USS Wachapreague (AGP-8) - The Borneo Campaign

The Borneo Campaign

Underway again on 23 April 1945, Wachapreague accompanied MTBRon 36 to Dutch North Borneo and took part in the invasion of Tarakan Island. While the guns still pounded the shore and the invasion itself was underway, Wachapreague entered the Tarakan Bay on 1 May 1945 to establish an advance base for her PT boats. For the next four months, until the end of World War II in August 1945, Wachapreague operated from this bay, tending MTBRon 36 PT boats while they in turn conducted daily offensive runs up the coast of Borneo.

In the course of these operations, the PT boats sought out and destroyed Japanese shipping at Tawao, Cowie Harbor, Noneokan, Dutch North Borneo, shelling and rocketing shore installations. As the Japanese later attempted evacuation by small boats and rafts, the PT boats netted some 30 prisoners. In addition to these tasks, the PT boats assisted landing ship tank (LST) retractions from the beachheads by speeding across the water astern of the landing ships and creating swells which enabled the LST's to back off the beach and float free.