USS Orestes ( AGP - 10 ) USS " Orestes " ( AGP - 10 ) was a motor torpedo boat tender that served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 . " Orestes " was laid down as landing ship tank USS " LST – 135 " at Chicago Bridge and Iron Company , Seneca , Illinois , on 8 July 1943 , and launched on 16 November 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . Bernard Sharp . Prior to completion , she was converted into a motor torpedo boat tender at Maryland Drydock Company , Baltimore , Maryland . Redesignated AGP - 10 , she was commissioned as USS " Orestes " ( AGP – 10 ) on 25 April 1944 with Lieutenant Kenneth N . Mueller in command . Successfully concluding her shakedown out of Hampton Roads , Virginia , on 23 May 1944 , " Orestes " prepared for World War II duty in the Pacific . Departing Chesapeake Bay on 5 June 1944 , she transited the Panama Canal and , after a stop - over at Bora Bora , sailed on to New Guinea . She began motor torpedo boat tending operations at Aitape on 23 August 1944 , transferred to Mios Woendi a month later , and on 12 November 1944 joined General Douglas MacArthur ’ s Philippines invasion forces at Leyte . In the Leyte area control of the air was still disputed and Japan ese air attacks were numerous . On 24 November 1944 " Orestes " ’ gunners got their first confirmed kills , two Mitsubishi A6M “ Zeke ” ( Zero ) fighters . Late in December 1944 , while " Orestes " was in a Mindoro - bound convoy designted " Uncle plus 15 " with 30 patrol torpedo boat s ( PT boats ) and 50 other vessels , Japanese planes made life tenuous . On 30 December 1944 , an Aichi D3A “ Val ” dive bomber came in low on the starboard side and crashed into " Orestes " amidships , causing heavy damage and killing 45 members of her crew . Accompanying landing craft infantry ( LCIs ) finally brought the resulting fires under control and " Orestes " was beached . Landing ship tank USS " LST - 708 " later towed " Orestes " back to Leyte on 27 January 1945 , and after temporary repairs " Orestes " departed Leyte on 24 February 1945 on a slow voyage back to the United States , arriving at Terminal Island , California , on 13 May 1945 . There shipyard personnel went to work and 202 , 500 man - hour s of labor later they had completely rejuvenated " Orestes " . " Orestes " departed the United States on a second trip to the Pacific war zone on 8 August 1945 , but the war with Japan ended on 15 August 1945 and the Japanese surrender had been formalized ( on 2 September 1945 ) by the time she reached Guinan Harbor , Samar , in the Philippines . " Orestes " served under the Commander Motor Torpedo Boats , Philippine Sea Frontier , until 17 December 1945 , when she sailed eastward with naval passengers for Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , and the United States , arriving at San Pedro , California , on 3 February 1946 . " Orestes " made a month - long round trip to the Panama Canal Zone , then was deactivated . She decommissioned on 29 April 1946 at Oakland , California , and was struck from the Navy List on 23 April 1947 . She was transferred to the Maritime Commission on 15 March 1948 and then was sold to the Walter W . Johnson Company of San Francisco for scrapping . " Orestes " received two battle star s for her World War II service .