USS Bering Strait (AVP-34) was a United States Navy small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946. She tended seaplanes during World War II in the Pacific in combat areas and earned three battle stars by war's end.
After her U.S. Navy career ended, the ship served in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Bering Strait (WAVP-382), later WHEC-382, from 1948 to 1971, seeing service in the Vietnam War. The Coast Guard decommissioned her at the beginning of 1971, and she was transferred to South Vietnam and served in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Trần Quang Khải (HQ-02) until South Vietnam's collapse at the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975. She fled to the Philippines, where she was incorporated into the Philippine Navy, in which she served from 1980 to 1985 as the frigate BRP Diego Silang (PF-9) and as BRP Diego Silang (PF-14) from 1987 to 1990.
Construction and commissioning
Bering Strait was laid down on 7 June 1943 at Houghton, Washington, by Lake Washington Shipyard. She was launched on 15 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. George F. Cornwall, and commissioned at her builder's yard on 19 July 1944.
United States Navy service After fitting out and conducting her initial sea trials in Puget Sound, Bering Strait departed Seattle, Washington, on 10 August 1944. She reached Naval Air Station Alameda at Alameda, California, on 13 August 1944. From 17 August 1944 to 13 September 1944, she conducted her shakedown, covering areas such as ship control, communications, general drills, engineering and damage control instruction, gunnery training, and antiaircraft and antisubmarine work. Proceeding to Los Angeles, California, upon completion of that training, Bering Strait underwent two weeks of repairs and alterations at Terminal Island Naval Drydocks at Terminal Island, California.
World War II
Training operations in Hawaii Reporting for duty with the United States Pacific Fleet on 2 October 1944, Bering Strait sailed for the Hawaiian Islands on 3 October 1944. She arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 9 October, and on 13 October 1944 sailed for Hilo, Hawaii. Arriving there on 14 October, she established a seaplane base at Kuhio Bay and, until 5 November, carried out training with successive detachments of Glenn L. Martin Company PBM Mariner flying boats. She tended six Martin PBM-3Ds from Patrol Bombing Squadron 25 (VPB-25) from 14 to 19 October 1944 and a second detachment of six PBM-3Ds from the same squadron between 19 and 29 October 1944, after which time she tended six Mariners from Patrol Bombing Squadron 26 (VPB-26). Concluding those advanced base activities on 5 November 1944, she sailed for Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay at Kaneohe, Hawaii, the same day.
Arriving at her destination on the 6th, Bering Strait received orders to organize and train an air-sea rescue task group made up of herself and the seaplane detachment of Rescue Squadron 2 (VH-2), an assignment that required her to exchange her aviation spare parts allowance for PBM-3D Mariner patrol bombers for spares for PBM-3R Mariner rescue aircraft. Returning to Pearl Harbor on 23 November 1944, Bering Strait underwent a shipyard availability and then loaded the equipment of Rescue Squadron 3 (VH-3), which had been substituted for VH-2.
Operations in the Marshall Islands Bering Strait sailed for the Marshall Islands on 1 December 1944. During the passage to Kwajalein Atoll, the ship served as antisubmarine screen for the seaplane tender .
After pausing at Kwajalein from 9 to 12 December, Bering Strait returned to sea again with Cumberland Sound and steamed to Eniwetok, arriving there on 13 December 1944 to carry out air-sea rescue training, which began after VH-3 arrived from Kaneohe on 15 December. She conducted nine days of training with VH-3 before that squadron transferred to Cumberland Sound on 24 December 1944.
Bering Strait, along with the patrol craft and , then escorted the cargo ship and six merchant ships from Eniwetok to Saipan in the Mariana Islands, departing on 24 December 1944.
Operations in the Mariana Islands Bering Strait and her convoy arrived on 28 December 1944 at Garapan Harbor on Saipan. Shifting on 29 December 1944 to Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, she received VH-3 on board that day.
On 1 January 1945, however, Bering Strait transferred her aviation maintenance unit to VH-3 for temporary duty and sent her aviation officer, aviation storekeepers, all aviation spare parts, and three of her boats to the naval air base at Tanapag, so that the organization could be maintained intact ashore. That day, she reported to Commander, Marianas Patrol and Escort Force, for temporary operational control for radar picket and air-sea rescue duty. She departed Tanapag Harbor on 5 January 1945 to take up her new task.
From 6 to 15 January 1945, Bering Strait operated west of Sarigan and Guguan Islands, on radar picket station to warn Saipan of approaching Japanese planes. Returning to Saipan for logistics on 16 January 1945, she embarked a fighter-director officer from a United States Marine Corps aircraft group on 18 January 1945, and departed later that day to assume radar picket duties as fighter-director ship in Operation Michigan to intercept Japanese planes operating between Iwo Jima and Truk.
Returning to Saipan on 28 January 1945 for logistics and to disembark the U.S. Marine Corps fighter-direction officer, Bering Strait commenced a six days of voyage repairs. On 4 February 1945, she sailed to relieve the destroyer on air-sea rescue lifeguard station.
