USS Bering Strait ( AVP - 34 ) USS " Bering Strait " ( AVP - 34 ) was a United States Navy " Barnegat " - class small seaplane tender in commission from 1944 to 1946 . She tended seaplanes during World War II in the Pacific in combat areas and earned three battle stars by war ’ s end . Construction , commissioning , and shakedown . " Bering Strait " was laid down on 7 June 1943 at Houghton , Washington , by Lake Washington Shipyard . She was launched on 15 January 1944 , sponsored by Mrs . George F . Cornwall , and commissioned at her builder ’ s yard on 19 July 1944 with Commander Walter D . Innis in command . After fitting out and conducting her initial sea trials in Puget Sound , " Bering Strait " departed Seattle , Washington , on 10 August 1944 . She reached Naval Air Station Alameda at Alameda , California , on 13 August 1944 . From 17 August 1944 to 13 September 1944 , she conducted her shakedown , covering areas such as ship control , communications , general drills , engineering and damage control instruction , gunnery training , and antiaircraft and antisubmarine work . Proceeding to Los Angeles , California , upon completion of that training , " Bering Strait " underwent two weeks of repairs and alterations at Terminal Island Naval Drydocks at Terminal Island , California . World War II Pacific Theater operations . Training operations in Hawaii . Reporting for duty with the United States Pacific Fleet on 2 October 1944 , " Bering Strait " sailed for the Hawaiian Islands on 3 October 1944 . She arrived at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , on 9 October , and on 13 October 1944 sailed for Hilo , Hawaii . Arriving there on 14 October , she established a seaplane base at Kuhio Bay and , until 5 November , carried out training with successive detachments of Glenn L . Martin Company PBM Mariner flying boat s . She tended six Martin PBM - 3Ds from Patrol Bombing Squadron 25 ( VPB - 25 ) from 14 to 19 October 1944 and a second detachment of six PBM - 3Ds from the same squadron between 19 and 29 October 1944 , after which time she tended six Mariners from Patrol Bombing Squadron 26 ( VPB - 26 ) . Concluding those advanced base activities on 5 November 1944 , she sailed for Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay at Kaneohe , Hawaii , the same day . Arriving at her destination on the 6th , " Bering Strait " received orders to organize and train an air - sea rescue task group made up of herself and the seaplane detachment of Rescue Squadron 2 ( VH - 2 ) , an assignment that required her to exchange her aviation spare part s allowance for PBM - 3D Mariner patrol bombers for spares for PBM - 3R Mariner rescue aircraft . Returning to Pearl Harbor on 23 November 1944 , " Bering Strait " underwent a shipyard availability and then loaded the equipment of Rescue Squadron 3 ( VH - 3 ) , which had been substituted for VH - 2 . Operations in the Marshall Islands . " Bering Strait " sailed for the Marshall Islands on 1 December 1944 . During the passage to Kwajalein Atoll , the ship served as antisubmarine screen for seaplane tender USS " Cumberland Sound " ( AV - 17 ) . After pausing at Kwajalein from 9 to 12 December , " Bering Strait " returned to sea again with " Cumberland Sound " and steamed to Eniwetok , arriving there on 13 December 1944 to carry out air - sea rescue training , which began after VH - 3 arrived from Kaneohe on 15 December . She conducted nine days of training with VH - 3 before that squadron transferred to " Cumberland Sound " on 24 December 1944 . " Bering Strait " , along with patrol craft USS " PC - 1082 " and USS " PC - 572 " , then escorted cargo ship USS " Situla " ( AK - 140 ) and six merchant ships from Eniwetok to Saipan in the Mariana Islands , departing on 24 December 1944 . Operations in the Mariana Islands . " Bering Strait " and her convoy arrived on 28 December 1944 at Garapan Harbor on Saipan . Shifting on 29 December 1944 to Tanapag Harbor , Guam , she received VH - 3 on board that day . On 1 January 1945 , however , " Bering Strait " transferred her aviation maintenance unit to VH - 3 for temporary duty and sent her aviation officer , aviation storekeepers , all aviation spare parts , and three of her boats to the naval air base at Tanapag , so that the organization could be maintained intact ashore . That day , she reported to Commander , Marianas Patrol and Escort Force , for temporary operational control for radar picket and air - sea rescue duty . She departed Tanapag Harbor on 5 January 1945 to take up her new task . From 6 to 15 January 1945 , " Bering Strait " operated 10 nautical miles ( 18 . 