View source for USS Orestes

{{short description|Tender of the United States Navy}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=File:USS Orestes (AGP-10) underway off Port Covington, Baltimore, Maryland (USA), on 11 May 1944 (NH 84632).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Orestes'' underway off Port Covington, Baltimore, Maryland, on 11 May 1944
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag}}
|Ship name=USS ''Orestes''
|Ship namesake=[[Orestes (mythology)|Orestes]], in [[Greek mythology]] the son of [[Agamemnon]] who avenged his father’s death even though it meant slaying his mother, [[Clytemnestra]].
|Ship ordered=
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|Ship builder=*[[Chicago Bridge and Iron Company]], [[Seneca, Illinois|Seneca]], [[Illinois]]
*Converted to [[motor torpedo boat tender]] by [[Maryland Drydock Company]], [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], [[Maryland]]
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|Ship laid down=8 July 1943
|Ship launched=16 November 1943
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|Ship commissioned=25 April 1944
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=29 April 1946
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|Ship renamed=USS ''Orestes'' prior to completion, sometime between November 1943 and April 1944 (had been laid down as USS ''LST-135'')
|Ship reclassified=From [[landing ship tank]] LST-135 to [[motor torpedo boat tender]] AGP-10 sometime between November 1943 and April 1944
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|Ship struck=23 April 1947
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|Ship honors=Two [[battle star]]s for her [[World War II]] service
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Maritime Commission]] 15 March 1948 and sold for scrapping
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|Ship class=[[Varuna-class motor torpedo boat tender|''Varuna''-class]] [[motor torpedo boat tender]], converted during construction from a [[landing ship tank]]
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|Ship displacement=3,960 tons
|Ship length={{convert|328|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draft={{convert|11|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship speed=11.6 [[Knot (unit)|knot]]s
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|Ship complement=341
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|Ship armament=*1 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}]] gun
*8 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm]] [[antiaircraft]] guns
*12 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] antiaircraft guns
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'''USS ''Orestes'' (AGP-10)''' was a [[motor torpedo boat tender]] that served in the [[United States Navy]] from 1944 to 1946.

''Orestes'' was laid down as [[landing ship tank]] USS ''LST–135'' at [[Chicago Bridge and Iron Company]], [[Seneca, Illinois|Seneca]], [[Illinois]], on 8 July 1943, and launched on 16 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Bernard Sharp. Prior to completion, she was converted into a motor torpedo boat tender at [[Maryland Drydock Company]], [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], [[Maryland]]. Redesignated AGP-10, she was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] as USS ''Orestes'' (AGP–10) on 25 April 1944.

Successfully concluding her shakedown out of [[Hampton Roads]], [[Virginia]], on 23 May 1944, ''Orestes'' prepared for [[World War II]] duty in the [[Pacific]]. Departing [[Chesapeake Bay]] on 5 June 1944, she transited the [[Panama Canal]] and, after a stop-over at [[Bora Bora]], sailed on to [[New Guinea]]. She began motor torpedo boat tending operations at [[Aitape]] on 23 August 1944, transferred to [[Mios Woendi]] a month later, and on 12 November 1944 joined [[General]] [[Douglas MacArthur]]’s [[Philippines]] [[invasion]] forces at [[Leyte]]. In the Leyte area control of the air was still disputed and [[Japan]]ese air attacks were numerous. On 24 November 1944 ''Orestes''’ gunners got their first confirmed kills, two [[Mitsubishi A6M]] "Zeke" (Zero) [[Fighter (aircraft)|fighters]].

Late on 4 December 1944, while ''Orestes'' was in a [[Mindoro]]-bound [[convoy]] designated "Uncle plus 15" with 30 [[patrol torpedo boat]]s (PT boats) and 50 other vessels, Japanese planes made life tenuous. On 30 December 1944, an [[Aichi D3A]] "Val" [[dive bomber]] came in low on the [[starboard]] side and crashed into ''Orestes'' amidships, causing heavy damage and killing 45 members of her crew. In a series of sweeps by boat PT-350, commanded by Lieutenant Thomas A. Dent ([[United States Navy Reserve|USNR]]), about 70 men were rescued from the burning ''Orestes''. Fifteen more were plucked from the sea.  Lieutenant Dent was awarded the [[Navy and Marine Corps Medal]] for heroism in the saving of the lives of American Naval personnel in action. Accompanying [[landing craft infantry]] (LCIs) finally brought the resulting fires under control and ''Orestes'' was beached. Landing ship tank [[USS LST–708|USS ''LST-708'']] later towed ''Orestes'' back to Leyte on 27 January 1945, and after temporary repairs ''Orestes'' departed Leyte on 24 February 1945 on a slow voyage back to the [[United States]], arriving at [[Terminal Island]], [[California]], on 13 May 1945. There [[shipyard]] personnel went to work and 202,500 [[man-hour]]s of labor later they had completely rejuvenated ''Orestes''.

''Orestes'' departed the United States on a second trip to the Pacific war zone on 8 August 1945, but the war with Japan ended on 15 August 1945 and the Japanese [[Surrender (military)|surrender]] had been formalized (on 2 September 1945) by the time she reached [[Guinan Harbor]], [[Samar]], in the Philippines. ''Orestes'' served under the Commander Motor Torpedo Boats, [[Philippine Sea Frontier]], until 17 December 1945, when she sailed eastward with naval passengers for [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]], and the United States, arriving at [[San Pedro, California|San Pedro]], California, on 3 February 1946.

''Orestes'' made a month-long round trip to the [[Panama Canal Zone]], then was deactivated. She [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] on 29 April 1946 at [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], California, and was struck from the [[Navy List]] on 23 April 1947. She was transferred to the [[Maritime Commission]] on 15 March 1948 and then was sold to the [[Walter W. Johnson Company]] of San Francisco for scrapping.

''Orestes'' received two [[battle star]]s for her World War II service.

==References==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/o3/orestes.htm}}

==External links==
* [http://www.navsource.net/archives/09/09/0910.htm Photo gallery] at NavSource

{{Portunus class motor torpedo boat tenders}}
{{LST-1 class tank landing ship}}
{{MARCOM ships Prairie Shipyard, Seneca Illinois}}
{{December 1944 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orestes (Agp-10)}}
[[Category:Portunus-class motor torpedo boat tenders]]
[[Category:Portunus-class motor torpedo boat tenders converted from LST-1-class ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Seneca, Illinois]]
[[Category:Ships built in Baltimore]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1944]]