USS Whippoorwill (AM-35)
Encyclopedia
USS Whippoorwill (AM-35) was a Lapwing-class
minesweeper
acquired by the United States Navy
for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
The first Whippoorwill to be so-named by the Navy, Minesweeper No. 35 was laid down on 12 December 1917 at Mobile, Alabama
, by the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company
; launched on 4 July 1918; sponsored by Miss M. I. Evans; and commissioned on 1 April 1919, Lt. Birney 0. Halliwill in command.
. Operating subsequently from the port of Kirkwall
, the minesweeper participated in the clearing of the North Sea Mine Barrage as part of Division 3, Minesweeping Squadron, Atlantic Fleet. Hair-trigger mines and frequent foul weather made sweeping the barrage a difficult and dangerous mission; but, by late in the autumn of 1919, the task was completed by a miscellaneous group of new minesweepers, chartered naval trawler
s, and submarine chaser
s.
in November 1919, Whipporwill was later assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Having been classified as AM-35 on 17 July 1920, the minesweeper arrived at Pearl Harbor
, her new home port, on 1 March 1921. She would operate out of that base for the next 20 years, with brief periods spent as station ship at Pago Pago, Samoa
, between 1931 and 1934.
Whippoorwill's prime duty was service to the Fleet. Besides filling the role for which she was designed—sweeping and laying mines—upon occasion she towed targets and plane-guarded.
-- accomplished the first survey of Johnston Island in modern times. During that cruise, she carried members of the Tanager Expedition
, a joint expedition sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and the Bishop Museum
of Hawaii
. She also carried a Douglas DT
-2 floatplane
on her fantail, hoisting it into the water so that it could take off for aerial survey and mapping flights over Johnston. A little over a year later, in September 1925, the plane's pilot, Lt. Comdr. John Rodgers, would win fame as a member of the crew of the PN-9 flying boat.
Whippoorwill made other cruises, carrying members of ornithological surveys to islands such as Kingman Reef
, Palmyra
, Christmas Island
, Jarvis Island
, Howland Island
, and Baker Island
. The islands would later assume importance as transpacific air commerce spread its wings toward the Far East
and South Pacific Ocean
.
on 5 May 1941, bound for the Asiatic Fleet, as war clouds gathered over the Pacific and Far East. En route, the minecraft plane-guarded at prearranged stations, serving as a direction-finding station
for patrol planes winging their way to the Philippines
to reinforce the Asiatic Fleet's air wing—Patrol Wing 10.
After touching briefly at Guam
, in the Marianas, on 23 May, Whippoorwill reached Manila on the 30th. There, she became part of Mine Division 9, Mine Squadron 3, Asiatic Fleet. In the ensuing months, Whippoorwill performed a variety of service tasks. She towed targets for the cruisers and destroyers of the Fleet to fire at during battle practices and gunnery shoots, assisted in unmooring and mooring the Fleet's submarine
and destroyer tender
s from buoy
s, and conducted similar activities.
during maneuvers in the southern Philippines, touching at Zamboanga
and steaming in the Sulu Sea
, before returning to Cavite
and anchoring in Canacao Bay. Soon thereafter, she commenced operations with the Inshore Patrol which carried out a busy slate of operations as the Philippines feverishly prepared for the impending war with Japan
. Whippoorwill operated on patrol duties and laid mines—laying the field near Caballo Island
, near Corregidor
, at the entrance to Manila Bay
. She and Tanager also laid the mine field at Subic Bay
while operating out of the section base at Olongapo.
After an overhaul at Cavite
and at the Verdadero Dockyard across Canacao Bay
from Cavite, Whippoorwill took up patrol duties in the late autumn, frequently alternating with the gunboats Asheville (PG-21)
and Tulsa (PG-22)
. That duty was not without its share of interesting moments. On 22 November, while on patrol station "Cast," she fired four shots across the bow of the sailing vessel Remedio VIII before the vessel hove to. She later prevented the Army tug Harrison from entering the area and warned off other vessels on the 26th and 28th.
), the Japanese unleashed their onslaught against American, British, and Dutch possessions in the Far East
and in the Pacific.
