Tutulia (ARG 4) - Naval Cruise Book

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TUTUILA brought her charges safely through the storm and through the mines cast adrift by high seas. At Buckner Bay she took charge of a convoy of 33 Navy and merchant ships headed for Korea. At jinsin, Korea and later Taky, China the ship acted as repair ship for the vessels repatriating japanese troops. Leaving China in April 1946, TUTUILA arrived in New Orleans on 20 May, having served overseas for two years. When TUTUILA was inactivated in the Reserve Fleet at Galveston, Texas, she had successfully furnished repair services for more than 1,800 United States and Allied ships. The Korean War recalled TUTUILA to active duty, on 7 May 1951 she was recommissioned at Orange, Texas. Except for the three-inch battery, her guns were removed to make room for new shop machinery. She reported to Commander Service Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, at Norfolk, Virginia on 30 May to resume her duties as a fleet repair shi . During 1961 TUTUILA visited New York City and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and December entered the Norfolk Navy Shipyard for overhaul. In April 1962 she completed refresher training at Guantanamo Bay with the grade of High Excellent. Euroute from Montego Bay, Jamaica to Norfok she encountered the merchant ship Vflilliam John- son in distress, a repair crew was dispatched by boat, and in a few hours the freighter was underway again. The Cuban quarantine was initiated in October 1962. TUTUILA, with wartime load, rendered services to Am- phibious Squadron SIX at Morehead City, North Carolina, After reloading at Norfolk she operated at Roosevelt Roads and Vieques, Puerto Rico, supporting the quaran- tine line. The ship returned to Norfolk 8 December, having been buffeted for -three days by high seas and 80-knot winds on the return trip. In August 1963, TUTUILA called at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where her crew entertained 100 orphaned and crippled children. November found the ship in Bermuda. During April of 1964, the crew visited Port of Spain Trinidad, where they invited the children of the Belmont Orphanage on board. TUTUILA men saw the New York World's Fair in August when the ship called at Brooklyn Navy Yard. Beginning in January 1965, the ship provided repair services to NATO units during the Caribbean exercise. Operation SPRINGBOARD, visiting San Juan and Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, Frederiksted in the Virgin Islands, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Norfolk before proceeding to Bayonne, New Jersey in March. At Bayonne a special project was undertaken to reclaim equipment from the radar picket ships which were being decommis- sioned there. TUTUILA then returned' to Norfolk to become flagship of Commander, Service Squadron Four for the following month. April and May found the ship off Dominican Republic shores, a unit of the Task Force supporting the Interamerican troops there. In addition to the expected repair and other support duties, TUTUILA assumed responsibility for an unprecedented evolution, when rebel fire prevented normal tanker delivery of fuels for Santo Domingo's light and power. Petroleum products were successfully tranferred ashore by a complex operation involving a seabee unit and an Oil Can Flecti' of small craft. The Commanding Officer and five crew members were awarded Navy Commendations and Commendation Medals for the Dominican Republic Action. After welcomed visits to San Juan and Norfolk, the ship commenced a three-month period of overhaul and modernization in the Naval Shipyard at Portsmouth, Virginia, when completed in October, TUTUILA sailed for San Juan and then refresher training in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, returning to Morfolk in November. In January, TUTUILA provided repair services to PCF's and WPB's of CTG 115.3 at Vung Tau, RVN. The 9th of January, marked the first in-country tender availability for a Seventh Fleet Unit, USS HISSEN CDER-4005. Radm T. R. WESCHILER, COMNAVSUPPACT, Danang and Capt. King, COMMAVSUPPACT, Saigon visited TUTUILA on 11 January. On 22 February, TUTUILA completed the construction of 22 large Bolsters for use in salvage operations in the Mekong Delta. 17 February saw the visit of Radm N. G. Ward, Commander, Naval Forces Vietnam. During the months of March and April, TUTUILA remained on station in Vung Tau and continued to pro- vide support for patrol craft and seventh fleet units of operations Market Time, Game Warden, and Stable Door. Ships and craft receiving services during this time included the USS VANCE QDER-387j, USS KOINER QDER-3315, USS BRULE QAKL-28j, USS GARRETT COUNTY Tutuila-1944 ' f

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'TUTUILA is the principal island of American Samoa. The first Navy ship to bear the name was a Gunboat of the famed Yangtze River Patrol. TUTUILA, PANAY, OAHU, LUZON, MINDANAO, and .GUAM Qrenamed WAKEQ were constructed and commissioned at Shanghai, China in 1928. Specifically designed for the Yangtae, these little ships were oiliired shallow draft vessels with two triple-expansion steam engines driving small propellers in hull tunnels, and triple rudders. Carrying 3 guns and powerful radio equipment, they protected U.S. shipping and maintained U.S. communications on the great river that was the main highway to half of China. PANAY was sunk by japanese air attack during the seige of Naking on 12 December 1937. When Hankow fell ,.... , 'J in 1938, cutting river transport, TUTUILA carried the American Ambassador to Chungking, and stayed to serve him there. . i In june of 1941 TUTUILA, together with a British gunboat, fought off a japanese air attack, TUTUILA-suf- fered moderate damage which was subsequently repaired. On 4 December LUZON, OAHU, and MINDANAO made for the Philippines, arriving in time to join in the battle of Bataan. Wake was captured at Shanghai on 8 December, and the others went down defending Corregi- dor. T UTUILA was transferred to Chang Kai-Shek's forces at Chungking in January 1942. I-Ier end came in July of that year, when heavy bombing by Japanese aircraft wrote First Tutuila a close to the Yangtze River Patrol, a colorful 75-years in American Naval history. In the winter of 1943-44, USS TUTUILA QARG-4j, an internal combusio,n engine repair ship, was converted from the newly launched Liberty Ship QEC-Zj ARTHUR P. GORMAN, and was commissioned on 8 April 1944 at Maryland Drydock Company in Baltimore. Her first Commanding A Officer was Commander Qlater Captianj George T. Boldizsar, USN. Against World War II air and surfaced submarine attacks, the ship mounted a 5 gun, three 3 guns, two 40mm twin cannon, and twelve 20 mm machine guns. After a shakedown cruise, she sailed from Norfolk in May for Pearl Harbor, via the Panama Canal and San Diego, California. TUTUILA arrived at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands on 8 July 1944, and immediately undertook her portion of the responsibility for the main- tenance of the Pacific Fleet. In early August 1944 TUTUILA joined Service Squa- dron TEN at Purvis Bay, between Savo and Guadalcanal in the Solomons. She operated until the end of the war with SERVRON TEN, which had been newly created to act as a Boating advance base for the Fleet in its sweep I across the Pacific. The battle of the Philippine Sea and the Saipan campaign were being successfully concluded, and many ships needed repairs befor the Leyte assault which was to begin liberation of the Philippines. TUTUILA commenced a round-the-clock work schedule-which was maintained throughtout, her long stay in the Pacific Thea- ter. On the surrender of japan, TUTUILA sailed for Okinawa with 11 smaller ships. Struck by a typhoon on 31 August, T I I l l 1 l - 1 i 1

