© 2007 Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall
Revision 2
1931:
Free City of Danzig. Completed by F. Schichau, GmbH. [1]
July 1931:
Purchased by the United States War Department for its Bureau of Insular Affairs and put in service as Philippine Islands' customs cruiser ARAYAT and manned by Filipino Merchant Marine Officers [2][3]
12 December 1941:
Manila Harbor. While laying alongside Pier No. 5, ARAYAT is attacked and set afire by aircraft of the Takao and 1st Kokutai.
2 January 1942:
The Japanese occupy Manila. ARAYAT comes under their control.
1942:
Refitted and reconstructed at the No. 103 Repair Facility at Cavite Naval Base.
1 September 1943:
Registered in the Sasebo Naval District as patrol boat PB-105. Assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet's Third Southern
Expeditionary Fleet.
15 September 1943:
Repairs are completed.
17 January 1944:
At 0800, PB-105 departs Wasile, Halmahera Island with auxiliary subchaser KYO MARU No. 12 escorting convoy M-9 consisting of NISSHU, TAIZAN, SHOGEN, TSUSHIMA, MIKASA and YUSEI MARUs.
21 January 1944:
At 0700, arrives at Cebu.
28 January 1944:
Departs Manila for Wasile escorting convoy H-16
consisting of an unknown number of unidentified ships.
14 February 1944:
At 1400, PB-105 departs Wasile with minesweeper W-4
escorting convoy convoy M-12 consisting of MIZUHO, FUSO, MITSUKI, KENWA,
TONEGAWA, KUROGANE and WALES MARUs.
16 February 1944:
At 0145, KENWA MARU is attacked unsucessfully by a
submarine, probably by LtCdr (later Captain) Henry G. Munson's USS CREVALLE
(SS-291). At 2000, W-4 is detached.
5 March 1944:
Arrives at Manila.
31 March 1944:
At 0358, PB-105 departs Manila for Kau, Halmahera
Island with PB-103 escorting convoy H-23 consisting of BUNZAN, TATSUJU and TAIYU
MARUs and HINODE MARU No. 1.
2 April 1944:
Arrives at Cebu, Philippines.
6 April 1944:
At 0733, departs Cebu. Enroute, the convoy is joined by
KURAMASAN and MITO MARUs from Davao.
11 April 1944:
At 1753, arrives at Kau.
12 April 1944:
At 1500, PB-105 departs Kau for Manila with PB-103,
auxiliary subchasers YATSUSHIRO MARU and KYO MARU No. 2 escorting convoy M-27
consisting of YAMAGATA, SHOGEN, TETSUYO and SHINYU MARUs and NIKKO MARU No. 1
and Army LST BANRYU (later SS-2).
15 April 1944:
At 2340, LtCdr Marshall H. Austin's USS REDFIN (SS-272)
torpedoes and damages SHINYU MARU, but she is able to continue.
16 April 1944:
At 0240, REDFIN torpedoes and damages YAMAGATA MARU and
later she sinks.
17 April 1944:
Arrives at Zamboanga, Mindanao and departs at 2040 the
same day.
21 April 1944:
JANBI and BUGEN MARUs join the convoy.
22 April 1944:
Arrives at Cebu and departs the same day.
24 April 1944:
Convoy M-27 arrives at Manila.
12 June 1944:
At 0800, PB-105 departs Manila for Wasili, Halmahera
Island with kaibokan CD-10 escorting convoy H-29 consisting of MACASSAR, JUNPO,
YAMAGIKU, FRANCE, KURAMASAN, HIBI and TAIYU MARUs.
17 June 1944:
HIBI MARU is detached for Zamboanga.
23 June 1944:
At 1710, convoy H-29 arrives at Halmahera.
25 June 1944:
At 0550, PB-105 departs Wasili for Manila with kaibokan
CD-10 escorting convoy M-25 consisting of MACASSAR, JUNPO, YAMAGIKU, FRANCE and
TAIYU MARUs.
28 June 1944:
Moro Gulf, 35 miles E of Zamboanga. At 0712, LtCdr Ian
C. Eddy’s USS PARGO (SS-264) attacks the convoy. Eddy torpedoes and sinks
YAMAGIKU MARU and damages CD-10 at 06-50N, 121-30E.
29 June 1944:
At 1550, the convoy departs Zamboanga with KASAGISAN
MARU as an additional member.
1 July 1944:
Cebu Sea. FRANCE and TAIYU MARUs are detached. That same
day, Lt Kosaka Minezo is posted CO.
3 July 1944:
The remainder of convoy M-25 arrives at Manila.
12 July 1944:
PB-105 departs Manila for Zamboanga with subchaser
CH-31 and auxiliary subchaser CHa-84 escorting convoy C-124 consisting of MAYA,
TATEISHI, SHIROUMA (HAKUBA) and NATSUKAWA MARUs.