At 0415 on the 8th, Whippoorwill received the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor
. Lt. Comdr. Charles A. Ferriter, the ship's commanding officer
, soon called his crew to quarters and announced the news. Now, after months of escalating tension and feverish preparations for war, the blow had fallen. Within hours, Whippoorwill was underway, commencing her first wartime sweeping operations in Manila Bay
.
and Clark Fields, destroying it as a viable retaliatory force. Thus, with little in the way of air cover, Cavite
-- the small, crowded base of operations for the Asiatic Fleet—lay naked to an attack from the sky.
The Japanese did not wait long to exploit their advantage—at 1230 on 10 December, the air raid alert was broadcast at Cavite. At 1250, Whippoorwill weighed anchor and stood out to maneuver in Manila Bay
, away from the confining waters near Cavite itself. Soon the enemy's high-level bombers were droning overhead, above the effective range of the navy yard's 3-inch batteries; every ship in the harbor opened up with their antiaircraft batteries. In the ensuing action, Whippoorwill claimed assists in splashing two bombers and sending another one crashing on shore nearby. However, the planes that did get through wreaked havoc. Stick after stick of bombs blasted the navy yard—its buildings and docks—explosions reverberated like thunderclaps.
-- alongside Central Wharf for an overhaul—was hit by a bomb that struck the foremast, snapping it off above the searchlight platform and sending shards of metal down onto the bridge and fire-control platform, killing or wounding nearly every man there—including the commander and his executive officer
. Meanwhile, bombs blasted and set afire the torpedo
warehouse across the wharf; warheads exploded and burned.
Comdr. Ferriter saw Peary's predicament and moved his ship through the burning navy yard and eased Whippoorwill near the destroyer
's stern and passed a towline. Braving the burning firebrands from the blazing warehouse, the destroyermen made fast the line, and the minesweeper commenced backing. The towline stretched taut—only to part! Twice more Ferriter's command closed the immobile destroyer, both ships endangered by warheads detonating nearby. Finally, on the third try, the line held; and, with debris showering upon the minesweeper and her crippled charge, Whippoorwill pulled Peary free.
and took the destroyer's wounded to the hospital at Sangley Point in her motor launch. Later that evening, the minesweeper unmoored from the destroyer
and stood out, anchoring for the night farther out in Manila Bay.
on 12 December and arrived at Balikpapan
on the 15th. Four days later, the minecraft—in company with Tulsa, Asheville, and Lark (AM-21)
-- joined Task Force
(TF) 7 and withdrew further south to the Celebes
, arriving the next day. Later, Whippoorwill screened Tulsa as the two ships proceeded for Java
.
Arriving at Surabaya
, three days before Christmas
of 1941, Comdr. Ferriter went ashore and reported for orders to the Dutch naval commander there. Three days later, the minesweeper commenced local patrols and sweeps out of Surabaya and continued that duty into February 1942, often operating in company with Dutch units, before she received orders to move to Tjilatjap, a port on Java
's south coast.
Langley (AV-3), reportedly sunk south of Java. Three hours out of Tjilatjap, the minesweeper's lookouts sighted a strange vessel and altered course to close and identify her. The mysterious ship turned out to be Tulsa, also searching for Langley survivors.
The trio of ships continued their search, the minesweepers steaming independently of the gunboat. At 2229, Whippoorwill and Lark arrived in the area in which Langley had been reported lost, passed a large oil slick, and smelled a strong odor of gasoline and oil—mute testimony to the tragedy that had gone before.