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QLST 786+ COUNTY 4 ST-8465, Uss HARNETT COUNTY QLST- UNTERDON COUNTY QLST-8385, Uss ss MARK QAKL-129, Uss jENN1NOs 8215, Uss FORCE QM O-4455, USCG PT. PARTRIDGE, APL-26, Tutuila-1968 - I U L H S YFR-889, Y - - . , HOOPER, COMSERVPAC, and COMNAVSUPPACT, Saigon, Capt. SPORE visited TUTUILA. In May, Capt. Spore, NAVSUPPACT, Saigon, visited TUTUILA. On 28 May TUTUILA departed Vung Tau for five days of Rest, Recreation, and rain in Subic Bay, Philippines. TUTUILA returned to Vung 'Tau on the 10th of June. On 30 june, letters of commendation were presented to TUTUILA's Doctor, Dentist, and Repair Officer fLt. Higgins, MC., Lt. Julienne DC., and LCDR Staats, USN respectivelyj for the roles they played in the area MED- CAPS CMedical Civic Action Programsj and WHAMO'S QWin Hearts and Minds Operationj. The Commendations were presented by CDR Nations, USN, Senior Advisor, Third Coastal ZonefCommander Southern Surveillance Group and By CDR SON, Commander, Third Coastal Zone, on behalf of the Chief of Staff of the Republic of Vietnam Navy. 20 July marked the first anniversary of TUTUILA's in-country tour with the following accomplistments: Qaj Completed over 8,000 customer work requests Qbj Expended over 35200,000 in ROV QRepair other vesselsj Fund. Qcj Expended over 40,000 productive man days. Qdj Pumped over 600,000 gallons of Home ,Made potable and feed water. fej Pumped over 750,000 gallons of diesel oil. ffj Supplied over 200,000 Kilowatt hours of electricity Qgj Lifted and repaired over 120 Swift Boats CPCF'sj. On 28 July, an Iroquois UH-1B and a Chinook CH-47 made the first helicopter landings aboard TUTUILA. In August, TUTUILA repeated its feat of the former FR 890 and LLC1 On 16 April ADM year and won its 2nd consecutive Battle Efiiciency E , the first in the pacific. Radm N. G. Ward, USN, COM- SERVGRU THREE, paid TUTUILA an official visit on 16 August. On the 25th, TUTUILA took part in its first H8cI CHarassment and Interdictionj fire support mission while at anchor in Vung Tau. 2 September saw TUTUILA'S second H8cI mission on 16 September, TUTUILA celebrated Trong Tran fAutumn Festivalj with 50 Vietnamese Children depen- dents of Junk Force personnel, they were between the ages- of 5 and 10. TUTUILA left Vung Tau, on 28 September, bound for An Thoi, ' On 1 October TUTUILA arrived in An Thoi, RVN and relieved USS KRISHNA CARL-38j. After riding out several rough days of bad weather, TUTUILA com- enced support services for coastal division eleven CSwift Boatsj and Coast Guard Coastal Division Eleven. TUTUI- LA also kept alongside APL-21. One month later, on 4 November TUTUILA departed An Thoi for Kaohsiung for five days of upkeep. On the 16th an energency sortie was ordered by the USS KLONDIKE fAR-22Q, in preparation for typhoon Gilda. Gilda changed her mind, and her course, and so TUTUILA returned to Kaohsiung the next day, 17 NOV. TUTUILA left Kaohsiung on 21 November and arrived back. Home on the 28th of November. . December saw TUTUILA resumeing her support of patrol craft and seventh fleet units of operations Market Time, Game Warden, and Stable Door. During December, TUTUILA was notified by Our Navy magazine that she had been selected as second runner-up for Ship Of The Year. The 7th of December 1967 saw the change of corn- mand of TUTUILA from CDR. Lawrence P. Treadwell, Jr. USN to CDR. Ernest C. Castle, USN. Present at the ceremony was CAPT. Spore, NAVSUPPACT, Saigon. Christmas and New Years was celebrated while TUTUILA 'was alongside the Delong pier in Vung Tau, RVN. l l if A v il 1 l I ,I 4 Tl ji I 'I il iv l 1 1 T T w l l 1' T 5. gr il l L