"USS ATR 25 placed in commission on April 11, 1944 at the F. L. Fulton Shipyard, Antioch, California. Overall Length 165 feet, 34 foot beam and standard displacement of 1400 tons.

Lieutenant jg (Junior Grade) R. L. Hernlen, USN, assumed command. >p>From April 11 until June 2, 1944 the USS ATR 25 worked along the Western US Coast Line between San Francisco and Los Angeles, while in the process of shakedown and repair, acquiring readiness for sea.

On June 2, 1944, the USS ATR 25 left San Francisco bound for Manus Island. The voyage lasted 59 days, punctuated by fueling stops in Samoa, the Fiji Islands and Espiritu Santos. It was prolonged further by assistance rendered the SS LUXENBERG VICTORY, aground on a coral reef in Neggele Levu Lagoon.

From August 1, 1944 to May 2, 1945, the USS ATR 25 operated throughout the Admiralty Islands under the authority of Commander Naval Operating Base, Manus Island. The bulk of this 9 months duty was tugboat routine, consisting principally of : 1. Barge Movement. 2. Assistance to ships in distress.

The barge movement element in this tugboat duty warranted that the ship travel thousands of slow, Pacific Sea-Lane miles to such places as Finschhfen Hollandia, Biak, Kessell Roads in the Palaus, Leyte, P. I.

Assistance to ships in distress involved such service as fire-fighting, rescuing of survivors, salvage operations on ships aground, retrieving of lost tows in convoys.

Some of the distressed ships to which the USS ATR 25 rendered assistance during this period were USS HONOLULU, SS DON MARQUIS, USS MOUNT HOOD, USS LEOPARD.

Worthy of note was the participation of the vessel the salvage operation on the SS DON MARQUIS. the crippled Liberty ship had been rammed by a merchant tanker and had caught fire. The 4000gallon a minute stream of 4 monitors on the USS ATR 25 put out the fire and was thus responsible for saving both 2 million dollars worth of cargo and the ship itself which is now sailing again for the U.S. Navy.

On May 2, 1945 the USS ATR 25 reported for duty in the Samar-Leyte area of the Philippine Islands. Operating under the authority of the Commander Naval Operating Base at Samar.

From May 2, 1945 until October 12, 1945 the USS ATR 25 continued it's daily routine of barge movements (principally between Samar and Leyte) and rendering assistance to ships in distress, as directed. Some such were the SS DAVID R. FRANCIS, USS RANDOLPH and SS JAMES GORDON BENNETT

On October 12, 1945, the USS ATR 25 transferred to Manila for duty in the harbor, operating under the authority of Service Division 73 of Service Squadron 7.

At the time of this transfer the USS ATR 25, working in the Western Pacific for 17 months as a constituent of the US 7th Fleet had alone salvaged 15 ships and barges, assisted in 7 more.