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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Chincoteague (AVP-24)
USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375) (WHEC-375)

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign: November - Bravo - Oscar - Zulu
Chincoteague (AVP-24) was transferred to the US Coast Guard and commissioned, USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375)

USCGC Chincoteague (WHEC-375) was transferred to South Vietnam and renamed RVNS Tran Binh Trong (HQ-5), later transferred to the Philippines and renamed RPS Andres Bonifacto (PF-7)
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons



Precedence of awards is from top bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - 16 July 1943)
Second Row - China Service Medal (extended) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6)
Third Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Individual Awards

Purple Heart (KIA and wounded 16 July 1943)
Barnegat Class Small Seaplane Tender:
  • Laid down, 23 July 1941, at Lake Washington Shipyard, Houghton, WA.
  • Launched, 15 April 1942
  • Commissioned USS Chincoteague (AVP-24), 12 April 1943, CDR. I. E. Hobbs in command
  • Decommissioned, 21 December 1946, at Beaumont, TX.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group
  • Transferred on loaned to the US Coast Guard, 7 March 1949 and commissioned USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375)
  • Redesignated High Endurance Cutter (WHEC-375), 1 May 1966
  • Permanently transferred to the US Coast Guard, 26 September 1966
  • Decommissioned in June 1972
  • Returned to US Naval custody and transferred to South Vietnam, 21 June 1972, renamed RVNS Tran Binh Trong (HQ-5)
  • Taken over by the Republic of the Philippines in April 1975, renamed RPS Andres Bonifacto (PF-7)
  • Sold outright to the Republic of the Philippines, 5 April 1976
  • Struck from the Naval Register (date unknown)
  • Decommissioned by the Philippine Navy in June 1985
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
  • Chincoteague earned six battle stars for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,766 t.(lt) 2,497 t.(fl)
    Length 310' 9½"
    Beam 41'
    Draft 12' 5"
    Speed 17 kts.
    Complement
    USN - 215
    USCG - 10 officers, 3 warrant officers, 136 enlisted
    Electronics
    Radar: SPS-23, SPS-29D
    Sonar: SQS-1
    Armament
    USN - one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount, one quad 40mm gun mount, two dual 40mm gun mounts, four dual 20mm gun mounts
    USCG - one single 5"/38 Mk 12, Mod 1 dual purpose gune mount, one Mk 52 Mod 3 director, one Mk 26 fire control radar, one Mk 11 A/S projector, two Mk 32 Mod 5 torpedo tubes
    Propulsion Fairbanks-Morse, direct reversing diesels, two shafts, 6,400hp.
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Chincoteague (AVP-24)
    Chincoteague 129k Aft plan view of Chincoteague (AVP-24) at Mare Island Navy Yard, 15 December 1943. Chincoteague was in overhaul at Mare Island from 4 September to 30 December 1943. The covered lighter alongside is YF-535. Cony (DD-508) and Thatcher (DD-514) are berthed at the next pier over, while Trepang (SS-412) is on the building ways in the far background.
    US Navy photo # NH 97707 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Darryl Baker
    Chincoteague 108k Forward plan view of Chincoteague (AVP-24) at Mare Island Navy Yard, 15 December 1943.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 8282    		 Darryl Baker
    Chincoteague 79k Broadside view of Chincoteague (AVP-24) off Mare Island Navy Yard, 27 December 1943.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 8427    		 Darryl Baker
    Chincoteague 65k Chincoteague (AVP-24) off Mare Island Navy Yard, 27 December 1943, following repairs to severe battle damage incurred in July 1943. One of the four 5"/38 guns in her original armament has been replaced by a quadruple 40mm mount.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-57482. A US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Chincoteague 83k Chincoteague (AVP-24) off Mare Island Navy Yard, 27 December 1943, following repairs to severe battle damage incurred in July 1943. One of the four 5"/38 guns in her original armament has been replaced by a quadruple 40mm mount.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-57483. A US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Chincoteague 73k Stern view of Chincoteague (AVP-24) departing Mare Island Navy Yard, 27 December 1943.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 8429    		 Darryl Baker
    Chincoteague 116k Chincoteague (AVP-24) mid-1945 following a West Coast overhaul. Her quadruple 40mm mount has been moved forward, but she retains an unshielded 5"/38 gun on the fantail.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-88911. A US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Chincoteague 152k Chincoteague (AVP-24), mid-1945 following a West Coast overhaul. Her quadruple 40mm mount has been moved forward, but she retains an unshielded 5"/38 gun on the fantail.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-88909. A US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection now in the US National Archives    		 US Naval Historical Center
    USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375 / WHEC-375)
    Chincoteague 32k ex Chincoteague (AVP-24) in US Coast Guard service as Chincoteague (WAVP-375), date and place unknown. Ken Laesser
    Chincoteague 53k ex Chincoteague (AVP-24) in US Coast Guard service as Chincoteague (WAVP-375), off Norfolk, VA., 1954. Stanley Svec
    Chincoteague 46k ex Chincoteague (AVP-24) in US Coast Guard service as Chincoteague (WAVP-375), date and place unknown. Haze Gray & Underway Web Site
    Chincoteague 45k ex Chincoteague (AVP-24) in US Coast Guard service as Chincoteague (WAVP-375) in 1964, date unknown.
    US Coast Guard photo    		 US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    Chincoteague 52k ex Chincoteague (AVP-24) in US Coast Guard service as Chincoteague (WAVP-375) in 1968, date unknown.
    US Coast Guard photo    		 US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    RVNS Ly Thoung KIet (HQ-16
    Bearing Strait 60k Ex-USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375), in South Vietnamese service as Ly Thoung Kiet (HQ-16) moored pierside, date and location unknown. Bang Le
    Bering Strait 69k ex-Chincoteague (AVP-24) in South Vietnamese service as Tran Binh Trong (HQ-5) moored outboard of ex Cook Inlet (AVP-36) in South Vietnamese service as Tran Quang Khai (HQ-2) and ex-Wachapreague (AGP-8) now in South Vietnamese service as Tran Quoc Toan (HQ-6) at Saigon, May 1972. © Richard Leonhardt
    Chincoteague 63k ex-Chincoteague (AVP-24) in South Vietnamese service as Tran Binh Trong (HQ-5) underway, date and place unknown. Bang Le
    RPS Andres Bonifacto (PF-7)
    Chincoteague 35k ex Chincoteague (AVP-24) in Philippine service as Andres Bonifacto (PF-7) Haze Gray & Underway Web Site
    View the Chincoteague (AVP-24)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center web site
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office - USCGC Chincoteague WHEC-375
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 16 June 2006