Following that rescue mission, Whippoorwill returned to Tjilatjap, arriving on 1 March, only to stand out later that day as Java, too, was becoming more untenable with each passing hour. Retiring in the face of a ruthless enemy drawing tight the noose around Java, Whippoorwill crept southward towards Australia
. As she proceeded on her anxious voyage, other retiring Asiatic Fleet ships met their doom at the hands of the marauding Japanese -- Asheville, Pecos (AO-6)
, and the destroyers Edsall (DD-219)
and Pillsbury (DD-227)
.
on 9 March and operated out of Fremantle into May before she shifted to Albany
. The minesweeper conducted local patrols and guardship operations in the shipping channels and harbors there from mid-May to late August when she returned to Fremantle. For the remainder of 1942, Whippoorwill operated alternatively at Exmouth Bay
, Albany, or Fremantle, patrolling locally and towing targets. On occasion, she acted as reference vessel for submarines of the Southwest Pacific forces on their training cruises. The beginning of 1943 found Whippoorwill engaged in local patrol operations out of Exmouth Gulf
, and she continued that duty until February, when she made another brief visit to Fremantle. On 18 and 19 February 1943, she engaged in night exercises with American submarines on maneuvers. Six days later, while underway off the coast, she encountered a cyclone
which wrenched two 300-pound depth charges from their tracks.
gear and came to general quarters
. She dropped depth charges but lost the contact. Arriving at Fremantle two days later, 17 May, she commenced a series of antisubmarine patrols which lasted into November.
.
Coming under the operational control of Commander, Service Force, 7th Fleet, Whippoorwill arrived at Brisbane on 20 March. For the next 10 days, 21 to 31 March 1944, she underwent final conversion to an ocean-going tug. This involved the removal of her minesweeping gear and the addition of a heavy-duty towing engine which had once been fitted on board Dobbin (AD-3)
.
, and arrived at Milne Bay
with her charge on 15 April. The tug then served Hollandia
and at Mios Woendi
; also receiving orders to Seeadler Harbor
, in the Admiralty Islands
, to serve on "battle-damage standby" duty—prepared to take any battle-damaged ships under tow and out of the front lines.
and in the backwater areas of the war in the Pacific until receiving orders to head north for Leyte
in February 1945. Later operating at Hollandia
and Ulithi
, Whippoorwill resumed operations in the Philippine Islands on 15 June 1945 and served as a harbor tug in the Manila Bay
area through the end of the war.
Touching at Leyte Gulf
, Manila Bay
, Zamboanga
, and Samar
, Whippoorwill finally rounded out her tour in the Philippine Islands on 20 December, when she departed Samar, bound for the Marshall Islands
. Arriving at Eniwetok in company with Vireo (ATO-144) and Rail (ATO-139), she departed that island on 4 January 1946, bound for Pearl Harbor
, arriving at the Pacific base that had once long served as her home port on the 15th. After a 10-day stay, Whippoorwill in company with Rail, got underway again on 25 January, and headed for San Francisco, California
.
. Struck from the Navy list
on 10 June 1946, she was turned over to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 6 November 1946.
service.
Lapwing class minesweeper
The Lapwing-class minesweeper, often called the Bird class, was an early "AM-type" oceangoing minesweeper of the United States Navy. Forty-eight ships of the class were commissioned during World War I, and served well into the 1950s. A number were refitted to serve as salvage vessels, seaplane...
minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
acquired by the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
The first Whippoorwill to be so-named by the Navy, Minesweeper No. 35 was laid down on 12 December 1917 at Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
, by the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company
Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company
The Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company located in Mobile, Alabama, was one of the largest marine production facilities in the United States of America during the 20th century. Beginning operation in 1917, the shipyard is presently owned by The Lehman Group The Alabama Drydock and...
; launched on 4 July 1918; sponsored by Miss M. I. Evans; and commissioned on 1 April 1919, Lt. Birney 0. Halliwill in command.
World War I mine clearance
After fitting out, Whippoorwill departed Boston, Massachusetts, on 3 July 1919, bound for ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Operating subsequently from the port of Kirkwall
Kirkwall
Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...
, the minesweeper participated in the clearing of the North Sea Mine Barrage as part of Division 3, Minesweeping Squadron, Atlantic Fleet. Hair-trigger mines and frequent foul weather made sweeping the barrage a difficult and dangerous mission; but, by late in the autumn of 1919, the task was completed by a miscellaneous group of new minesweepers, chartered naval trawler
Naval trawler
A naval trawler is a vessel built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes. Naval trawlers were widely used during the First and Second world wars. Fishing trawlers were particularly suited for many naval requirements because they were robust boats designed to work...
s, and submarine chaser
Submarine chaser
A submarine chaser is a small and fast naval vessel specially intended for anti-submarine warfare. Although similar vessels were designed and used by many nations, this designation was most famously used by ships built by the United States of America...
s.
