BRP Gregorio del Pilar ( PF - 8 ) The BRP " Gregorio del Pilar " ( PF - 8 ) was an " Andres Bonifacio " class frigate of the Philippine Navy in commission from 1977 to 1990 . She was one of six ex - United States Navy " Barnegat " - class seaplane tender s / ex - United States Coast Guard " Casco " - class high endurance cutter s received from the United States after the Vietnam War , two of which were acquired to supply spare parts for the other four . She and her three commissioned sister ships were the largest Philippine Navy combat ships of their time . History . Construction and United States Navy service 1944 - 1946 . " Gregorio del Pilar " was laid down in the United States by Lake Washington Shipyard at Houghton , Washington , as the " Barnegat " class small seaplane tender USS " Wachapreague " ( AVP - 56 ) , but was converted prior to completion into the motor torpedo boat tender USS " Wachapreague " ( AGP - 8 ) . Commissioned into the U . S . Navy in May 1944 , she served during World War II in the New Guinea campaign , the Philippines campaign , and the campaign in Borneo , and performed postwar service in Borneo . She was decommissioned in May 1946 . United States Coast Guard service 1946 - 1972 . In 1946 , the U . S . Navy transferred " Wachapreague " to the United States Coast Guard , which commissioned her as the Coast Guard cutter USCGC " McCulloch " ( WAVP - 386 ) . Reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC - 386 in 1966 , " McCulloch " served for nearly 26 years , on patrol in ocean stations in the North Atlantic Ocean , reporting weather data and engaging in search - and - rescue and law - enforcement activities . Republic of Vietnam Navy service 1972 - 1975 . Transferred to South Vietnam in 1972 , she was commissioned as the patrol vessel RVNS " Ngo Quyen " ( HQ - 17 ) . When South Vietnam collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War in late April 1975 , " Tran Binh Trong " fled to Subic Bay in the Philippines , packed with South Vietnamese refugees . On 22 May 1975 and 23 May 1975 , a U . S . Coast Guard team inspected " Ngo Quyen " and five of her sister ships , which also had fled to the Philippines in April 1975 . One of the inspectors noted : " These vessels brought in several hundred refugees and are generally rat - infested . They are in a filthy , deplorable condition . Below decks generally would compare with a garbage scow . " Philippine Navy service 1977 - 1990 . After " Ngo Quyen " had been cleaned and repaired , the United States formally transferred her to the Republic of the Philippines on 5 April 1976 , and was commissioned into the Philippine Navy as frigate RPS " Gregorio del Pilar " ( PF - 8 ) , on 7 February 1977 . On June 1980 , she was renamed BRP " Gregorio del Pilar " , and served in the Philippine Navy until she was decommissioned in June 1985 . She was again recommissioned afterwards as BRP " Gregorio del Pilar " ( PF - 12 ) , and due to the ship ' s poor condition she was finally decommissioned on April 1990 . " Gregorio del Pilar " was discarded on July 1990 and probably sold as scrap . Technical details . There were changes made to the " Andres Bonifacio " class as compared to their original design during its service with the US Navy , US Coast Guard and the Republic of Vietnam Navy . The ships were passed to the Philippine Navy with fewer weapons on - board and old surface search radars , and these were addressed later on by the Philippine Navy through modernization programs , including the addition of a helicopter landing pad in 1979 . The single Mk . 12 5 - inch / 38 - caliber ( 127 mm ) gun was " Andres Bonifacio " s primary weapon . It was mounted in a Mark 30 Mod 0 enclosed base ring and had a range of up to yards . The gun was a dual - purpose type , capable of both antisurface and antiair warfare . She also carried a two twin Mk . 1 Bofors 40mm L / 60 anti - aircraft guns and two single Mk . 3 Bofors 40mm L / 60 anti - aircraft guns , four twin 20mm Oerlikon cannons , four M2 Browning . 50 - caliber ( 12 . 7 - mm ) general - purpose machine gun s , and two 81mm mortars . Radar system installed include the Sperry SPS - 53 Surface Search & Navigation Radar replacing the previously installed AN / SPS - 23 , while retaining both the AN / SPS - 29D Air Search Radar and Mk . 26 Mod . 1 Fire Control Radar System . Hatch and Kirk , Inc , added a helicopter deck aft in 1979 . Although the ship had no permanently assigned aircraft and could provide no servicing for visiting helicopters , the helicopter deck could accommodate a visiting MBB Bo 105 C helicopter , used by the Philippine Navy for utility , scout , and maritime patrol purposes . The ship was powered by two Fairbanks - Morse 38D diesel engines with a combined power of around 6 , 200 brake horsepower ( 4 . 63 megawatts ) driving two propellers . The main engines could propel the 1 , 766 - displacement - ton ( standard load ) ship at a maximum speed of around . She had a maximum range of at an economical speed of . The Philippine Navy made plans to upgrade the entire ship class with new radar systems and the BGM - 84 Harpoon long - range anti - ship cruise missile , but this did not materialize due to the worsening political and economic crisis in the Republic of the Philippines in the mid - 1980s .