World War II Service
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 the Philippines. 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 for Luzon. At 03:40 on the night of 8 December, she received word of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Immediately going to general quarters, the crew remained near their guns throughout the passage, and on 9 December intercepted and sank a small Japanese trawler, taking 10 prisoners-of-war, among the first taken by Americans in World War II (the first POW was Kazuo Sakamaki, sole survivor of the midget submarine attack on Pearl Harbor). Mindanao concluded this dangerous and eventful voyage upon arrival at Manila Bay the next day.
Assigned to inshore patrol and guard duty in Manila Bay, the gunboat acted as station ship in connection with the minefield channels near Corregidor until the end of December 1941, and then took nightly turns with China river gunboats USS Luzon (PR-7) and USS Oahu (PR-6) patrolling east of Bataan. 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. 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 defend Fort 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 one battle star for World War II service.
Read more about this topic: USS Mindanao (PR-8)
Famous quotes containing the words world, war and/or service:
“Whatever harsh criticisms may be passed on the construction of her sentences, she at least possesses that one touch of vulgarity that makes the whole world kin.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“One must know that war is common, justice is strife, and everything happens according to strife and necessity.”
—Heraclitus (c. 535–475 B.C.)
“Service ... is love in action, love “made flesh”; service is the body, the incarnation of love. Love is the impetus, service the act, and creativity the result with many by-products.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 3, ch. 3 (1962)