At 23:00 hours on 10 February 1945, Bering Strait made contact with a homeward-bound Boeing B-29 Superfortress, first by radar and then visually. The ship switched on her lights and stood by for a landing, illuminating the sea and then indicating the wind direction with searchlights. The B-29, named Deacon's Delight, accomplished "an almost perfect ditching," and Bering Straits motor whaleboat took the entire 12-man crew on board and brought them to the ship. Then, after collecting floating debris and gear, and riddling the Superfortress with gunfire in a vain effort to sink it, Bering Strait rammed and sank the hardy bomber.
An hour earlier, Bering Strait had picked up a report that another B-29, named Homing Bird, had ditched. After completing the rescue of Deacon's Delights crew, the ship headed for the scene of Homing Birds crash. Guided to the scene by a "Dumbo" air-sea rescue aircraft the ship arrived there by 16:05 hours on 11 February 1945 and picked up the entire 11-man crew immediately.
Work still remained to be done, however, for soon after winding up the rescue of Homing Birds crew, Bering Strait received orders to rendezvous with the high-speed minelayer , to pick up the crew of a Superfortress that had ditched around 22:30 hours on 10 February 1945. The violent landing had claimed the lives of four of the B-29's crew. A patrolling "Dumbo" spotted the men the next morning, dropped survival gear, and covered them until Robert H. Smith picked them up that afternoon. On the morning of 12 February 1945, Bering Strait embarked the seven survivors of the third B-29. Returning to Saipan on 15 February, the ship disembarked the airmen the same day.
On the night of Bering Straits return to her station, on 19 February 1945, a B-29 had ditched at 21:00, north of Pagan Island, but broke up and sank upon landing; five men, trapped in the wreckage, had drowned. Unable to extract all of the life rafts – one man had the use of only a partially inflated rubber boat – the crew lay at the mercy of the sea. Directed to the scene by a "Dumbo," Bering Strait sighted the survivors and hove to in their midst. She picked up five men, one of whom had been swimming without a life jacket for two hours, and sighted two bodies but could not recover them. Fortunately, the airmen had been spotted in the darkness because of tiny lights pinned to their life jackets, lights that had been "stolen"This quote, from the ship's Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b5/bering-strait-i.htm ) is unattributed. from the Navy "on personal initiative." Bering Strait disembarked those survivors at Saipan on 21 February 1945, and got underway later the same day to relieve the destroyer on lifeguard station.
Returning to Saipan on 3 March 1945, Bering Strait spent the next six days in a shipyard availability before setting out to resume her lifeguard work on 9 March.
On 10 March, Bering Strait established contact with a B-29, nicknamed Hopeful Devil, that radioed a distress call during its return from a bombing mission over the Japanese home islands. The Superfortress ditched alongside at 12:38 hours, and Bering Strait picked up the nine-man crew in short order. Almost immediately, Bering Strait picked up a position report on another ditched B-29, and steered a course to the rescue. Although the position reports provided the ship proved incorrect because a "Dumbo" pilot mistook Guguan Island for Alamagan, Bering Strait spotted a "Dumbo" orbiting southwest of Guguan and altered course to investigate. She picked up the 11-man crew of that ditched B-29 and then shaped a course for her lifeguard station.Video of the ditching and rescue of Hopeful Devil , Youtube
Bering Strait remained at sea, from Pagan Island, from 11 to 14 March 1945, at which time she relieved her sister ship, the seaplane tender at another air-sea rescue station. Returning to Saipan for logistics on 16 March 1945, Bering Strait disembarked the 20 airmen taken on board since 10 March 1945 before sailing for Guam.
Bering Straits performance of her rescue function earned her accolades from the Commanding General of the United States Army Air Forces 313th Bombardment Wing who, upon the ship's detachment from lifeguard duties, sent her a message: "Since you have been our guardian angel of the seas you have returned safely to us 50 combat crewmen. Many of them are flying against the enemy again. We are grateful for the splendid work you have done and wish you all the best of luck."This quote, from the ship's Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entry (at http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b5/bering-strait-i.htm ) is not sourced in the entry.
Invasion of Okinawa
On 18 March 1945, Bering Strait began preparations for Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa. Underway on 19 March 1945, she escorted the seaplane tender to Saipan and completed the preparations for "Iceberg" by loading VH-3 equipment between 20 and 23 March 1945. This work accomplished, she sailed for Kerama Retto on 23 March 1945 in company with three large seaplane tenders and three of her sister ships, as Task Group (TG) 51.20.
Reaching her destination on 28 March 1945, Bering Strait anchored in the Kerama Retto passage, and TG 51.20 established a seaplane base that day. The next day, VH-3 arrived and flew its first "Dumbo" mission.
On "L-day," 1 April 1945, the invasion of Okinawa commenced. The first "Dumbo" mission of the invasion for VH-3 proved successful, as the squadron commander, Lieutenant Commander W. H. Bonvillian, rescued the three-man crew of a Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber from Torpedo Squadron 29 (VT-29). Antiaircraft fire had brought the plane down in a rice paddy, and the three crewmen deemed it prudent to take to their rubber boat and head out to sea where Lieutenant Commander Bonvillian's Mariner picked them up.