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NavSource Online: Amphibious Photo Archive

USS Orestes (AGP-10)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Juliet - Xray - Bravo
 NJXB
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - 30 December 1944) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - Philippines Presidential Unit Citation - Philippines Liberation Medal (1)
Personnel Awards

Purple Heart (45 KIA and WIA, 30 December 1944)
Varuna Class Motor Torpedo Boat Tender:
  • Laid down as LST-135, 8 July 1943, at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co., Seneca IL.
  • Redesignated a Motor Torpedo Boat Tender, 3 November 1943
  • Launched 16 November 1943
  • Placed in reduced commission, date unknown, LT. Buell A. Nesbett USNR in command
  • Decommissioned, 13 January 1944, at Maryland Drydock Co., Baltimore, MD.
  • Converted at Maryland Drydock Co., Baltimore, MD.
  • Commissioned USS Orestes (AGP-10), 25 April 1944, LT. Kenneth N. Mueller, USNR, in command
  • During WWII USS Orestes was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Western New Guinea operations
    Designated duty in connection with motor torpedo boat operations, 14 August to 7 November 1944     		Leyte operations
    Leyte landings, 6 to 18 November and 22 to 29 November 1944

  • Decommissioned, 29 April 1946, at Oakland, CA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 23 April 1947
  • USS Orestes earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 15 March 1948
  • Final Disposition, sold for scrapping, date unknown, to Walter W Johnson Co., San Francisco, CA.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 3,960 t.(lt) 4,100 t.(fl)
    Length 328'
    Beam 50'
    Draft 11' 2"
    Speed 11.6 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 37
    Enlisted 304
    Largest Boom Capacity 50 t.
    Boats two LCVP
    Armament
    one 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount
    two quad 40mm AA gun mounts
    eight single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacities
    Diesel 4,480 Bbls
    Gasoline 62,000 Gals
    Propulsion
    two General Motors 12-567A Diesel engines
    single Falk Main Reduction Gears
    Ship's Service Generators
     three Diesel-drive 100Kw 120V.240V D.C.
     two Diesel-drive 100Kw 450V A.C.
    two propellers, 1,800 shp
    twin rudders
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Orestes 119k USS Orestes (AGP-10) underway in Chesapeake Bay off Port Covington, Baltimore, MD., 11 May 1944, just after completion of conversion.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, photo # 19-N-66058, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Robert Hurst
    Oyster Bay 342k A Japanese Kamikaze plane, shot down by USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) crashes in the water close aboard an LST. The tenders USS Oyster Bay (AGP-6) and USS Hilo (AGP-2) are at left, USS Orestes (AGP-10) center. This was the third plane shot down by Oyster Bay on the morning of 24 November 1944.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # 80-G-325823 from "At Close Quarters: PT Boats on the United States Navy" by Captain Robert J. Bulkley, Jr. USNR (Ret.)    		 Robert Hurst
    Orestes 320k PT Squadron 25 (PTRON-25) boats nested alongside USS Orestes (AGP-10) probably at Guinan Harbor, Samar, P.I. in late 1945. The boats were being prepared for deactivation.
    Photos courtesy Ens Robert Hostetter (deceased) XO PT-348, PT-350 and PT-596.    		 Jerry Gilmartin MMC(SW) Ret PT658 curator LCI713 AFMM secretary
    Orestes 268k
    Orestes 245k A PT Squadron 25 (PTRON-25) boat being painted while hoisted on USS Orestes (AGP-10)'s A-frame, probably at Guinan Harbor, Samar, P.I. in late 1945.
    Photos courtesy Ens Robert Hostetter (deceased) XO PT-348, PT-350 and PT-596.    		 Jerry Gilmartin MMC(SW) Ret PT658 curator LCI713 AFMM secretary
    Orestes 268k
    USS Orestes (AGP-10)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
     LT. Nesbett, Buell Arthur, USNR? - 13 January 1944
    01LT. Mueller, Kenneth Nathan, USNR25 April 1944 - ?
    02LT. White, Frederick Lewis, USNR1 October 1945 - 29 April 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    LST Homeport
    State LST Chapters
    United States LST Association
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 13 October 2017