Tales of the Asiatic Fleet

The USS William B Preston was an ex-WWI destroyer that was converted into a seaplane tender for the US Navy Patrol Wing 10. It was assigned to the Philippines before the war and its job was tending and servicing a number of PBY Catalina patrol bombers

"From February to November 1941, as the situation in the Far East grew more tense with each passing tick of the clock, the Asiatic Fleet continued its preparations for war. While some fleet units, including the majority of the destroyers, were sent south, William B. Preston was maintained in readiness in the Philippines for any eventuality. She tended PBY's and occasionally acted as target tug for fleet maneuvers in the southern islands in the Philippine archipelago. After an overhaul at the Cavite Navy Yard in November, she departed the Manila area on 1 December, bound for the southeastern coast of Mindanao.
Upon her arrival in Davao Gulf, the ship dropped anchor in Malalag Bay, where she was joined by a group of PBY's which soon commenced patrols. With war only a matter of days away, the planes reconnoitered several small bays and inlets, looking out for strange ships or for any signs of suspicious activity.

Shortly after 0300 on 8 December 1941, William B. Preston picked up the following radio message: "Japan has commenced hostilities. Govern yourselves accordingly."
Japan had indeed commenced hostilities, launching a devastating air strike on Pearl Harbor while their invasion fleets moved southward from Indochina towards the raw-material-rich British and Dutch possessions in Malaya and the East Indies. The Philippines, too, were on the timetable for conquest.

Soon after the receipt of the notification of war, all of the planes tended by the destroyer-seaplane tender were readied for operations. Two remained behind while the rest flew off on their first war patrols over the Celebes Sea. The ship, meanwhile, shifted anchorage away from the two moored Catalinas to lessen the chance of one bomb damaging both ship and planes in one fell swoop. Bluejackets on William B. Preston belted ammunition for the ship's antiaircraft defense of four .50-caliber watercooled Browning machine guns (and prepared its single, 75mm anti-aircraft gun for action) and took down the awnings which had shielded the crew from the tropical sun.
Around 0800, the ship's commanding officer, Lt. Comdr. Etheridge Grant, went forward to check the progress of the preparations to slip the anchor chain (should that become necessary). Suddenly a lookout called out, "Aircraft!" Grant sprinted to the bridge while Japanese planes swept around the narrow neck of the land shielding Malalag Bay from the broad Gulf of Davao. Nine "Claudes" and 13 "Vals" from the Japanese carrier Ryujo roared in low over the water, their cowl guns winking fire.

Going for the planes first, the "Claudes" made short work of the Catalinas that rode at their mooring buoys like sitting ducks. Within a few short moments, both PBY's had been shot to pieces. Blazing and shattered, the two patrol planes sank into the waters of the bay as the survivors, carrying one dead and one wounded comrade with them, struck out for shore.

Meanwhile, the ship lowered a boat to pick up survivors while she got underway for the open sea. Slipping her anchor chain, William B. Preston zigzagged across the bay as both "Claudes" and "Vals" declared "open season" on the fleeing tender. Skillfully evading the bombs, the ship managed to emerge from the attack unscathed and returned to the bay to pick up her boat and the survivors from the two lost planes.

Later that day, upon receipt of orders dispatching her to Moro Gulf, William B. Preston got underway to establish another advance base for PBY's at Police Bay. Retiring from Davao Gulf, the destroyer-seaplane tender slipped past four Japanese destroyers whose attention was probably focused on bigger game elsewhere. One hour later, a snooping Japanese plane picked up the ship's scent and trailed her for three hours, leading those on board William B. Preston to suspect that the Japanese were sending out a second strike to finish the job begun earlier. Steering as close to the shoreline as safe navigation would permit, Lt. Comdr. Grant prepared to beach the ship should that prove necessary, but the plane departed and left the seaplane tender alone.

Arriving off the mouth of Moro Bay in the afternoon, the ship lay to until the following morning, 9 December, when she entered the bay. An explosion ahead of the ship sent the American bluejackets to their general quarters stations before it was discovered that the local fishermen were just out dynamiting for their catch!



