USS Basilan ( AG - 68 ) USS " Basilan " ( AG - 68 / ARG - 12 ) was a " Basilan " - class miscellaneous auxiliary acquired by the U . S . Navy during World War II . The ship was designed as a combined barracks - stores - water distillation ship , but was later converted to an electronics repair ship . She spent her Navy career in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations . Liberty ship built in Louisiana . " Basilan " ( ARG 12 ) originally projected as the EC - 2 “ Liberty Ship ” " Jacques Phillipe Villere " — was laid down on 5 February 1944 at New Orleans , Louisiana , by the Delta Shipbuilding Corporation . under a U . S . Maritime Commission contract ( MCE hull 2460 ) ; redesignated as a miscellaneous auxiliary , " AG - 68 " , on 14 March 1944 , and allocated for conversion in response to the urgent need for self - propelled special barracks - stores ships ; launched on 21 March 1944 ; and sponsored by Mrs . Percy H . Brown . Delivered to the Navy on 21 April 1944 , " Basilan " was placed in reduced commission that same day for the voyage from New Orleans to Mobile , Alabama . Placed out of commission at the latter port on 24 April 1944 , she underwent conversion for her new role as a combined barracks - stores - distilling ship by the Waterman Steamship Company ; and was recommissioned at Mobile on 10 October 1944 , Lt . Comdr . Lawrence A . Parks , USNR , in command . World War II service . East coast operations . Ordered to proceed to Pilottown , Louisiana , on 21 October , " Basilan " departed as directed and there joined convoy HK - 293 on 22 October . She reached Key West , Florida , on 25 October , joining convoy KN - 346 later the same day and proceeding thence to Norfolk , Virginia . Anchoring in Hampton Roads on 31 October , the ship moved into Chesapeake Bay the following morning . After shakedown training , " Basilan " entered drydock to undergo repairs and the installation of her evaporators at the Norfolk Navy Yard from 5 to 25 November , after which time she shifted to the Naval Operating Base ( NOB ) , Norfolk , to load supplies . Underway on the morning of 4 December , " Basilan " proceeded independently to New York City , arriving at her destination the following afternoon . Proceeding thence in convoy on the afternoon of 7 December , she arrived at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , on the morning of the 14th . She sailed on the afternoon of 15 December in convoy GZ - 109 for Panama , reaching the Panama Canal and commencing her transit of the isthmian waterway on the morning of 19 December . Drydocked that same afternoon at Balboa , Panama Canal Zone , for the complete realignment of her engine crankshaft , " Basilan " underwent repairs into the new year 1945 . Pacific theatre operations . After her main engine broke down during the post - repair trials on 15 January 1945 , she was towed back to Balboa for additional work that lasted over almost a fortnight . Following a successful post - repair trial run , " Basilan " shaped a course , proceeding independently , for Pearl Harbor on 27 January . Three - quarters of an hour into the afternoon watch on 1 February , however , she received dispatch orders re - directing her to San Francisco , California , for reconversion to an “ electronic repair and staff maintenance ship . ” She reached the Bethlehem Steel Company ’ s shipyard at San Francisco on 12 February . Shifting to the Naval Supply Depot to unload stores two days later , she returned to Bethlehem Steel ’ s yard on 20 February . She remained there , undergoing conversion for her new role , through the end of March 1945 . Underway for the Western Caroline Islands on 1 April , " Basilan " arrived at Ulithi Atoll on the 24th , reporting for duty with Service Squadron ( ServRon ) 10 and assignment to work in conjunction with " Jason " ( ARH - 1 ) . The skilled artificers of " Basilan ’ s " ship repair unit ( SRU ) worked alongside those of " Jason " and under the direction of the latter ’ s repair officer . Simultaneously , the workload of “ installing , maintaining and repairing electronic equipment ” kept " Basilan ’ s " electronic repair force busy . The advent of the typhoon season made it imperative to shift ServRon 10 ’ s principal base of operations from the Western Carolines to the Philippine Islands . With the selection of San Pedro Bay , Leyte Gulf , as the base site , the movement toward Leyte began on 7 May . " Basilan " sailed with the fourth increment of ServRon 10 on 20 May , and reached her destination on 25 May . ServRon 10 ’ s maintenance staff ( later designated as Service Division 101 , Maintenance ) reported on board on 28 May . " Basilan " carried out her support mission in Philippine waters as the Pacific War progressed to its victorious conclusion that summer . During her time in Leyte Gulf , again working with " Jason " , she also provided important services in conjunction with the modern repair ship " Ajax " ( AR - 6 ) and the veterans " Vulcan " ( AR - 5 ) and " Prometheus " ( AR - 3 ) . " Basilan ’ s " “ skilled workmen in ( the ship ’ s ) SRU and electronic repair forces , ” her chronicler noted modestly , performed “ commendable work on such ships as the " Missouri " ( BB - 63 ) , " Bennington " ( CV - 20 ) , " Randolph " ( CV - 15 ) , " Essex " ( CV - 9 ) , and others … ” Her unique equipment also enabled her to fulfill another key sustaining role in supporting the forces afloat . “ Due to our large evaporator capacity , ” her historian later wrote , “ we were able to issue water to many of the LCIs ( infantry landing craft ) , LCS ’ s ( support landing craft ) and other small craft . ” End - of - war operations . On 13 September , " Basilan " stood out of Leyte Gulf , bound for Jinsen ( later Inchon ) , Korea , to participate in the occupation of that former Japanese territory , briefly retracing her course in response to warnings of two typhoons crossing her proposed course . Earmarked for disposal on 21 September , the ship nevertheless remained on occupation duty , first at Jinsen and later at Shanghai , China , into the late autumn of 1945 . " Basilan " concluded her occupation work on 2 December , when she sailed from Shanghai , bound for Pearl Harbor , arriving at her destination on Christmas Day 1945 . She sailed for the Pacific Northwest two days later . Reaching Seattle , Washington , on 6 January 1946 , " Basilan " began pre - inactivation overhaul soon thereafter . Before stripping could be completed , however , on 22 February the ship received orders to report to Commandant , 14th Naval District , for berthing and eventual assignment to Joint Task Force ( JTF ) 1 being constituted to take part in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll ( Operation Crossroads ) . On 25 February , the ship departed for Pearl Harbor , and reached her destination on 8 March . Post - war decommissioning . Decommissioned at Pearl on 22 April 1946 , " Basilan " , never ultimately employed in Crossroads , remained in Hawaiian waters until 30 March 1947 , when she sailed , in tow of tug " VO - 69 " , and in company with the fleet tug " Abnaki " ( ATF - 96 ) and five other small tugs and their tows , for San Francisco , California . Reaching Drake ’ s Bay on 15 April , she was turned over , having been stripped , to the U . S . Maritime Commission on 14 May . Her name was stricken from the Naval Register on 28 May 1947 , and the ship remained in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay , California , until 12 June 1972 when she was sold to Zidell Explorations , Inc . , for scrapping .