World War II Early operations After shakedown along the
United States West Coast,
Kenneth Whiting cleared
San Diego,
California, on 21 July 1944 and arrived at
Saipan on 14 August 1944 for operations in the
Mariana Islands. Her
PB2Y Coronado flying boat squadron made reconnaissance flights which provided valuable data necessary to the success of the
Allied operations. At
Tanapag Harbor, Saipan,
Kenneth Whiting used a former Japanese
seaplane ramp to augment her maintenance facilities and increase the availability of planes. She sailed for
Kossol Passage on 20 November 1944, relieving the seaplane tender there three days later. She remained in the
Palau Islands until 5 February 1945.
Okinawa Arriving at
Ulithi Atoll on 6 February 1945,
Kenneth Whiting resumed tending seaplanes. On 11 March 1945 while she was still off Ulithi Atoll,
two enemy suicide planes attacked the base. One crashed into Sorlen Island, but the second dove into the
aircraft carrier .
Kenneth Whiting cleared Ulithi Atoll on 2 April 1945, received provisions and supplies at
Guam and Saipan, then steamed to
Okinawa, where the
Battle of Okinawa was raging. Arriving on 25 April 1945, she immediately commenced combat and search operations. On 11 May 1945 her lookout sighted a group of 29
Koreans waving a
white flag on the beach of Gerum Shima. An armed boat party from
Kenneth Whiting took them into custody for transfer to the
prisoner-of-war camp on
Zamami Island. While at Okinawa,
Kenneth Whiting operated as
fleet post office and as a housing center for aircraft survivors. At 18:30 on 21 June 1945, five hours after
Major General Roy Geiger declared Okinawa secured, a small group of
kamikazes penetrated
Kerama Retto.
Kenneth Whiting shot down a
Nakajima Ki-43 (
reporting name "Oscar"), but part of the plane hit her, causing minor damage and wounding five men. However, she continued operations at Okinawa for the rest of the
World War II. During July 1945 her planes flew armed reconnaissance along the coasts of
Japan,
Korea, and
China, locating targets for
United States Third Fleet air raids. World War II ended with the
surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945.
Post-World war II Kenneth Whiting departed Okinawa on 19 September 1945 and anchored at
Sasebo, Japan, two days later. She then was assigned to China duty, arriving at
Hong Kong on 14 October 1945. Her
patrol bombing (VPB) squadron commenced patrol courier service, and continued this until she was relieved 28 November 1945. She arrived at
San Francisco, California, on 22 December 1945 with 572 U.S. Navy officers scheduled for release aboard. With the close of the war and the emergence of the
Atomic Age,
Kenneth Whiting cleared San Diego on 6 May 1946 to operate with support forces during
atomic tests at
Bikini Atoll. She returned to San Diego 30 August 1946; transferred to
San Pedro, Calidfornia, 30 October 1946, and
decommissioned there on 29 May 1947.
Cold War and Korean War service Kenneth Whiting recommissioned at San Diego on 24 October 1951, and departed for
Far Eastern duty 13 March 1952. She arrived at
Yokosuka, Japan, on 29 March 1952, where she became the
flagship of the Commander, Taiwan Patrol Force (CTF 72). She visited
Iwakuni, Okinawa,
Taiwan,
Subic Bay in the
Philippines, and Hong Kong regularly until 16 October 1952, when she departed for the
United States. Following overhaul at
Bremerton, Washington, and coastal operations from San Diego,
Kenneth Whiting departed on 2 March 1953 for another deployment to the Western
Pacific, supporting seaplane activities in Japan in the final months of the
Korean War. Hostilities in Korea ended with a ceasefire on 27 July 1953. After the Korean War,
Kenneth Whiting made annual deployments to the Far East in support of
United States Seventh Fleet activities. During the summer of 1955, she operated in the Taiwan–
Pescadores area in the wake of repeated
Chinese Communist harassment of
Chinese Nationalist-held islands. On 29 March 1957 she arrived at her new
home port,
Crescent Harbor, Washington, but departed for another Far Eastern tour on 12 August 1957. She continued operations with the Seventh Fleet until 31 January 1958, when she cleared Subic Bay and headed for Crescent Harbor, which she reached om 10 March 1958. ==Decommissioning and disposal==