5 kilometers ) west of Sarigan and Guguan Islands , on radar picket station to warn Saipan of approaching Japanese planes . Returning to Saipan for logistics on 16 January 1945 , she embarked a fighter - director officer from a United States Marine Corps aircraft group on 18 January 1945 , and departed later that day to assume radar picket duties as fighter - director ship in Operation Michigan to intercept Japanese planes operating between Iwo Jima and Truk . Returning to Saipan on 28 January 1945 for logistics and to disembark the U . S . Marine Corps fighter - direction officer , " Bering Strait " commenced a six days of voyage repairs . On 4 February 1945 , she sailed to relieve USS " Fanning " ( DD - 385 ) on air - sea rescue lifeguard station . Rescuing crew of a ditched B - 29 . At 23 : 00 hours on 10 February 1945 , " Bering Strait " made contact with a homeward - bound Boeing B - 29 Superfortress , first by radar and then visually . The ship switched on her lights and stood by for a landing , illuminating the sea and then indicating the wind direction with searchlights . The B - 29 , named " Deacons Delight " , accomplished “ an almost perfect ditching , ” and " Bering Strait " s motor whaleboat took the entire 12 - man crew on board and brought them to the ship . Then , after collecting floating debris and gear , and riddling the Superfortress with gunfire in a vain effort to sink it , " Bering Strait " rammed and sank the hardy bomber . Rescuing crew of a second ditched B - 29 . An hour earlier , " Bering Strait " had picked up a report that another B - 29 , named " Homing Bird " , had ditched . After completing the rescue of " Deacon ’ s Delight " s crew , the ship headed for the scene of " Homing Bird " s crash . Guided to the scene by a “ Dumbo ” air - sea rescue aircraft the ship arrived there by 16 : 05 hours on 11 February 1945 and picked up the entire 11 - man crew immediately . A third B - 29 crew rescue . Work still remained to be done , however , for soon after winding up the rescue of " Homing Bird " s crew , " Bering Strait " received orders to rendezvous with the high - speed minelayer USS " Robert H . Smith " ( DM - 23 ) , to pick up the crew of a Superfortress that had ditched around 22 : 30 hours on 10 February 1945 . The violent landing had claimed the lives of four of the B - 29s crew . A patrolling “ Dumbo ” spotted the men the next morning , dropped survival gear , and covered them until " Robert H . Smith " picked them up that afternoon . On the morning of 12 February 1945 , " Bering Strait " embarked the seven survivors of the third B - 29 . Returning to Saipan on 15 February , the ship disembarked the airmen the same day . A fourth B - 29 crew saved by blinking lights . On the night of " Bering Strait " s return to her station , on 19 February 1945 , a B - 29 had ditched at 21 : 00 , north of Pagan Island , but broke up and sank upon landing ; five men , trapped in the wreckage , had drowned . Unable to extract all of the life rafts — one man had the use of only a partially inflated rubber boat — the crew lay at the mercy of the sea . Directed to the scene by a “ Dumbo , ” " Bering Strait " sighted the survivors and hove to in their midst . She picked up five men , one of whom had been swimming without a life jacket for two hours , and sighted two bodies but could not recover them . Fortunately , the airmen had been spotted in the darkness because of tiny lights pinned to their life jackets , lights that had been “ stolen ” from the Navy “ on personal initiative . ” " Bering Strait " disembarked those survivors at Saipan on 21 February 1945 , and got underway later the same day to relieve destroyer USS " Cummings " ( DD - 365 ) on lifeguard station . Saving two more B - 29 crews . Returning to Saipan on 3 March 1945 , " Bering Strait " spent the next six days in a shipyard availability before setting out to resume her lifeguard work on 9 March . On 10 March , " Bering Strait " established contact with a B - 29 , nicknamed " Hopeful Devil " , that radioed a distress call during its return from a bombing mission over the Japanese home islands . The Superfortress ditched alongside at 12 : 38 hours , and " Bering Strait " picked up the nine - man crew in short order . Almost immediately , " Bering Strait " picked up a position report on another ditched B - 29 , and steered a course to the rescue . Although the position reports provided the ship proved incorrect because a “ Dumbo ” pilot mistook Guguan Island for Alamagan , " Bering Strait " spotted a “ Dumbo ” orbiting ten nautical miles ( 18 . 