14 July 1944:
At 1050. arrives at Cebu and departs later that day.
16 July 1944:
At 1800, LtCdr William C. Thompson's USS CABRILLA
(SS-288) torpedoes and sinks an unknown tanker. The escorts counter-attack and
drop 24 depth charges that slightly damage CABRILLA.
17 July 1944:
At 0230, CABRILLA torpedoes and sinks MAYA MARU.
Thompson also torpedoes and damages NATSUKAWA MARU.
18 July 1944:
Arrives at Zamboanga.
18 August 1944:
PB-105 departs Cebu for Zamboanga with minesweeper
W-28 and subchaser CH-46 escorting convoy H-33 consisting of MEXICO, KOKUZAN,
HACHIJIN and HAVRE MARUs.
21 August 1944:
Arrives at Zamboanga. KOKUZAN and HACHIJIN MARUs are
detached. At 0850, the remainder of the convoy departs for Jolo, Philippines
joined by subchaser CH-31.
24 August 1944:
Arrives at Jolo.
27 August 1944:
PB-105 departs Jolo for Menado, Celebes with
minesweeper W-28, subchasers CH-31 and CH-46 escorting convoy H-33 consisting of
MEXICO and HARVRE MARUs.
29 August 1944:
N of Celebes. At 0225, LtCdr Arthur E. Krapf's USS
JACK (SS-259) makes a radar-assisted surface attack on the convoy. Krapf
torpedoes and sinks MEXICO MARU at 02-15N, 122-29E. She takes down 847 men of
the almost 4,300 troops and crew she was carrying and a cargo of food,
munitions, oil and gasoline in barrels.
At about 0400, Krapf makes another surface attack on the convoy. He fires
nine torpedoes by radar bearings of which three hit and sink minesweeper W-28 at
02-15N, 123-29E. No counterattacks are made and JACK safely departs the scene.
8 October 1944:
At 0700, PB-105 departs Manila for Miri, Borneo with
kaikoban CD-18 and CD-26, subchaser CH-19 and auxiliary subchaser Cha-56
escorting reorganized convoy MI-19 consisting of NITTETSU, SAN LUIS, DAIZEN,
HIDA, SAN DIEGO, EIKYO, TOKUWA, SHUNTEN, TATSUBATO, DAISHU and YOSHU MARUs.
9 October 1944:
About 1700, LtCdr Henry D. Sturr’s BECUNA (SS-319)
torpedoes and damages SAN LUIS MARU, but she is able to continue. LtCdr Francis
W. Scanland’s HAWKBILL (SS-366) also torpedoes SAN LUIS MARU about the same
time. At 1804, BECUNA torpedoes and sinks TOKUWA MARU.
10 October 1944:
SHUNTEN MARU and two of the escorts are detached with
damaged SAN LUIS MARU and head for Sandakan, Borneo,
12 October 1944:
Palawan Passage. LtCdr (later Captain) David H.
McClintock’s DARTER (SS-227) fires four torpedoes at two ships in the convoy,
but inflicts no damage.
14 October 1944:
At 0208, LtCdr (later Captain) Bladen D. Claggett’s
DACE (SS-247) torpedoes and sinks NITTETSU MARU and damages DAIZEN and EIKYO
MARUs.
17 October 1944:
Arrives at Miri.
27 November 1944:
Before noon, PB-105 departs Manila for Ormoc with
subchasers CH-45 and CH-53 escorting convoy TA No. 6 consisting of SHINSHO MARU
and SHINETSU MARU.
28 November 1944:
Ormoc Bay, Leyte. At about 1900, TA No. 6 arrives
and begins unloading. PB-105 is dispatched to guard the bay against any possible
intruders during the unloading.
About midnight, American PT-boats PT-127 and PT-331 enter the bay and are
engaged by the IJN escorts. Each PT-boat launches four torpedoes some of which
hit and sink subchaser CH-53 at 10-59N, 124-33E.
PB-105 is hit, but Lt Kosaka manages to run her aground in shallow water.
She is then abandoned by her crew. Ten days later, the hulk is captured by the
Americans. [4]
10 January 1945:
Removed from the Navy List.
Authors Notes:
[1] The Free City of Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland) was an autonomous city-state established after WW1 on 10 January 1920 in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles.
[2] Some sources claim that PB-105 was the ex-USS ARAYAT (former Spanish gunboat ARAYAT).
[3] According to a Coast Guard historian, the Coast Guard was then under the Bureau of Customs.
[4] One source states that PB-105 was later used by the Americans as a PT-boat tender, but this has not been confirmed.
Thanks go to Eric, a contributor to J-aircraft.com's Ships & Navy message board and to Coast Guard LtCdr Mark Condeno, a contributor to Tony Tully's message board.
-Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Peter Cundall.
Back to
Patrol Boat Page