Post-war transfer to the Pacific Fleet
Returning to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in November 1919, Whipporwill was later assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Having been classified as AM-35 on 17 July 1920, the minesweeper arrived at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, her new home port, on 1 March 1921. She would operate out of that base for the next 20 years, with brief periods spent as station ship at Pago Pago, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, between 1931 and 1934.
Whippoorwill's prime duty was service to the Fleet. Besides filling the role for which she was designed—sweeping and laying mines—upon occasion she towed targets and plane-guarded.
Performing surveys in the Pacific
Noteworthy highlights of her Pearl Harbor-based deployment came in the early 1920s, when she participated in surveys of various and sundry Pacific islands. In July 1923, for example, Whippoorwill -- together with her sister-ship Tanager (AM-5)USS Tanager (AM-5)
USS Tanager was an acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing....
-- accomplished the first survey of Johnston Island in modern times. During that cruise, she carried members of the Tanager Expedition
Tanager Expedition
The Tanager Expedition was a series of five biological surveys of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands conducted in partnership between the Bureau of Biological Survey and the Bishop Museum, with the assistance of the U.S. Navy. Four expeditions occurred from April to August 1923, and a fifth in July...
, a joint expedition sponsored by the Department of Agriculture and the Bishop Museum
Bishop Museum
The Bishop Museum , is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu...
of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. She also carried a Douglas DT
Douglas DT
|-References:* René Francillon, "McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920: Volume I", ISBN 0-87021-428-4...
-2 floatplane
Floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane, with slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water...
on her fantail, hoisting it into the water so that it could take off for aerial survey and mapping flights over Johnston. A little over a year later, in September 1925, the plane's pilot, Lt. Comdr. John Rodgers, would win fame as a member of the crew of the PN-9 flying boat.
Whippoorwill made other cruises, carrying members of ornithological surveys to islands such as Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef
Kingman Reef is a largely submerged, uninhabited triangular shaped reef, east-west and north-south, located in the North Pacific Ocean, roughly half way between the Hawaiian Islands and American Samoa at...
, Palmyra
Palmyra Atoll
Palmyra Atoll is an essentially unoccupied equatorial Northern Pacific atoll administered as an unorganized incorporated territory by the United States federal government...
, Christmas Island
Christmas Island
The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....
, Jarvis Island
Jarvis Island
Jarvis Island is an uninhabited 4.5 square kilometer coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean at , about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands...
, Howland Island
Howland Island
Howland Island is an uninhabited coral island located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an unincorporated, unorganized territory of the United States. Geographically, it is part...
, and Baker Island
Baker Island
Baker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia, and is a possession of the United States. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, to the north.Located at...
. The islands would later assume importance as transpacific air commerce spread its wings toward the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
and South Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
Whippoorwill modernized in 1941
Ultimately, however, Whippoorwill's Hawaiian idyll ended. Refitted and modernized, the minesweeper departed Pearl HarborPearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on 5 May 1941, bound for the Asiatic Fleet, as war clouds gathered over the Pacific and Far East. En route, the minecraft plane-guarded at prearranged stations, serving as a direction-finding station
Radio direction finder
A radio direction finder is a device for finding the direction to a radio source. Due to low frequency propagation characteristic to travel very long distances and "over the horizon", it makes a particularly good navigation system for ships, small boats, and aircraft that might be some distance...
for patrol planes winging their way to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to reinforce the Asiatic Fleet's air wing—Patrol Wing 10.
After touching briefly at Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, in the Marianas, on 23 May, Whippoorwill reached Manila on the 30th. There, she became part of Mine Division 9, Mine Squadron 3, Asiatic Fleet. In the ensuing months, Whippoorwill performed a variety of service tasks. She towed targets for the cruisers and destroyers of the Fleet to fire at during battle practices and gunnery shoots, assisted in unmooring and mooring the Fleet's submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
and destroyer tender
Destroyer tender
A destroyer tender is a ship designed to provide maintenance support to a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships. The use of this class has faded from its peak in the first half of the 20th century as the roles of small combatants have evolved .Due to the increased size and automation of...
s from buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
s, and conducted similar activities.