5 kilometers ) southwest of Guguan and altered course to investigate . She picked up the 11 - man crew of that ditched B - 29 and then shaped a course for her lifeguard station . " Bering Strait " remained at sea , from Pagan Island , from 11 to 14 March 1944 , at which time she relieved her sister ship , seaplane tender USS " Cook Inlet " ( AVP - 36 ) , at another air - sea rescue station . Returning to Saipan for logistics on 16 March 1945 , " Bering Strait " disembarked the 20 airmen taken on board since 10 March 1945 before sailing for Guam . Honored for her life saving performances . " Bering Strait " s performance of her rescue function earned her accolades from the Commanding General of the United States Army Air Forces 313th Bombardment Wing who , upon the ship ’ s detachment from lifeguard duties , sent her a message : “ Since you have been our guardian angel of the seas you have returned safely to us 50 combat crewmen . Many of them are flying against the enemy again . We are grateful for the splendid work you have done and wish you all the best of luck . ” Supporting the invasion of Okinawa . On 18 March 1945 , " Bering Strait " began preparations for Operation Iceberg , the invasion of Okinawa . Underway on 19 March 1945 , she escorted seaplane tender USS " Hamlin " ( AV - 15 ) to Saipan and completed the preparations for “ Iceberg ” by loading VH - 3 equipment between 20 and 23 March 1945 . This work accomplished , she sailed for Kerama Retto on 23 March 1945 in company with three large seaplane tenders and three of her sister ships , as Task Group ( TG ) 51 . 20 . Reaching her destination on 28 March , " Bering Strait " anchored in the Kerama Retto passage , and TG 51 . 20 established a seaplane base that day . The next day , VH - 3 arrived and flew its first “ Dumbo ” mission . On " L - day , " 1 April 1945 , the invasion of Okinawa commenced . The first " Dumbo " mission of the invasion for VH - 3 proved successful , as the squadron commander , Lieutenant Commander W . H . Bonvillian , rescued the three - man crew of a Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber from Torpedo Squadron 29 ( VT - 29 ) . Antiaircraft fire had brought the plane down in a rice paddy , and the three crewmen deemed it prudent to take to their rubber boat and head out to sea where Lieutenant Commander Bonvillian ' s Mariner picked them up . Acting as control tender at Kerama Retto . For the next three months , " Bering Strait " served as the coordinating control tender at Kerama Retto , not only tending seaplanes but also conducting sonar searches to guard against midget submarine incursions . Planes under her direction carried out 268 missions during April , May and June 1945 , rescuing 105 men , who represented 39 different squadrons - 26 U . S . Navy , ten U . S . Marine Corps , two U . S . Army Air Force and one British Royal Navy . The aircraft carrier - based squadrons among that number came from 23 ships , including the British fleet carrier HMS " Formidable " . Twice during April 1945 , one of " Bering Strait " s planes was forced down by friendly fire and compelled to taxi back to base . On 23 April 1945 , one of her PBMs transferred a severely wounded U . S . Marine to the seaplane tender USS " St . George " ( AV - 16 ) for medical treatment . A little over a month later , on 24 May 1945 , her PBMs rescued a pilot from the waters at the mouth of Ariake Bay , on southern Kyūshū . Similar rescues took place on 2 June 1945 , when " Bering Strait " - based PBMs rescued the crew of a crashed Consolidated PB2Y Coronado from inside Kagoshima Bay , as well as a pilot from the fleet carrier USS " Ticonderoga " ( CV - 14 ) . Later that month , on 14 June 1945 , " Bering Strait " - based Mariners rescued pilots under fire from Japanese guns at Kikai Shima in the northern Ryukyu Islands . Rescuing crews of " kamikaze " - damaged ships . Pilots and aircrew proved not the only beneficiaries of " Bering