nation of Papua New Guinea.

USS <i>Oyster Bay</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6), originally and later AVP-28, was a United States Navy motor torpedo boat tender in commission from 1943 to 1946. She saw service in World War II.

USS <i>Niagara</i> (PG-52) Gunboat of the United States Navy

The seventh USS Niagara (CMc-2/PG-52/AGP-1) was an auxiliary ship of the United States Navy during World War II.

USS <i>Wachapreague</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Wachapreague (AGP-8) was a motor torpedo boat tender in commission in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, seeing service in the latter part of World War II. After her Navy decommissioning, she was in commission in the United States Coast Guard from 1946 to 1972 as the cutter USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386), later WHEC-386, the fourth ship of the U.S. Coast Guard or its predecessor, the United States Revenue Cutter Service, to bear the name. In 1972 she was transferred to South Vietnam and served in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Ngô Quyền (HQ-17). Upon the collapse of South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, she fled to the Philippines, and she served in the Philippine Navy from 1977 to 1985 as the frigate RPSGregorio del Pilar (PF-8) and from 1987 to 1990 as BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-12).

USS <i>Willoughby</i> (AGP-9) Tender of the United States Navy

The second USS Willoughby (AGP-9) was a motor torpedo boat tender that served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946, seeing service in the later stages of World War II. Transferred to the United States Coast Guard in 1946, she was in commission as the cutter USCGC Gresham (WAVP-387), later WHEC-387 and WAGW-387, from 1947 to 1969 and from 1970 to 1973, seeing service in the Vietnam War during her Coast Guard career.

USS <i>Mobjack</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Mobjack (AVP-27/AGP-7) was a motor torpedo boat tender in commission in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. She saw service in the Pacific theater during the latter portion of World War II.

USS <i>Orestes</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Orestes (AGP-10) was a motor torpedo boat tender that served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946.

USS <i>PGM-3</i> Gunboat of the United States Navy

USS PGM-3 was a PGM-1 class motor gunboat that served in the United States Navy during World War II. She was originally laid down as an SC-497 class submarine chaser on 7 September 1942 by the Peterson Boat Works in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and launched on 12 April 1943. She was commissioned as USS SC-1035 on 17 May 1943. She was later converted to a PGM-1 class motor gunboat and renamed PGM-3 on 10 December 1943. After the war she was transferred to the Foreign Liquidations Commission on 20 May 1947. She was turned over to the Chinese Navy at the mouth of the Yangtze River in the summer of 1947.

USS <i>Acontius</i> Tender of the United States Navy


USS Acontius (AGP-12) was a motor torpedo boat tender in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1965.

USS <i>Alecto</i> Tender of the United States Navy

USS Alecto (AGP-14) was a Portunus-class motor torpedo boat tender built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was originally ordered as USS LST-977 an LST-542-class tank landing ship, but renamed and re-designated on 12 June 1944.

Patrol torpedo boat <i>PT-20</i> Torpedo boat of the United States Navy

PT-20 was the first PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy that served during World War II. Her first post was at Pearl Harbor PT Boat Base.

Patrol torpedo boat <i>PT-30</i> Torpedo boat of the United States Navy

PT-30 was a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy American that served during World War II.

Patrol torpedo boat <i>PT-29</i> Torpedo boat of the United States Navy

PT-29 was a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy American that served during World War II.

Patrol torpedo boat <i>PT-42</i> Torpedo boat of the United States Navy

PT-42 was a PT-20-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy that served during World War II.

PT-143 was a PT-103-class motor torpedo boat of the United States Navy that served during World War II.

References