Philippine operations
That spring, Whippoorwill operated with Canopus (AS-9)USS Canopus (AS-9)
USS Canopus was a submarine tender in the United States Navy, named for the star Canopus.Canopus was launched in 1919 by New York Shipbuilding Company, Camden, New Jersey, as the passenger liner SS Santa Leonora for W. R. Grace and Company, but taken over by the Navy upon completion in July 1919...
during maneuvers in the southern Philippines, touching at Zamboanga
Zamboanga City
The City of Zamboanga : is a highly urbanized, independent and a chartered city located in Mindanao, Philippines....
and steaming in the Sulu Sea
Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.Sulu Sea contains a number of...
, before returning to Cavite
Cavite
Cavite is a province of the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 30 kilometers south of Manila. Cavite is surrounded by Laguna to the east, Metro Manila to the northeast, and Batangas to the south...
and anchoring in Canacao Bay. Soon thereafter, she commenced operations with the Inshore Patrol which carried out a busy slate of operations as the Philippines feverishly prepared for the impending war with Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
. Whippoorwill operated on patrol duties and laid mines—laying the field near Caballo Island
Caballo Island
Caballo Island is a bluff, rocky island located at the entrance to Manila Bay in the Philippines. It is about 3/4 mile long with the highest elevation at 381 feet high...
, near Corregidor
Corregidor
Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...
, at the entrance to Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
. She and Tanager also laid the mine field at Subic Bay
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
while operating out of the section base at Olongapo.
After an overhaul at Cavite
Cavite
Cavite is a province of the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 30 kilometers south of Manila. Cavite is surrounded by Laguna to the east, Metro Manila to the northeast, and Batangas to the south...
and at the Verdadero Dockyard across Canacao Bay
Cañacao Bay
Cañacao Bay is an inlet of Manila Bay at the end of the Cavite Peninsula, in Cavite Province, Luzon, the Philippines.The bay is a good anchorage and its northern part is the harbor of Cavite Naval Base.-References:...
from Cavite, Whippoorwill took up patrol duties in the late autumn, frequently alternating with the gunboats Asheville (PG-21)
USS Asheville (PG-21)
USS Asheville was a gunboat that served in the United States Navy during the early days of America's participation in World War II...
and Tulsa (PG-22)
USS Tulsa (PG-22)
USS Tulsa , nicknamed the Galloping Ghost of the South China Coast, was an Asheville class gunboat in the United States Navy that was in commission from 1923 to 1946. She was named after the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the county seat of Tulsa County...
. That duty was not without its share of interesting moments. On 22 November, while on patrol station "Cast," she fired four shots across the bow of the sailing vessel Remedio VIII before the vessel hove to. She later prevented the Army tug Harrison from entering the area and warned off other vessels on the 26th and 28th.
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Relieved by Tulsa on station on 30 November, Whippoorwill returned to Canacao Bay before she got underway on 3 December for sweeping operations out of Cavite. Five days later, on 8 December 1941 (7 December east of the International Date LineInternational Date Line
The International Date Line is a generally north-south imaginary line on the surface of the Earth, passing through the middle of the Pacific Ocean, that designates the place where each calendar day begins...
), the Japanese unleashed their onslaught against American, British, and Dutch possessions in the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
and in the Pacific.
At 0415 on the 8th, Whippoorwill received the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
. Lt. Comdr. Charles A. Ferriter, the ship's commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
, soon called his crew to quarters and announced the news. Now, after months of escalating tension and feverish preparations for war, the blow had fallen. Within hours, Whippoorwill was underway, commencing her first wartime sweeping operations in Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
.
