''Trabajador'' was a tug launched in 1931 by
Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Co., Ltd. for Visayan Stevedore-Transportation Company and registered as a United States vessel in
Iloilo, Philippines.
Commercial service
In 1935 the ''Trabajador'' took part in a rescue of survivors from British freighter that was wrecked in
San Bernardino Strait. Fifty-two of the fifty-four passengers and crew aboard were rescued.
[U.S. destroyers and are also mentioned in the news article. I]
another article
the coastwise Philippine vessel ''Governor Taft'' and Japanese ''Chicago'' (''Chicago Maru'' (1910)) are mentioned.
United States Navy service
The tug was commandeered by
United States Navy and assigned to the
16th Naval District
The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...
on 13 December 1941 under command of Lt. (jg.) Trose E. Donaldson, USNR as the
war came to the Philippines. Although the tug was not formally commissioned by the U.S. Navy, it still served as a patrol boat tender in
Manila Bay with the Base Section of the Navy's Inshore Patrol.
''Trabajador'', assisted by the , dumped unused mines into
Manila Bay as
Corregidor
Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...
came under air attack on 29 December 1941 and continued the operation through the next day. With the move of
Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three to
Sisiman Bay["Sisiman Cove" in U.S. Naval references of the time, but now geographically known a]
"Sisiman Bay"
just to the east of Mariveles. on the
Bataan Peninsula
Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entir ...
the tug became tender to the
PT boat squadron. For a brief time the tug was the "luxury" vessel for the PTs with a real galley, wardroom and even a mess boy that baked pies. After the squadron had left with
General MacArthur as a passenger thirty-two men were left behind including Lt. (jg.) Edward G. DeLong who assumed command of ''Trabajador'' on 25 February 1942. DeLong himself left Corregidor 2 May and made it to
Mindanao where he was later captured and executed in prison camp.
''Trabajador'' was sunk on 10 April 1942, most likely by fire delivered from Japanese artillery near
Corregidor
Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...
and was awarded a
battle star.
Postwar
The tug remained on the bottom of Manila Bay until after the end of World War II. When the ship was salvaged it was renamed ''Resolute'' and continued operations in the Philippines into the late 1970s.
Footnotes
References
Sources
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External links
''Daily Trojan'' page imagewith ''Silver Hazel'' rescue story.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trabajador (1931)
1931 ships
Ships built in Hong Kong
Merchant ships of the Philippines
World War II naval ships of the United States
Maritime incidents in 1942