RVNS Ngo Quyen ( HQ - 17 ) RVNS " Ngo Quyen " ( HQ - 17 ) was a South Vietnam ese frigate of the Republic of Vietnam Navy in commission from 1972 to 1975 . She and her six sister ships were the largest South Vietnamese naval ships of their time . The ship is named after Ngo Quyen , who expelled Chinese forces in 938 and founded the first modern Vietnamese state . History . Construction and United States Navy service 1944 - 1946 . " Ngo Quyen " was laid down in the United States by Lake Washington Shipyard at Houghton , Washington , as the United States Navy " Barnegat " - class seaplane tender USS " Wachapreague " ( AVP - 56 ) , but was converted during construction into the motor torpedo boat tender USS " Wachapreague " ( AGP - 8 ) . Commissioned in May 1944 , she served in the New Guinea campaign , the Philippines campaign , and the campaign in Borneo during World War II , and performed postwar service in Borneo . She was decommissioned in May 1946 and placed in reserve . United States Coast Guard service 1946 - 1972 . The U . S . Navy transferred " Wachapreague " to the United States Coast Guard , which commissioned her in 1946 as the " Casco " - class Coast Guard cutter USCGC " Bering Strait " ( WAVP - 386 ) . Reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC - 386 in 1966 , she patrolled ocean stations in the North Atlantic Ocean , for nearly 26 years , reporting weather data and engaging in search - and - rescue and law - enforcement operations . Republic of Vietnam Navy service 1972 - 1975 . Acquisition and operations . After her antisubmarine warfare equipment had been removed , " McCulloch " was transferred to South Vietnam on 21 June 1972 and was commissioned into the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS " Ngo Quyen " ( HQ - 17 ) By mid - July 1972 , six other former " Casco " - class cutters had joined her in South Vietnamese service . They were the largest warships in the South Vietnamese inventory , and their 5 - inch ( 127 - millimeter ) guns were South Vietnam ' s largest naval guns . " Ngo Quyen " and her sisters fought alongside U . S . Navy ships during the final years of the Vietnam War , patrolling the South Vietnamese coast and providing gunfire support to South Vietnamese forces ashore . When South Vietnam collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War in late April 1975 , " Ngo Quyen " became a ship without a country . She 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 . " Acquisition by the Philippines . After " Ngo Quyen " had been cleaned and repaired , the United States formally transferred her to the Republic of the Philippines on 5 April 1976 . Philippine Navy service 1976 - 1985 . The ship was commissioned into the Philippine Navy as frigate BRP " Gregorio del Pilar " ( PF - 8 ) on 7 February 1977 , and was decommissioned in June 1985 . She was again recommissioned as BRP " Gregorio del Pilar " ( PF - 12 ) around 1987 , and was finally decommissioned on April 1990 , discarded in July 1990 , and probably scrapped .