USS Bassett ( APD - 73 ) USS " Bassett " ( APD - 73 ) , ex - DE - 672 , was a United States Navy high - speed transport in commission from 1945 to 1946 and from 1950 to 1957 . Construction and commissioning . " Bassett " was laid down as the " Buckley " - class destroyer escort USS " Bassett " ( DE - 672 ) on 28 November 1943 by the Consolidated Steel Corporation at Orange , Texas , and launched as such on 15 January 1944 , sponsored by Mrs . Margaret Bassett , mother of the ships namesake , Ensign Edgar R . Bassett . She was reclassified as a " Charles Lawrence " - class high - speed transport and redesignated APD - 73 on 27 June 1944 . After conversion to her new role , the ship was commissioned on 23 February 1945 with Lieutenant Commander Harold J . Theriault in command . Service history . World War II . Following shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay and off Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , which she completed on 9 April 1945 , " Bassett " underwent post - shakedown repairs at Norfolk , Virginia , before departing for World War II service in the Pacific . Reporting to the United States Pacific Fleet for duty on 1 May 1945 , " Bassett " carried out amphibious warfare training exercises out of Pearl Harbor , Territory of Hawaii , before escorting convoys to places which included Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands , Guam in the Mariana Islands , Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands , Hollandia in New Guinea , and ultimately Leyte in the Philippine Islands . Upon reporting at Leyte for duty with the Commander , Philippine Sea Frontier , " Bassett " delivered mail and passengers to various ports in the Philippine archipelago and to Brunei Bay , Borneo . After returning to Leyte on 26 July 1945 , " Bassett " conducted antisubmarine warfare patrols off Borneo . On 2 August 1945 while carrying out that duty north of Leyte , she received reports of large groups of survivors some 200 nautical miles ( 370 kilometers ) away and altered course to investigate . Within 10 hours , " Bassett " joined in the rescue of survivors from the heavy cruiser USS " Indianapolis " ( CA - 35 ) , which had been torpedo ed and sunk by the Japan ese submarine " I - 58 " . After reaching the scene of the tragedy , " Bassett " rescued 154 " Indianapolis " survivors in a four - hour search and took them to the fleet hospital before returning to Leyte . Postwar . Following a brief voyage to Hollandia , " Bassett " was assigned to Amphibious Group 8 , to take part in the occupation of Japan , which followed the surrender of Japan on 15 August 1945 . She supported the landings at Wakayama , near the key port of Kure , and at Nagoya , on Honshu , before serving as a harbor entrance control ship at Nagoya . Detached from these duties on 18 November 1945 , " Bassett " participated in Operation Magic Carpet , the massive homeward - bound movement of veterans , embarking passengers at Sasebo , Japan . Upon returning these men to the United States West Coast , " Bassett " tarried briefly at San Diego , California , before shifting her area of operations to the Atlantic Ocean . Following repairs at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , " Bassett " was assigned to the Florida Group of the 16th Fleet , later the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . Decommissioned on 29 April 1946 , " Bassett " was laid up at Green Cove Springs , Florida , and remained inactive there for four and a half years . 1950s . Recommissioned on 7 December 1950 with Lieutenant Commander Demetrius J . Vellis in command , " Bassett " proceeded to Jacksonville , Florida , for repairs at the Merrill Stephens Drydock and Repair Company . After reporting for duty to the Commander , Amphibious Force , United States Atlantic Fleet , on 19 December 1950 , " Bassett " departed for Norfolk . Over the next seven years , " Bassett " operated out of Norfolk with the amphibious arm of the Atlantic Fleet . Her initial assignments took her to Havana , Cuba ; St . Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands ; and Roosevelt Roads , Puerto Rico . They also included cold - weather reconnaissance work carried out in cooperation with United States Marine Corps units . She escorted convoys , participated in amphibious landings , and performed plane guard duty . In June 1952 , " Bassett " began her first midshipmen training cruise , during which she visited Greenock , Scotland , and several French ports . In 1953 , " Bassett " s duties took her to Morehead City , North Carolina ; Vieques Island , Puerto Rico ; St . Croix , U . S . Virgin Islands ; and the British West Indies . She stood plane guard duty for the escort aircraft carrier USS " Mindoro " ( CVE - 120 ) during October 1953 . In June 1954 , unrest in Guatemala prompted her despatch to Central America to observe the situation . Upon her return from Caribbean duty , " Bassett " carried out another midshipmen training cruise , this time to Canada and Puerto Rico . " Bassett " completed repairs at the Charleston Naval Shipyard at Charleston , South Carolina , during the summer of 1955 and returned to active duty on 6 September 1955 . She cleared Charleston on that day and stood into Guantanamo Bay on 25 September 1955 . " Bassett " spent one night there before getting underway to search for a Navy hurricane - hunting plane lost in the Caribbean while tracking Hurricane Janet . However , her five - day hunt failed to locate the plane or its crew . " Bassett " next received orders to proceed to British Honduras to assist victims of Hurricane Janet . En route , she received orders directing her to put into the port of Tampico , Mexico , where raging floods caused by the hurricane had engulfed 32 , 000 square miles ( 82 , 979 square kilometers ) of Mexican territory , causing loss of both lives and property . While at Tampico , " Bassett " assisted light aircraft carrier USS " Saipan " ( CVL - 48 ) in carrying out relief work and rendered invaluable service herself by bringing supplies to the needy people along the swollen Rio Panuco and by rescuing marooned people . Upon the completion of her hurricane relief mission , " Bassett " returned to Guantanamo Bay , arriving there on 17 October 1955 . Finishing her training evolutions by 18 November 1955 , she departed for the United States and reached Norfolk in time for her men to enjoy Thanksgiving with their families . Following amphibious transport training at Norfolk in late November and early December 1955 , " Bassett " then carried out amphibious operations in the Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek area at Virginia Beach , Virginia , into January 1956 . Later that month , she operated with elements of the United States Army s 77th Special Forces . " Bassett " spent the remainder of February and the early part of March 1956 at Little Creek or in nearby waters . On 20 March 1956 , " Bassett " departed for the Mediterranean and her first deployment with the United States Sixth Fleet . Passing the Rock of Gibraltar on 1 April 1956 , " Bassett " began several months of operations in the Mediterranean , making goodwill port visits and engaging in amphibious exercises . She ranged the length and breadth of the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Athens , Greece , and Izmir , Turkey , and from the Isle of Rhodes to the French Riviera . In the course of her training evolutions , " Bassett " served as primary control ship for the landing practice at Porto Scudo , Sardinia , and Dikili , Turkey , in addition to supporting her own underwater demolition unit in each instance . After the seven - month Mediterranean deployment , " Bassett " reached Little Creek on 18 October 1956 and spent the remainder of the year there engaged in upkeep and post - deployment repairs . In January 1957 , she commenced local operations out of Little Creek in the Virginia Capes operating area . Later on , she extended the range of her operations from the immediate vicinity of Little Creek to as far away as La Guaira , Venezuela . Her other ports of call included the familiar ones of Guantanamo Bay and Vieques Island , as well as Coco Solo , Panama , and Morehead City , North Carolina . " Bassett " reported to the Norfolk Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet on 26 August 1957 for inactivation . Final decommissioning and disposal . " Bassett " was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Norfolk on 26 November 1957 . She remained in reserve for over nine and a half years before her name was stricken from the Navy List on 1 May 1967 . Colombian Navy service . Towed from New York City to Boston , Massachusetts , early in July 1968 , " Bassett " was turned over to Colombia under the Military Assistance Program . She was commissioned at Boston into the Colombian Navy as ARC " Almirante Tono " ( DT 04 ) on 6 September 1968 and , after shakedown and post - shakedown repairs , sailed for the naval base at Cartagena , Colombia . " Almirante Tono " operated with the Colombian Navy through the mid - 1970s .