The ship found a PBY awaiting her arrival and commenced tending operations. Three more Catalinas arrived later in the afternoon, as well as two OS2U Kingfishers which had been attached to Heron (AVP-2) at Balabac. After being informed that Japanese troops had landed north of Gagayan and were marching overland to Police, the ship prepared to get underway and dispatched the PBY's on patrol over the Celebes Sea. Leaving word that the planes were to rendezvous with the ship at Tutu Bay, Jolo, William, B. Preston got underway on 10 December.

The ship arrived at Tutu Bay later that day and found the PBY's awaiting her, after having found no trace of enemy activity during their patrol sweeps. At sunset, a veritable procession of masts and funnels moved across the southern horizon; and the men on the William B. Preston could only guess to whom they belonged.

The following day, the planes were again sent out on patrols while the ship upped anchor and proceeded for Tawi Tawi, receiving word en route that the PBY's were to return to Lake Lanao in Mindanao and the OS2U's were to rendezvous with the ship at Tawi Tawi. Although she had never hoisted aboard any aircraft before, William B. Preston's ingenious bluejackets rigged up a rude cradle between the two 50-foot motor-boats aft and provided padding for the Kingfisher's center float with mattresses and life jackets. One OS2U was taken aboard and berthed in this fashion while the other was towed astern. Smooth seas and a 15-knot pace facilitated the towing operation, and the two planes arrived safely at Tarakan, Borneo.

Met by two Dutch destroyers, Kortenaer and Witte de With, the seaplane tender made port at Tarakanbut was soon underway again, this time for Balikpapan, Borneo, where she met many "old friends" from the Asiatic Fleet—Marblehead (CL-12), Holland (AS-3), Langley (AV-3), Gold Star (AK-12), and Heron. Two hours after arrival, the ship received orders to accompany the small fleet to Makassar and got underway on 13 December.

After arriving at Makassar, William B. Preston spent three days provisioning and catching up on news of the progress of the war. The picture of the latter looked bleak, as Japanese forces swept southward, sweeping everything before them and forcing Allied naval, air, and ground units southward into the East Indies. The ship arrived at Sourabaya, Java, shortly before Christmas but, after further provisioning and fueling, departed the Dutch naval base there on the 27th.

The ship arrived at Darwin, Australia, on the day after New Year's Day 1942 and soon received orders to provision to capacity and take on large stocks of spare parts, food, and replacement crews for the decimated ranks of personnel in PatWing 10. The ship then proceeded north for Ambon, in the Dutch East Indies, crowded with 100 extra men and much topside freight.

Upon her arrival at Ambon, the destroyer-seaplane tender found sister ship Childs (AVD-1) and passed that ship enough fuel to enable her to reach Darwin. After delivering her embarked men and cargo, William B. Preston proceeded to Kendari, where she was skillfully camouflaged to blend in with the verdant hillside to which she was moored—in fact, so skillfully hidden that her PBY's had trouble locating her when they returned to their base!

For the remainder of January and into February, the ship continued her tending operations as the forces combatting the Japanese rapidly dwindled. On 12 February 1942, William B. Preston dropped anchor at Darwin to commence tending PBY's from that base in northwestern Australia. In about a week, her fuel began running low, forcing Lt. Comdr. Grant to go ashore to arrange for a delivery of much-needed fuel and gasoline to the ship."

What was not mentioned in the narrative, but was recorded in Walter Karig's book was that everytime one of the Preston's PBY flying boats were destroyed by Japanese air attacks, while anchored in the water, the Preston's crew would salvage all of the sunken aircraft's 50 caliber and 30 caliber machineguns and return them to the seaplane tender. Shipwrights soon got busy manufacturing and welding together new mountings throughout the ship for the additional machineguns, so that by the time she set sail for Darwin, the Preston posessed some 14- 50 caliber and seven 30 caliber machineguns mounted throughout the ship, rather than the called- for 4, watercooled, 50 caliber machineguns. This soon proved to be an unpleasant surprise to attacking Japanese aircraft.

