USS William B. Preston (DD-344) - 1930s

1930s

To meet the obligations imposed by the naval treaties of the 1920s and 1930s, William B. Preston was part of a group of destroyers laid up in reserve at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was decommissioned there on 15 October 1934.

As America's Navy grew in the first months following the outbreak of World War II in Europe, the need for auxiliaries to support the Fleet multiplied accordingly. On 18 November 1939, William B. Preston was selected for conversion to a small seaplane tender and redesignated AVP-20. Soon thereafter, the ship entered the New York Navy Yard for conversion.

William B. Preston was recommissioned on 14 June 1940, with Lt. Cmdr. Francis J. Bridget in command. On 2 August 1940, the ship was reclassified again, this time to destroyer-seaplane tender, and redesignated AVD-7.

She departed the New York area three days later and arrived at Hampton Roads the following day. On 11 August, she headed for the Caribbean and arrived at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, four days later. She then steamed to Panama, transited the canal on 24 August, and proceeded on to San Diego, where she arrived on 5 September for an eight-day pause en route to Hawaii.

After mooring to a Submarine Base pier at Pearl Harbor on 19 September, the ship commenced operations with the Fleet. She engaged in such tasks as tending scout planes, towing targets during fleet exercises, and making routine offshore patrols through 30 September. She then anchored at Palmyra Island to tend PBY Catalinas through 4 October, when she returned to Pearl Harbor.

As patrol plane reinforcements flew over the Pacific, bound for the Asiatic Fleet, William B. Preston served as a plane guard for three days in October and then resumed her routine duties out of Pearl Harbor. On 6 December 1940, the seaplane tender set course for the Philippines and her second tour of duty with the Asiatic Fleet.

En route, she lay to at plane guard station "George," while VP-26 passed overhead on course for the Philippine Islands. On 13 December, she was fueled from Wright (AV-1) and then lay to in the lee of Wake Island before proceeding on to Guam. She arrived at Apra Harbor on 17 December but soon pressed onward and completed the last leg of her voyage to the Philippines when she anchored in Canacao Bay, off the Cavite Navy Yard, on 22 December 1940.

After operating in the Manila area through Christmas 1940, the tender took station at Puerto Princessa Harbor, near the island of Palawan, where she tended PBY's to mid-January 1941. Moving on to Tutu Bay, Jolo, on 15 January, she visited Igat Bay and Caldera Bay, both off Mindanao, before returning to Canacao Bay on 8 February.

From February to November 1941, the Asiatic Fleet continued its preparations. While some fleet units, including the majority of the destroyers, were sent south, William B. Preston was maintained in readiness in the Philippines for any eventuality. She tended PBY's and occasionally acted as target tug for fleet maneuvers in the southern islands in the Philippine archipelago. After an overhaul at the Cavite Navy Yard in November, she departed the Manila area on 1 December, bound for the southeastern coast of Mindanao.

Upon her arrival in Davao Gulf, the ship dropped anchor in Malalag Bay, where she was joined by a group of PBYs of the newly formed Patrol Wing 10 which soon commenced patrols. The planes reconnoitered several small bays and inlets, looking out for strange ships or for any signs of suspicious activity.