Ranger (1940)

She was laid down at the Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Company Ltd. for the Luzon Stevedoring Company Ltd. Inc of Manila.[1]

She was in Hong Kong on 2 December 1941 when she was ordered to return to Manila with the Asiatic Fleet's Yangtze Patrol river gunboat USS Mindanao.[2] She was loaded with 800 rounds of 3-inch shells and split 250,000 rounds of .30 caliber shells with the Mindanao.[2] The gunboat left in advance of her and was nearly lost to harsh seas.[2] The Ranger made Manila soon after the Mindanao.[2]

On 10 December 1941, she was commandeered by the United States Navy[3] and assigned to the Asiatic Fleet, 16th Naval District. She was assigned to the Inshore Patrol under Captain Kenneth M. Hoeffel.[4] The Inshore Patrol was a rag-tag assemblage of vessels tasked with moving supplies and personnel and patrolling Manila Bay and the east coast of the besieged Bataan Peninsula.[4] Other ships of the Inshore Patrol included 3 gunboats, 3 minesweepers, 3 Navy tugs, 2 commandeered tugs under US Navy control (Ranger, Trabajador), 4 converted yachts (Isabel, Maryann, Fisheries II, Perry),[5] and a submarine rescue vessel (Pigeon).[4] The Inshore Patrol was complemented by ships of the Offshore Patrol consisting of 6 US torpedo boats (PT-31, PT-32, PT-33, PT-34, PT-35, PT-41) and 5 Filipino-crewed boats consisting of 3 torpedo boats (Q-111 Luzon, Q-112 Abra, Q-113 Agusan) and 2 converted motor launches serving as gunboats (Q-114 Danday, Q-115 Baler) all serviced by a submarine tender (Canopus).[6]

On 30 December 1941, she landed a raiding party at Naval Station Sangley Point to secure generators for the troops for Corregidor.[7]

She was abandoned and grounded just north of Fort Hughes, off Caballo Island.[8][9] Her ultimate fate is uncertain. Naval records indicate that they lost record of her on 28 February 1942[3] although other sources indicate that she escaped Manila Bay on 6 May 1942.[10]