"At 0955, (Darwin Harbor) lookouts called down that "large formations of planes (were) approaching" and the ship went to general quarters. Within minutes, the ship was underway with the executive officer, Lt. Lester O. Wood in command. Zigzagging her way through the crowded harbor, William B. Preston made for the open sea as Japanese planes droned closer and closer.

The first wave of planes attacked the town and its nearby fuel dumps and docks; the second wave went after the ships in the harbor, with transports and cargo ships as the primary objectives. Within minutes of each other, transports Tulagi and Meigs took hits; and ships alongside the docks were heavily hit as bombs rained indiscriminately on the port area.

Four bombs exploded off William B. Preston's bow, breaking bridge windows. Heavy volumes of .30- and .50-caliber antiaircraft fire forced some of the attackers to keep their distance, but others pressed the attack with vigor. Peary (DD-226), slower in getting underway, was enveloped in bomb splashes as Japanese accuracy marked the ship for destruction. Heavily hit, the hardluck Peary burst into flames and rapidly became an inferno as bomb after bomb tore the ship apart and forced her down by the stern.

The seaplane tender's turn was next, however; and she was hit aft, just forward of the after deckhouse. The ship lost steering control forward; and, in the interim period between regaining control by hand-steering aft, Lt. Wood conned and steered the ship using her engines and, despite a jammed rudder, succeeded in making for an opening in the harbor boom. Negotiating it by "judicious use of engines and slight assistance from the rudder with direct hand steering," William B. Preston escaped the inferno that left Darwin shattered and ruined as a base of operations for the Allies.

Heading south down the western coast of Australia, the ship took stock of her damage. Eleven men were killed, two missing, and three wounded by the bomb hit aft. The after living compartment was a mass of wreckage; rivets were popped and seams sprung; the after deck house was riddled with holes; the after 4-inch and some of her machine guns had been put out of action. At about 1445, a Japanese "Mavis" patrol plane (Kawa-nishi E7K) attacked the ship, but her bombs splashed harmlessly into the ship's wake, and the plane discontinued her attack(after the wall of gunfire that was thrown up).

Proceeding to Derby, Australia, William B. Preston encountered more bad luck, touching briefly on a shoal as she entered the harbor, and reduced the effective speed of the starboard engine down to eight knots. Meanwhile, the single remaining PBY attached to the ship returned from Darwin with the men who had gone ashore and had been caught away from the ship during the attack, including Lt. Conidr. Grant, who had been blown out of a motorboat while returning to the ship.

On 23 February, the damaged William B. Preston proceeded for Broome, Australia, and was soon joined by Childs and Heron, who both assisted the damaged seaplane tender in making emergency repairs. As Java fell, to the north, three of William B. Preston's planes served in the evacuation of Surabaya and Tjilatjap. Meanwhile, the ship received orders to proceed for Fremantle for repairs.

Upon arrival, however, there were not sufficient facilities available to effect the needed yard work, so the ship was routed on to Sydney. There, on the east coast of Australia, William B. Preston received a much-needed overhaul and repair period. Her old 4-inch guns were replaced by 3-inch antiaircraft guns, while 20-millimeter Oerlikons were added as well to augment her close-in antiaircraft capability. Following her availability, the ship proceeded to Fremantle and reported for duty to Commander, Patrol Wing 10, in June 1942.

Java had fallen, as had the Philippines and Malaya. Thus, the Australian sub-continent stood as the last Allied bastion in the southwest Pacific to oppose further Japanese expansion. Operating out of Fremantle, the destroyer-seaplane tender alternated with Heron and Childs at such advance bases as Exmouth Gulf and Fremantle through the early summer of 1942.

Anchored in the vicinity of Bay of Rest, Exmouth Gulf, Western Australia, William B. Preston continued her operations as a seaplane tender through early July, attached to Patrol Wing 10 and servicing two PBY-5 planes."

The William B. Preston continued with its service and survived the war, only to be decommisioned and broken up after the Japanese surrender.
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