U.S.S. Cook Inlet (AVP-36)

Looking from the windows of my home, I have a beautiful view of Cook Inlet. Despite the number of years that I spent in the U.S. Navy, I was not aware, until very recently, that a naval vessel was named after the body of water that I view numerous times each day and holds so many of my memories.

The U.S.S. Cook Inlet (AVP-36) was a Barnegat-class small sea seaplane tender. During the war effort of World War II, a large number of this classification of ships were constructed on an assembly line basis. Twenty-three U.S. Navy ships have carried the names of geographical locations or cities in Alaska. Seven of these twenty-three ships were similar in design to the U.S.S. Cook Inlet, each of them having the classification of a small sea plane tender. The Navy had a large naval air force of amphibian aircraft during World War II. Predominantly their role was at sea rescues of downed pilots and search and rescue operations for ships that went down. Their secondary role was to provide ferry and supply services to the fleet and land based operations.

Cook Inlet (AVP-36) was laid down on 23 August 1943 at the Lake Washington Shipyard. She was launched on May 13, 1944 and commissioned on 5 November 1944 with Commander W.P. Woods in Command. A little over fourteen months from the time her keel was laid, she was commissioned and prepared to join the fleet during World War II. The U.S.S. Cook Inlet measured 311 feet 8 inches in length with a beam of 41 feet 1 inch. Her propulsion unit were diesel engines with two shafts and a speed of 18.6 knots. She carried 215 personnel with the capabilities of having a crew of 367 when an aviation was embarked. Her primary armament was one 5 inch mount and a variety of smaller caliber deck guns. She had the ability to carry 80,000 gallons of aviation fuel. The U.S.S. Cook Inlet would earn one Battle Star for her service.

The U.S.S. Cook Inlet departed San Diego on 15 January 1945 and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 21 January 1945. She tended seaplanes at Hilo, Hawaii from 25 January 1945 to 31 January 1945. The U.S.S. Cook Inlet arrived off Saipan on 26 February 1945 to serve with a escort and patrol task force. From 2 March 1945 to 14 March 1945 she was on station during the invasion of Iwo Jima. The Cook Inlet rescued 27 survivors of downed U.S. bombers. She was still on duty at Iwo Jima when hostilities with Japan ended on 15 August 1945. The U.S.S. Cook Inlet remained in the area of Iwo Jima until 29 November 1945. She served a short tour of duty tendering at Jinsen, Korea prior to going home. Stopping at Iwo Jima and Pearl Harbor, the U.S.S. Cook Inlet returned to San Francisco on 22 January 1946. She was decommissioned and placed into the Pacific Reserve Fleet on 31 January 1946, twenty-six months after her commissioning date. However, she would return to the high seas.

The U.S. Navy loaned the Cook Inlet to the the U.S. Coast Guard on 20 September 1948. On 26 September 1966, she was permanently assigned to the Coast Guard as the Cost Guard Cutter, USCGC Cook Inlet (WAVP-384). Throughout her Coast Guard career of almost twenty-three years, her home port was Portland, Maine. The Coast Guard decommissioned the Cook Inlet on 27 December 1971. However, she would once again see service in a war zone.

On 27 December 1971, the Cook Inlet was transferred to South Vietnam and was commissioned into the South Vietnam Navy as patrol vessel RVNS Tran Quoc Toan (HQ-06). When South Vietnam collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War in April 1975, the renamed Cook Inlet fled to Subic Bay in the Philippines. The Republic of the Philippines took custody of the Tran Quoc Toan and she was formally transferred to the Philippine Navy in April 1976. After 32 years of service, her sailing days were over. The former U.S.S. Cook Inlet was not commissioned by the Philippine Navy. She was discarded in 1982 and most likely scrapped. The U.S.S. Cook Inlet (AVP-36) served her country well.