_in_port%2c_in_the_1930s_(NH_60512).jpg) USSMindanao (PR-8) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Mindanao |
| Namesake | Island ofMindanao |
| Builder | Kiangnan Dock & Engineering Works |
| Laid down | 20 November 1926 |
| Launched | 28 September 1927 |
| Commissioned | 10 July 1928 |
| Stricken | 8 May 1942 |
| Honors and awards | 1battle star (WWII) |
| Fate | Sunk to avoid capture on 2 May 1942 |
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Displacement | 560 long tons (569 t) |
| Length | 210 ft 9 in (64.24 m) |
| Beam | 31 ft 1 in (9.47 m) |
| Draft | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Speed | 16knots (18 mph; 30 km/h) |
| Complement | 65 |
| Armament |
|
The firstUSSMindanao (PR‑8) was a rivergunboat in the service of theUnited States Navy before and duringWorld War II.
Mindanao was laid down as patrol gunboatPG-48 on 20 November 1926, byKiangnan Dock and Engineering Works,Shanghai,China; launched on 28 September 1927; reclassified as river gunboatPR-8; sponsored by Mrs. E. A. McIntyre, wife of Lieutenant Commander McIntyre; and commissioned atShanghai on 10 July 1928.
Departing Shanghai on 28 July 1928,Mindanao conducted shakedown up theYangtze River, steaming toChongqing andWanxian and returning downstream to Shanghai on 31 August. The gunboat stood out again on 10 September to return to Wanxian and take up station. Arriving on 22 September, the ship remained there onYangtze Patrol convoy duty until sailing back to Shanghai for fuel and repairs on 28 December. She underwent overhaul until 21 March 1929, and then cruised upriver on patrol, returning intermittently to Shanghai to investigate political conditions. On 2 May, the warship called forHong Kong and thence toCanton, arriving 14 June where she became flagship of the South China Patrol Force,U.S. Asiatic Fleet. For the next 12½ years,Mindanao cruised the southern coast of China, based alternately at Hong Kong and Canton, protecting American and Allied interests in China and suppressing piracy. In October 1938, following the Japanese invasion of southern China and seizure of Canton, she commenced operations to guard American neutrality.
On 2 December 1941 — as Japanese aggression was expected shortly and the small, lightly armed ship could not hope to combat the overwhelming odds facing her in China — the gunboat received orders to sail to thePhilippines with Luzon Stevedoring tugboatRanger to catch up with her later. Though designed only for river travel, the valiant craft put to sea from Hong Kong on 4 December. Bucking heavy winds and high seas, she stubbornly remained on course forLuzon. At 03:40 on the night of 8 December, she received word of the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor. Immediately going togeneral quarters, the crew remained near their guns throughout the passage, and on 9 December intercepted and sank a small Japanese trawler (South Advance Maru No. 3), 50 miles northwest ofBolinao, Pangasinan at16°42′N118°53′E / 16.700°N 118.883°E /16.700; 118.883,[2] taking 10 prisoners-of-war, among the first taken by Americans inWorld War II (the first POW wasKazuo Sakamaki, sole survivor of the midget submarine attack on Pearl Harbor).Mindanao concluded this dangerous and eventful voyage upon arrival atManila Bay the next day.
Assigned to inshore patrol and guard duty inManila Bay, the gunboat acted as station ship in connection with the minefield channels nearCorregidor until the end of December 1941, and then took nightly turns with China river gunboatsUSS Luzon (PR-7) andUSS Oahu (PR-6) patrolling east ofBataan. The shortage of fuel in the Philippines ended these patrols in early March, and the ships instead took turns watching for Japanese small craft at a position 3 miles east of Corregidor. On the afternoon of 25 March, they engaged nine enemy boats.
On the night of 5 April, during theBattle of Bataan, theMindanao andOahu engaged the Japanese 21st Independent Engineer Regiment sailing south off Bataan's east coast, sinking several enemy craft.[3]
Mindanao harassed enemy artillery east of Bataan on 6 April. The same day, the gunboat helped rescue some 60 American soldiers from both shore artillery and enemy aircraft. The ship repeatedly closed the beach to support small boats embarking the soldiers.
When the naval situation in Manila Bay appeared hopeless,Mindanao’s crew was ordered ashore on 10 April to help defendFort Hughes. Hit by shell fire the same day, the gunboat was stripped of all useful gear. On 2 May 1942, after suffering an aerial bomb hit in the engine room, she was sunk to prevent capture.
Mindanao received onebattle star forWorld War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