Strait " s controlled rescue missions . On 27 May 1945 , two " kamikaze " suicide aircraft crashed destroyer USS " Braine " ( DD - 630 ) . One " Bering Strait " - based PBM rescued ten men from the ship while a second stood by in case the need arose to fly critically hurt sailor s to medical treatment . On other occasions , " Bering Strait " s planes escorted damaged aircraft to safety , or directed ships to the assistance of survivors in the water . Under constant attack by kamikaze planes . The ship ’ s stay at Kerama Retto likewise proved eventful , as , during that three - month period the ship went to general quarters 154 times ; there was one day , 6 June 1945 , on which the ship stood to battle stations six times . On 5 May 1945 , two of her men suffered injuries when hit by shrapnel from friendly fire bursting too close to the ship during an attack by Japanese planes ; she herself then fired on a Japanese plane attempting to crash on the nearby " St . George " . On 21 June , " Bering Strait " s guns shot down a Nakajima E4N Type 00 “ Jake ” reconnaissance floatplane . During that same raid , just after one " kamikaze " had crashed seaplane tender USS " Curtiss " ( AV - 4 ) , a second overflew " Bering Strait " and headed for seaplane tender USS " Kenneth Whiting " ( AV - 14 ) . " Bering Strait " took the suicider under fire and shot it down short of its target . Operations at Chimu Bay . Relieved of her duties as coordinating control tender on 30 June 1945 , " Bering Strait " shifted to Chimu Bay , Okinawa , on 15 July . She tended four PBMs from VH - 3 until 7 August , when she transferred them to another seaplane tender and assumed duties tending six planes from Rescue Squadron 1 ( VH - 1 ) . Twice during her first months at Chimu Bay weather compelled her to undertake typhoon evasion , once from 19 to 20 July 1945 and again between 1 and 3 August 1945 . Hostilities with Japan ended on 15 August 1945 , bringing World War II to a close , while " Bering Strait " was operating at Chimu Bay . Military honors and awards . " Bering Strait " was awarded three battle star s for her World War II service . Post - World War U . S . Navy service . Departing Okinawa on 26 September 1945 , " Bering Strait " headed for Japan to support the occupation of that country . Reaching Sasebo , Japan , soon thereafter , she remained at that port until her sister ship " Cook Inlet " relieved her on 30 December 1945 , then departed for the United States . Proceeding via Pearl Harbor , " Bering Strait " reached San Francisco , California , on 21 January 1946 and commenced pre - inactivation overhaul . Decommissioning . " Bering Strait " was decommissioned at Naval Air Station Alameda , California , on 21 June 1946 , and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet . United States Coast Guard service . The U . S . Navy loaned " Bering Strait " to the United States Coast Guard on 14 September 1948 , and struck from the Navy List and transferred her permanently to the Coast Guard on 26 September 1966 . Commissioned in 1949 as USCGC " Bering Strait " ( WAVP - 382 ) and reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC - 382 in 1966 , she served as a Coast Guard cutter until the beginning of 1971 . For nearly 22 years , she patrolled ocean stations in the Pacific Ocean , first based at Seattle , Washington , and , later , at Honolulu , Hawaii , reporting weather data and engaging in search - and - rescue and law - enforcement operations . During the Vietnam War , " Bering Strait " participated in Operation Market Time coastal surveillance operations off Vietnam , serving two tours ( in 1967 - 1968 and in 1970 ) . Foreign service . South Vietnamese service . The Coast Guard decommissioned " Bering Srait " in South Vietnam on 1 January 1971 , and she was commissioned in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as patrol vessel RVNS " Tran Quang Khai " ( HQ - 02 ) . After the collapse of South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975 , " Tran Quang Khai " fled to Subic Bay in the Philippines . Philippine Navy service . The Philippine Navy took her over in 1975 , and she was formally acquired by the Republic of the Philippines on 5 April 1976 . Commissioned as frigate BRP " Diego Silang " ( PF - 9 ) , she served in the Philippine Navy decommissioned in June 1985 . She was discarded in July 1990 and probably scrapped .