The Asiatic Fleet

[Roger Dodger]

Vessels of the Asiatic Fleet and the 16th Naval District
December 8, 1941

By mid-1941, the headquarters for this unit was in Manila, at the Marsman Building. The commander was Admiral Thomas C. Hart and the fleet was based at Cavite Naval Base and Olongapo Naval Station. On July 22, the Mariveles Naval Base was completed and used as well. Admiral Hart had permission to withdraw to the Indian Ocean, in the event of war, at his discretion.

The Asiatic Fleet and the 16th Naval District possessed:
1 heavy cruiser (USS Houston)
1 light cruiser (USS Marblehead)
13 World War I-era destroyers (USS Paul Jones, USS John D. Edwards, USS Alden, USS Whipple, USS Edsall, USS Stewart, USS Barker, USS Parrott, USS Bulmer, USS John D. Ford, USS Pope, USS Peary and USS Pillsbury)
1 destroyer tender (USS Black Hawk)
29 submarines (USS Porpoise, USS Pike, USS Shark, USS Tarpon, USS Perch, USS Pickerel, USS Permit, USS Salmon, USS Seal, USS Skipjack, USS Sargo, USS Saury, USS Spearfish, USS Snapper, USS Stingray, USS Sturgeon, USS Sculpin, USS Sailfish, USS Swordfish, USS S-36, USS S-37, USS S-38, USS S-39, USS S-40, USS S-41, USS Seadragon, USS Sealion, USS Searaven, USS Seawolf)[1]
5 gunboats (USS Asheville, USS Tulsa, USS Oahu, USS Luzon and USS Mindanao)
1 yacht (USS Isabel)
6 minesweepers (USS Finch, USS Bittern, USS Tanager, USS Quail, USS Lark and USS Whippoorwill)
2 tankers (USS Pecos and USS Trinity)
1 ocean-going tugboat (USS Napa)
4 seaplane tenders (USS Langley, USS Childs, USS William B. Preston and USS Heron) in support of Patrol Wing TEN (VP 101 and VP 102) with 28 PBY-4 Catalina flying boats
1 submarine rescue vessel (USS Pigeon)
3 submarine tenders (USS Holland, USS Canopus and USS Otus)
various other ships, including 6 motor torpedo boats that formed Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three
1 2-masted schooner USS Lanikai
Also stationed at Cavite Naval Base was the Offshore Patrol.

Of the 40 surface vessels in the Asiatic Fleet on Pearl Harbor Day, 19 were sunk by May 5, 1942, the day General Wainwright surrendered to the Japanese at Corregidor in the Philippines. Most of the surviving ships made it to Australia and safety.

[SteveW1]

Now thats some very well researched info.

Thanks very much.

[Roger Dodger]

Originally Posted by SteveW1

Now thats some very well researched info.

Thanks very much.

I should have given proper reference to this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Fleet

I started out just looking for which submarines were in Manila on Dec. 7-8, 1941 when I ran into this article. There's more to the article about surface ships and planes, and some pretty interesting stuff at that. I just cut and pasted the info about the stuff I thought we submariners might be interested in.

Here's a little more about one of the S-Boats:

USS S-36 (SS-141) was a S-class submarine in the United States Navy
At 0404 on the morning of 20 January, 1942, she ran hard aground on Taka Bakang Reef. For over 24 hours, the crew battled to save the submarine. But chlorine gas, generated by her flooded forward battery, and the hostile waves and currents of the sea combined against them. A plain language request for aid was sent out and, on the morning of 21 January, a Dutch launch, Attla, was dispatched from Makassar City. By noon, the launch had taken off most of the officers and men of S-36. At 1330, the fight and the submarine were abandoned. The last to leave left her rigged to flood.
The crew, transferred to SS Siberote, were taken to Makassar City, then to Surabaya ("Soerabaja"), whence they were reassigned.
S-36 was awarded one battle star for her World War II service.

I left out most of the story, but it makes for fascinating reading. Read it all here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_S-36_%28SS-141%29

Most of the other S-Boats in the Asiatic Fleet lived to fight out the rest of the war. All of these boats were built in 1922 and 1923.

Run Silent, Run Deep

[Sailor Steve]

Two things I find fascinating:

1) From playing SH1 I was used to the idea of being based at Manila (Cavite) with an S-boat at the start of the war. I was made aware just a few months ago that there were also 23 fleet boats stationed there. Puts a whole new slant on playing in that command.

2) Until I saw this list I was unaware that every single one of those older fleet boats was either a 'P' or 'New S' (Salmon/Sargo) class boat.

Interesting posting, Roger Dodger. Thanks.

[Captain Vlad]

Check out a book called 'The Fleet the Gods Forgot'. Or is it 'The Ship the Gods Forgot'? Either way, it's a good look at the Asiatic Fleet mostly following the USS Houston, but also covering what happened to most of the other surface ships.

I was disappointed that it didn't cover the subs more, but it's still worth a read.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Captain Vlad

Check out a book called 'The Fleet the Gods Forgot'. Or is it 'The Ship the Gods Forgot'? Either way, it's a good look at the Asiatic Fleet mostly following the USS Houston, but also covering what happened to most of the other surface ships.

I was disappointed that it didn't cover the subs more, but it's still worth a read.

Reading about the surface skimmer really helps bring it into perspective. Personally, I enjoyed "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors". Excellent reading and highly recommended.

[Torplexed]

Whenever you play War in the Pacific as the Allies you usually get a mini-Pearl Harbor happening at Manila either from Japanese planes based in Formosa or the light carrier Ryujo. I usually end up evacuating the surface elements in dribs and drabs to Australia.