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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Wachapreague AVP-56 / AGP-8
USCGC McCulloch WAVP-386 / WHEC-386

Flag Hoist/International Radio Call Sign:
November - Oscar - Delta - Alpha

USS Wachapreague (AGP-8) was transferred to the US Coast Guard and commissioned USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386)

USCGC McCulloch (WHEC-386) was transferred to South Vietnam and renamed RVNS Ngo Kuyen (HQ-17), later transferred to the Philippines and renamed BRP Gregorio de Pilar (PS-8)
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - Philippines Liberation) - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign (4)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal - Philippines Liberation Medal
Barnegat Class Small Seaplane Tender:
  • Laid down, 1 February 1943, at Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, WA.
  • Redesignated a Motor Torpedo Boat Tender, 11 May 1943
  • Launched, 10 July 1943
  • Commissioned, USS Wachapreague (AGP-8), 17 May 1944, LCDR. Harold A. Stewart, USNR, in command
  • Decommissioned, 10 May 1946, at Boston and transferred to the US Coast Guard
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 5 June 1946
  • Commissioned USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386), 25 November 1946
  • Reclassified, High Endurance Cutter (WHEC-386), 1 May 1966
  • Decommissioned and transferred to South Vietnam, 21 June 1972, renamed RVNS Ngo Kuyen (HQ-17)
  • Custody assumed by Republic of the Philippines in April 1975
  • Commissioned into the Philippine Navy as BRP Gregorio de Pilar (PS-8)
  • Sold outright to the Republic of the Philippines, 5 April 1976
  • Decommissioned by the Philippine Navy in May 1985
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
  • Wachapreague received four battle stars for her World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,766 t.(lt) 2,470.3 t.(fl)
    Length 310' ¼"
    Beam 41'
    Draft 12' 5"
    Speed 17.6 kts.
    Complement
    USN - 215
    USCG - 10 officers, 3 warrant officers, 138 enlisted
    Armament
    USN
    one single 5"/38 dual purpose gun mount
    one quad 40mm AA gun mount two dual 40mm AA gun mounts
    four dual 20mm AA gun mounts
    USCG
    one single 5"/38 Mk 30-65 dual purpose gun mount
    one Mk 52-3 director
    one Mk 26-01 fire control radar
    two .50 caliber Machine Guns
    one x Mk 4 Mod 0 hedgehog A/S projector
    one Mk 11 Mod 0 A/S projector
    two Mk 32 Mod 5 torpedo tubes (3 tubes per unit)
    Electronics
    Radar: SPS-23, SPS-29D
    Sonar: SQS-1
    Propulsion Fairbanks-Morse, direct reversing diesels, two shafts, 6,400hp.
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed By /
    Source
    USS Wachapreague (AGP-36)
    Wachapreague 104k Wachapreague (AGP-8) being launched at the Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, WA., 10 July 1943.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-51131, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection, now in the collections of the US National Archives.         		US Naval Historical Center
    Wachapreague 71k Wachapreague (AGP-8) off Houghton, WA., 20 May 1944, three days after commissioning. Her camouflage scheme is Measure 32 Design 2Ax.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-69680, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection, now in the collections of the US National Archives.         		US Naval Historical Center
    Wachapreague 82k Wachapreague (AGP-8) off Houghton, WA., 20 May 1944, three days after commissioning.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-69681, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection, now in the collections of the US National Archives.         		US Naval Historical Center
    Wachapreague 89k Wachapreague (AGP-8) off Houghton, WA., 20 May 1944, three days after commissioning.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-69682, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection, now in the collections of the US National Archives.         		US Naval Historical Center
    Wachapreague 94k Wachapreague (AGP-8) off Houghton, WA., 20 May 1944, three days after commissioning.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-69683, a US Navy photo from the Bureau of Ships Collection, now in the collections of the US National Archives.         		US Naval Historical Center
    Wachapreague 106k Wachapreague (AGP-8), refueling PT-194, 20 October 1944 while enroute from Palau to Leyte Gulf. In October she sailed with her sisters Oyster Bay (AGP-6) and Willoughby (AGP-9), an AVP, and two army craft for Leyte in the Philippines, all escorting a group of 45 PT boats. During the transit Wachapreague refueled underway all 15 of the PT boats assigned to her. A few days after arriving in the Philippines, her PT boats played a prominent role in the Battle of Surigao Strait, in which the Japanese lost two battleships, two cruisers, and several destroyers.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-345815, a US Navy photo, now in the collections of the US National Archives.         		US Naval Historical Center
    USCGC McCulloch (WAVP-386 / WHEC-386)
    Wachapreague 53k McCulloch (WAVP-386) underway, date and place unknown. Haze Gray & Underway web site
    Wachapreague 82k McCulloch (WAVP-386) underway, date and place unknown. © Richard Leonhardt
    Wachapreague 61k McCulloch (WAVP-386) moored pierside, circa 1948, location unknown. Robert Hurst
    Wachapreague 71k McCulloch (WAVP-386) at her berth at the US Coast Guard Station Boston September 1960. © Richard Leonhardt
    Wachapreague 173k McCulloch (WAVP-386) underway, date and place unknown. Ken Laesser
    Courtesy Joe Pickens BM2 USCG Ret
    Wachapreague 54k McCulloch (WAVP-386) underway, 29 September 1965, place unknown.
    US Coast Guard photo # CGY092965-08.    		 US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    RVNS Ngo Kuyen (HQ-17)
    Castle Rock 42k ex Wachapreague (AGP-8) in South Vietnamese service as RVNS Ngo Kuyen (HQ-17) underway, date and location unknown. Bang Le
    View the Wachapreague (AGP-9)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    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 - USCG McCulloch WAVP-386 / WHEC-386
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Type Index Back To The Small Seaplane Tender (AVP) Photo Index Back To The Motor Torpedo Boat Tender/Patrol Craft Tender (AGP) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    © 2005 Gary P. Priolo © 1996 - 2008 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
    Last Updated 7 December 2007