USS Orestes Amphibious Insignia

U.S. Naval Amphibious Forces Shoulder Insignia. Fully embroidered in cotton/silk threads.

by Ed Paris

Napoleon supposedly observed that an army without a navy could not strike far and a navy without an army could not strike hard. Striking hard at a distant enemy shore is the essence of amphibious warfare, considered by most military experts to be the most difficult of all maneuvers.

From the Solomon Islands to MacArthur's Corregidor return, no major amphibious operation was consummated in the Southwest Pacific Area without the support of PT boats. In fact, by the time of the Battle of Surigao Strait (24-25 October 1944), so much of the PT's efforts had been directed toward amphibious operations, some PT crews had lost their skills in torpedo launching. Of the 19 motor torpedo boat tenders commissioned into the Navy during World War II, only the USS Orestes (AGP-10) is sanctioned by the Navy Department to utilize the amphibious insignia. Orestes earned the insignia in combat as "flagship" for Amphibious Task Group 77.11 during the period 27-30 December 1944; a period the Navy historian Samuel E. Morison describes as being "three days of hell." On 30 December 1944, Orestes experienced such heavy damage and casualties as the result of a kamikaze attack at Mindoro, Philippine Islands, that the "flag" was forced to be transferred to the USS  LCI(L) 624.

As with the famous PT insignia, the amphibious insignia has a history of design and a heraldry. Both the U.S. Army and Navy adopted the British "Commando" patch as their amphibious insignia. Insignia of the two services are identical except the Army uses a blue background, probably to represent water, whereas the Navy's has a scarlet background to be of the same color as the chevrons of a rating badge. Upon the colored backgrounds are embossed in gold a bird of prey to represent "airborne," an anchor to represent "seaborne," and a Thompson submachine gun to represent "ground forces." In toto, the insignia represents the combining of ground, sea and air forces for an assault upon enemy territory from the sea. The Army adopted the insignia on 17 June 1942, followed by the Navy two years later. How it occurred the Army would adopt the insignia first is not only related to Orestes history but U.S. Naval history in general.

The post-World War I period experienced a decline in amphibious warfare development. This resulted from the public apathy regarding military preparedness, little need for amphibious forces during World War I and a severe lack of funds. During the period, the Marines took the lead in amphibious experimentation but because of a lack of funds and equipment, could do little other than provide theorized doctrine. For example, a Marine amphibious maneuver in 1924 was such a fiasco no maneuvers were again attempted for almost a decade.

The British withdrawal at Dunkirk during May 1940 and Hitler's inability to invade England for want of landing craft jolted the War and Navy Departments into realizing the need for a large-scale amphibious capability during global war but necessary funds were not to come until after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. During 1942, as the Navy was taxed to its limits by the Atlantic submarine menace and efforts to rebuild the Pacific Fleet, little resources were available for amphibious development. For this reason, the Army took an early lead in the organization and training of amphibious forces, to include the training of seamen for small boat operation. British Commandos assisted in the training of U.S. Army personnel so it followed their insignia would be adopted. By 1943, the Army had trained and equipped four brigades of combat engineers in the techniques of small-scale, amphibious assaults. The Navy had managed to train one poorly equipped Marine division and still lacked landing craft for large-scale amphibious operations.

By early 1943, Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Ernest J. King, concluded that the Navy had developed enough strength to begin taking the dominant role in amphibious warfare. Although King met with some Army resistance, his view was favored by Generals Marshall and Eisenhower. Also, by early 1943, sea-going landing craft, such as the Landing Ship, Tank (LST), and Landing Craft, Infantry (LCI), were being constructed and it seemed logical these vessels would be manned by Navy personnel. Thus, as authorized by King, on 10 January 1943, Adm. Daniel E. Barbey activated the Seventh Amphibious Force in Australia. This force, supported by PT boats, would return MacArthur to the Philippines and, during the process, became known as "MacArthur's Navy." By joint agreement between the War and Navy Departments on 8 March 1943, the Navy's dominance in amphibious warfare was formalized. However, Army amphibious brigades were not disbanded; one was sent to the ETO and three became part of MacArthur's forces where they served with distinction.

At this juncture, it must be noted that the "workhorse" of amphibious warfare, the LST, would perform an important role in PT history, for this type vessel proved to be an ideal tender for boats in forward areas. By the end of the war over 50% of the Navy's MTB tenders would be LSTs. Orestes originally entered the Navy as the USS LST 135.

On 15 June 1944, the Navy officially adopted the "commando" patch as its amphibious insignia. It is an insignia Orestes crewmen can display with pride for from the Battle of Bunker Hill (actually Breed's Hill) to the final World War II battle at Okinawa, amphibious warfare has played an important role in our nation's history.