BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-8)
The BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-8) was an of the Philippine Navy in commission from 1977 to 1990. She was one of six ex-United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tenders/ex-United States Coast Guard Casco-class high endurance cutters received from the United States after the Vietnam War, two of which were acquired to supply spare parts for the other four. She and her three commissioned sister ships were the largest Philippine Navy combat ships of their time. History Construction and United States Navy service 1944-1946 Gregorio del Pilar was laid down in the United States by Lake Washington Shipyard at Houghton, Washington, as the Barnegat-class small seaplane tender USS Wachapreague (AVP-56), but was converted prior to completion into the motor torpedo boat tender . Commissioned into the U.S. Navy in May 1944, she served during World War II in the New Guinea campaign, the Philippines campaign, and the campaign in Borneo, and performed postwar service in Borneo. She was decommissioned in May 1946. United States Coast Guard service 1946-1972 In 1946, the U.S. Navy transferred Wachapreague to the United States Coast Guard, which commissioned her as the Coast Guard cutter . Reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC-386 in 1966,