USS Shelter ( AM - 301 ) USS " Shelter " ( AM - 301 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . After service in the Pacific during World War II , " Shelter " was decommissioned in June 1946 and placed in reserve . In January 1964 , she was transferred to South Vietnam for service in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as RVNS " Chi Linh " ( HQ - 11 ) . She remained in South Vietnamese service until the collapse of that country in 1975 . " Chi Linh " was one of several ships that fled from South Vietnam to the Philippines . She was then commissioned into the Philippine Navy in April 1976 as RPS " Datu Tupas " ( PS - 18 ) , named after a chieftain of Cebu . The ship ' s fate is not reported in secondary source s . U . S . Navy service . " Shelter " was laid down on 16 August 1943 by Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Company of Winslow , Washington ; launched on 14 November 1943 ; sponsored by Miss Patricia Whittenberg , and commissioned on 9 July 1944 , Lt . Samuel D . LaTourneau in command . " Shelter " conducted shakedown training at San Pedro and sailed from San Francisco on 21 October as escort unit for a convoy which entered Pearl Harbor on the 30th . Returned to San Francisco escorting merchant ships . Thanksgiving Day left San Francisco and returned to Pearl Harbor . After assault minesweeping exercises off Maui she departed Pearl Harbor on 5 January with an amphibious assault force , which " Shelter " escorted to Saipan . " Shelter " then continued to Tinian for supplies and then escorted the " USS Guide " , flagship of COMMINEPAC to Iwo Jima that arrived off Iwo Jima on 16 February 1945 . She made pre - invasion sweeps with Mine Division 36 consisting of six ships , which were ordered to fire on shore , and to retire if fire returned which it did , possibly because one of the other ships destroyed a Japanese RADAR emplacement . A larger ship then attacked the revealed emplacements . Troops stormed ashore on the 19th and the " Shelter " remained on patrol and screening station until 28 February ; then helped guard an amphibious ( damaged LSTs ) group to Saipan before proceeding to Ulithi , Western Caroline Islands , arriving on 9 March for logistics and preparations for the coming Okinawa campaign . At an unknown time prior to Okinawa , the " USS Shelter " was refitted to add a combat operations center , which replaced the captain ' s bunk on the bridge ( one level below the flying bridge ) . This was a possible reason for recommissioning in 1964 . The " Shelter " had only surface RADAR , so incoming flights were relayed with a bearing and the estimated time until arrival from a point ashore . This was converted to a bearing and time to arrival at the " USS Shelter " and relayed from the " USS Shelter " to the other ships in the battle group . On 19 March 1945 , " Shelter " departed Ulithi with Mine Group 2 for exploratory sweeps in the Kerama Retto area , and the western side of Okinawa , from 26 March until the initial invasion landings on 1 April . Division 36 also , on D - Day minus one , destroyed mines at the landing site with gunfire , being too shallow to sweep . She made assault sweeps at Ie Shima on 8 and 14 April , served on antisubmarine patrol , and departed on 4 May for Ulithi , thence to San Pedro Bay , Leyte , Philippine Islands . Lt . Lancaster then assumed command . Here , she joined a convoy which reached Okinawa on the 29th . The following three weeks were largely taken up with sweeping of minefields off Myako Jima in the East China Sea . She stood out of Kerama Retto on 8 July 1945 as escort unit for LST Group 45 which entered San Pedro Bay on 13 July , and departed Leyte Gulf on 19 August with a convoy that reached Okinawa on the 24th . Six days later , she sailed with a minesweeping task unit that swept the Arcadia minefields in the Yellow Sea in preparation for the landing of occupation forces on the Korean peninsula by the Ninth Fleet on 7 September 1945 . She then proceeded to the western coast of Kyushu , Japan , for minesweeping in approaches to Nagasaki and Sasebo , where Lt Douglas Giddings assumed Command , clearing 22 moored mines and obstructions from 9 to 16 September 1945 . " Shelter " departed Nagasaki on 26 September 1945 for repairs at Sasebo , then spent 11 to 17 October sweeping 83 Japanese mines in the Tsushima Strait . She repeated this operation 1 to 12 November , sweeping 69 more mines ; then became reference ship for a unit of three Japanese Coastal Defense ships sweeping shallow mines line southeast of Tsushima until 16 November 1945 . She joined Mine Squadron Twelve on 27 November acting as reference ship until completion of sweeping operations in Tsushima Strait on 4 December 1945 . She departed Wakayama , Japan , for home on 11 December touching Eniwetok , Pearl Harbor , and San Diego , where LT JG Samuel F . Melcher Jr assumed command on her way to Galveston , Texas , arriving on 3 February 1946 . She shifted to Orange , Texas on 5 April , was decommissioned there by Lt ( Jg ) John Redmond on 7 June 1946 , and placed in the Texas Group , United States Atlantic Reserve Fleet . " Shelter " received six battle stars for service in World War II . While she remained in reserve , her hull classification was changed from " AM - 301 " to " MSF - 301 " on 7 February 1955 . The ship remained in reserve until 15 July 1963 when she commenced conversion to a patrol and escort craft in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard . She was struck from the Navy List on 1 August 1963 and was transferred on loan to the government of South Vietnam on 24 January 1964 , under terms of the Military Assistance Program . Republic of Vietnam Navy service . On 24 January 1964 , the former " Shelter " was transferred to South Vietnam . She served in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as RVNS " Chi Linh " ( HQ - 11 ) . After the fall of South Vietnam in 1975 , she was one of several ships that escaped to the Philippines and were later commissioned into the Philippine Navy . Philippine Navy service . Renamed RPS " Datu Tupas " ( PS - 18 ) in honor of Datu Tupas , a chieftain of Cebu , the vessel was commissioned into the Philippine Navy on 5 April 1976 . She was classified by the Philippine Navy as a , which incorporated members of three different U . S . Navy ship classes , all of which were based on the same hull design . " Magat Salamat " differed slightly from other ships of the " Migual Malvar " class because of minor structural differences from her original construction and weapons complement . The ship ' s fate is not reported in secondary source s . If she remained in commission beyond July 1980 , when the Philippine Navy changed their ship prefix from " RPS " to " BRP " , the ship would have become BRP " Datu Tupas " at that time .