Under air attack in the Philippines
On the following day, 9 December, Japanese bombers caught General Douglas MacArthur's Far Eastern Air Force on the ground at its principal fields of NicholsNichols Field
Nichols Field was a U.S. military airfield located south of Manila in Pasay City and Parañaque City, Metro Manila, Luzon, the Philippines. During the World War II era, it was the location of the Far East Air Force's U.S. 20th Air Base Group. Also, based here was Troop F of the U.S. 26th Cavalry...
and Clark Fields, destroying it as a viable retaliatory force. Thus, with little in the way of air cover, Cavite
Cavite
Cavite is a province of the Philippines located on the southern shores of Manila Bay in the CALABARZON region in Luzon, just 30 kilometers south of Manila. Cavite is surrounded by Laguna to the east, Metro Manila to the northeast, and Batangas to the south...
-- the small, crowded base of operations for the Asiatic Fleet—lay naked to an attack from the sky.
The Japanese did not wait long to exploit their advantage—at 1230 on 10 December, the air raid alert was broadcast at Cavite. At 1250, Whippoorwill weighed anchor and stood out to maneuver in Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
, away from the confining waters near Cavite itself. Soon the enemy's high-level bombers were droning overhead, above the effective range of the navy yard's 3-inch batteries; every ship in the harbor opened up with their antiaircraft batteries. In the ensuing action, Whippoorwill claimed assists in splashing two bombers and sending another one crashing on shore nearby. However, the planes that did get through wreaked havoc. Stick after stick of bombs blasted the navy yard—its buildings and docks—explosions reverberated like thunderclaps.
Peary struck by Japanese bombs
Peary (DD-226)USS Peary (DD-226)
USS Peary was a in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for Admiral Robert Edwin Peary.Peary was laid down by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia on 9 September 1919; launched on 6 April 1920; sponsored by Mrs...
-- alongside Central Wharf for an overhaul—was hit by a bomb that struck the foremast, snapping it off above the searchlight platform and sending shards of metal down onto the bridge and fire-control platform, killing or wounding nearly every man there—including the commander and his executive officer
Executive officer
An executive officer is generally a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.-Administrative law:...
. Meanwhile, bombs blasted and set afire the torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
warehouse across the wharf; warheads exploded and burned.
Comdr. Ferriter saw Peary's predicament and moved his ship through the burning navy yard and eased Whippoorwill near the destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
's stern and passed a towline. Braving the burning firebrands from the blazing warehouse, the destroyermen made fast the line, and the minesweeper commenced backing. The towline stretched taut—only to part! Twice more Ferriter's command closed the immobile destroyer, both ships endangered by warheads detonating nearby. Finally, on the third try, the line held; and, with debris showering upon the minesweeper and her crippled charge, Whippoorwill pulled Peary free.
Whippoorwill pulls Peary out of danger
Soon thereafter, Whippoorwill moored Peary to a buoy in Manila BayManila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
and took the destroyer's wounded to the hospital at Sangley Point in her motor launch. Later that evening, the minesweeper unmoored from the destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
and stood out, anchoring for the night farther out in Manila Bay.
Whippoorwill escapes to Borneo
With Philippine waters vulnerable for surface ships, those ships of the Asiatic Fleet that could do so sailed for points south. Whippoorwill headed for BorneoBorneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
on 12 December and arrived at Balikpapan
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...
on the 15th. Four days later, the minecraft—in company with Tulsa, Asheville, and Lark (AM-21)
USS Lark (AM-21)
The first USS Lark was a in the United States Navy. She was named for the lark.Lark was laid down 11 March 1918 by Baltimore Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co., Baltimore, Maryland; launched 6 August 1918; sponsored by Mrs. Henry A. Stanley; and commissioned 12 April 1919, Lt. Henry A...
-- joined Task Force
Task force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
(TF) 7 and withdrew further south to the Celebes
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
, arriving the next day. Later, Whippoorwill screened Tulsa as the two ships proceeded for Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
.
Arriving at Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
, three days before Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
of 1941, Comdr. Ferriter went ashore and reported for orders to the Dutch naval commander there. Three days later, the minesweeper commenced local patrols and sweeps out of Surabaya and continued that duty into February 1942, often operating in company with Dutch units, before she received orders to move to Tjilatjap, a port on Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
's south coast.
Searching for Langley’s survivors
Arriving early on 26 February, Whippoorwill and Lark put to sea at 1400 the next day to search for survivors of the seaplane tenderSeaplane tender
A seaplane tender is a ship that provides facilities for operating seaplanes. These ships were the first aircraft carriers and appeared just before the First World War.-History:...
Langley (AV-3), reportedly sunk south of Java. Three hours out of Tjilatjap, the minesweeper's lookouts sighted a strange vessel and altered course to close and identify her. The mysterious ship turned out to be Tulsa, also searching for Langley survivors.
The trio of ships continued their search, the minesweepers steaming independently of the gunboat. At 2229, Whippoorwill and Lark arrived in the area in which Langley had been reported lost, passed a large oil slick, and smelled a strong odor of gasoline and oil—mute testimony to the tragedy that had gone before.
Rescuing survivors of the SS City of Manchester
On the following day, the last day of February, the minesweepers abandoned their search and were about to put about to return to Tjilatjap. At 0507, however, lookouts noted a pulsating fire on the horizon; and the minesweepers closed cautiously. The burning vessel turned out to be the British merchantman City of Manchester -- of the Ellerman Line—that had been torpedoed and gunned by the Japanese submarine I-153. Whippoorwill lowered a boat at 0550 and rescued the British sailors from their rafts and life boats. Ten injured men were transferred to Tulsa, which had providentially shown up on the scene of the rescue—the gunboat having a well-equipped sick bay that the minesweepers lacked.Following that rescue mission, Whippoorwill returned to Tjilatjap, arriving on 1 March, only to stand out later that day as Java, too, was becoming more untenable with each passing hour. Retiring in the face of a ruthless enemy drawing tight the noose around Java, Whippoorwill crept southward towards Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. As she proceeded on her anxious voyage, other retiring Asiatic Fleet ships met their doom at the hands of the marauding Japanese -- Asheville, Pecos (AO-6)
USS Pecos (AO-6)
thumb|right|300px|USS Pecos in portUSS Pecos was laid down as Fuel Ship No. 18 on June 2, 1920 by the Navy Yard, Boston, Mass.; reclassified AO–6 on July 17, 1920; launched April 23, 1921; sponsored by Miss Anna S. Hubbard; and commissioned August 25, 1921...
, and the destroyers Edsall (DD-219)
USS Edsall (DD-219)
USS Edsall , named for Seaman Norman Eckley Edsall , was a Clemson-class destroyer of the United States Navy....
and Pillsbury (DD-227)
USS Pillsbury (DD-227)
The first USS Pillsbury was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was named for John E. Pillsbury.-History:...
.
Whippoorwill makes it to Australia
Whippoorwill dropped anchor at FremantleFremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
on 9 March and operated out of Fremantle into May before she shifted to Albany
Albany, Western Australia
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
. The minesweeper conducted local patrols and guardship operations in the shipping channels and harbors there from mid-May to late August when she returned to Fremantle. For the remainder of 1942, Whippoorwill operated alternatively at Exmouth Bay
Exmouth, Western Australia
-Further reading:* Western Australia. Ministry for Planning. Exmouth-Learmonth structure plan. Perth, W.A. : Western Australian Planning Commission...
, Albany, or Fremantle, patrolling locally and towing targets. On occasion, she acted as reference vessel for submarines of the Southwest Pacific forces on their training cruises. The beginning of 1943 found Whippoorwill engaged in local patrol operations out of Exmouth Gulf
Exmouth Gulf
Exmouth Gulf is a gulf in the north west of Western Australia. It lies between North West Cape and the main coastline of Western Australia. It is considered to be part of the region of the North West Shelf and in the Canning Basin area.-Environment:...
, and she continued that duty until February, when she made another brief visit to Fremantle. On 18 and 19 February 1943, she engaged in night exercises with American submarines on maneuvers. Six days later, while underway off the coast, she encountered a cyclone
Cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
which wrenched two 300-pound depth charges from their tracks.
Antisubmarine action
After returning to Exmouth Gulf, she remained there through March 1943 before sailing for Fremantle and a six-day drydocking period. Upon completion of this brief refit, she returned to Exmouth Gulf on 24 April and conducted minesweeping operations in the area. On 15 May, while enroute to Fremantle, she picked up an echo with her sonarSonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
gear and came to general quarters
General quarters
General Quarters or Battle Stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship to signal the crew to prepare for battle or imminent damage....
. She dropped depth charges but lost the contact. Arriving at Fremantle two days later, 17 May, she commenced a series of antisubmarine patrols which lasted into November.
Reclassified as an ocean-going tug
On 1 December, she began an extensive refit. During the yard work, she was reclassified an ocean-going tug and redesignated AT-169 on 1 March 1944. The long overhaul was completed on 5 March, and the ship proceeded to BrisbaneBrisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
.
Coming under the operational control of Commander, Service Force, 7th Fleet, Whippoorwill arrived at Brisbane on 20 March. For the next 10 days, 21 to 31 March 1944, she underwent final conversion to an ocean-going tug. This involved the removal of her minesweeping gear and the addition of a heavy-duty towing engine which had once been fitted on board Dobbin (AD-3)
USS Dobbin (AD-3)
USS Dobbin is the name of a United States Navy destroyer tender of World War II, named after James Cochrane Dobbin, the Secretary of the Navy from 1853 to 1857.The USS Dobbin was launched on 5 May 1921 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard...
.
New Guinea operations
On 8 April, the newly refitted Whippoorwill with LST-385 under tow, got underway for New GuineaNew Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, and arrived at Milne Bay
Milne Bay
Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, southeastern Papua New Guinea. The bay is named after Sir Alexander Milne.The area was a site of the Battle of Milne Bay in 1942....
with her charge on 15 April. The tug then served Hollandia
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
and at Mios Woendi
Mios Woendi
Mios Woendi is the name of an island and was a forward base for United States Navy during World War II. The US Navy code word for the base located in Schouten Islands, was Stinker...
; also receiving orders to Seeadler Harbor
Seeadler Harbor
Seeadler Harbor, also known as Port Seeadler, is located on Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea and played an important role in World War II...
, in the Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
, to serve on "battle-damage standby" duty—prepared to take any battle-damaged ships under tow and out of the front lines.
Philippine Islands operations
Whippoorwill was reclassified an ocean-going tug, old, on 15 May 1944 and designated ATO-169. She then continued operations off New GuineaNew Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and in the backwater areas of the war in the Pacific until receiving orders to head north for Leyte
Leyte
Leyte is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Tacloban City and occupies the northern three-quarters of the Leyte Island. Leyte is located west of Samar Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran...
in February 1945. Later operating at Hollandia
Jayapura
Jayapura City is the capital of Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is situated on Yos Sudarso Bay . Its approximate population in 2002 was 200,000....
and Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
, Whippoorwill resumed operations in the Philippine Islands on 15 June 1945 and served as a harbor tug in the Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
area through the end of the war.
Touching at Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...
, Manila Bay
Manila Bay
Manila Bay is a natural harbor which serves the Port of Manila , in the Philippines.The bay is considered to be one of the best natural harbors in Southeast Asia and one of the finest in the world...
, Zamboanga
Zamboanga City
The City of Zamboanga : is a highly urbanized, independent and a chartered city located in Mindanao, Philippines....
, and Samar
Samar
Samar, formerly and also known as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland...
, Whippoorwill finally rounded out her tour in the Philippine Islands on 20 December, when she departed Samar, bound for the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
. Arriving at Eniwetok in company with Vireo (ATO-144) and Rail (ATO-139), she departed that island on 4 January 1946, bound for Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, arriving at the Pacific base that had once long served as her home port on the 15th. After a 10-day stay, Whippoorwill in company with Rail, got underway again on 25 January, and headed for San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
Post-war inactivation and decommissioning
Arriving there on 5 February 1946, Whippoorwill soon began preparation for inactivation and, on 17 April 1946, the stalwart ship was decommissioned at San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Struck from the Navy list
Navy List
A Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a country....
on 10 June 1946, she was turned over to the Maritime Commission for disposal on 6 November 1946.
Military awards and honors
Whippoorwill was awarded one battle star for her World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service.