History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Viburnum |
Namesake | A large genus of shrubs or trees related to the honeysuckle family. |
Builder | Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding Company, Stockton, California |
Laid down | laid down as YN-76 |
Launched | 26 April 1944 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. R. F. Chavin, the wife of Brigadier General R. F. Chavin, USA |
Commissioned | 2 June 1944 |
Decommissioned | 12 July 1945, at San Diego, California |
In service | 12 July 1945 |
Out of service | 3 January 1946 |
Reclassified | AN-57 on 1 January 1944 |
Stricken | 21 January 1945 |
Fate | transferred to the United States Maritime Commission on 12 August 1947; fate unknown |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Ailanthus-class net laying ship |
Displacement | 1,460 tons |
Length | 194 ft 6 in (59.28 m) |
Beam | 34 ft 7 in (10.54 m) |
Draft | 11 ft 8 in (3.56 m) |
Propulsion | diesel electric, 2,500hp |
Speed | 12.1 knots |
Complement | 56 officers and enlisted |
Armament | one single 3 in (76 mm) dual purpose gun mount; three twin 20 mm AA gun mounts |
Armor | wooden-hulled |
USS Viburnum (AN-57/YN-76) was a Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations. While operating in the Caroline Islands, she was severely damaged when struck by what appeared to be a Japanese torpedo. However, she continued her work as well as she could, and, when she returned to the United States, she was considered too damaged to repair. She was sold in her damaged condition, and was eventually scrapped.
Viburnum (AN-57) -- a wooden-hulled, net-laying ship—was originally classified as YN-76 when the ship's keel was laid on 9 December 1943 at Stockton, California, by the Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding Company. Re-classified to AN-57 on 1 January 1944, the ship was launched on 26 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. R. F. Chavin, the wife of Brigadier General R. F. Chavin, USA, the commanding officer of the United States Army's Stockton Ordnance Depot. Viburnum was commissioned at the Pollock-Stockton yard on 2 June 1944.
After shakedown out of the Naval Net Depot, Tiburon Bay, California, and post-shakedown repairs and alterations at Long Beach, California, Viburnum departed Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, on 15 August, bound for Pearl Harbor with two high-speed sled targets in tow. The net-layer reached Pearl Harbor on 27 August, delivered her tows, and subsequently pushed on for Majuro, in the Marshall Islands, where she arrived on 15 September. Assigned to Service Squadron 10, Viburnum shifted to Ulithi, in the Caroline Islands, soon afterwards.
On 28 October 1944, Viburnum was tending the net installation at Doa Channel, Naval Base Ulithi. Late that morning, she picked up a net section from the depot ship Tuscana (AKN-3) and proceeded to stretch a double net section early in the afternoon.
In 1457, a sudden, violent explosion blew the port side of the forecastle deck upward, and the ship's commanding officer, Lt. Smith, ordered all hands to stand by to abandon ship. The blast had killed two men and blown a dozen others over the side. The latter were swiftly rescued by a boat from Volans (AKS-9). Arapaho (ATF-68) came alongside Viburnum at 1550, joined shortly afterwards by Zuni (ATF-95); the latter consequently moored the stricken net-layer alongside the destroyer tender Dixie (AD-14) for a thorough check of the damage.
The ensuing investigation revealed that a Japanese submarine mine had blown a hole in the starboard side of the ship extending 10 frames' length (from frame 10 to frame 20) and to a point within five feet of the main deck. The explosion had broken the keel, and the hole extended about eight feet up from the keel on the port side. In the ensuing days, a work crew from ARB-6 cleared away the wreckage, and the ship's force recovered the bodies of the two men killed. From November 1944 to January 1945, Viburnum received repairs from Jason (ARH-1) and Vestal (AR-4) before she was docked in floating drydock AFDL-32 and repaired enough to resume active operations about 9 February 1945.
Viburnum remained at Ulithi, performing limited harbor work in a protected harbor into the spring of 1945. She sailed for the west coast of the United States on 9 May, stopped briefly at Pearl Harbor en route, and arrived at San Francisco, California, on 5 June.
Due to the heavy workload on west coast yards for repairs to damaged combatant vessels, the Navy did not desire full restoration of Viburnum. Accordingly, the net-laying ship was decommissioned and placed in an "in-service" status on 12 July 1945.
Viburnum was placed out of service on 3 January 1946, and her disposal was authorized on 17 January. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 21 January, and the former net-layer was transferred to the United States Maritime Commission on 12 August 1947. The vessel was simultaneously delivered to Walter K. Wilms and Co., at Suisun Bay, and was probably scrapped soon afterwards.
USS Tuscana (AKN-3) was an Indus-class net cargo ship in the service of the United States Navy in World War II. Probably named after a variant spelling of the constellation Tucana, it was the only ship of the Navy to bear this name.
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USS Hoptree (AN-62/YN-83) was a Ailanthus-class net laying ship that served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Hoptree performed her tour of duty in the Pacific Ocean and, post-war, she was decommissioned and sold.
USS Terebinth (AN-59) – laid down as USS Balm (YN-78) – was a Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the U.S. Navy during World War II. Terebinth served in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations and was awarded a battle star for her participation in the Okinawa campaign. Post-war she was decommissioned and sold.
USS Arapaho (AT-68/ATF-68) was a Navajo-class fleet ocean tug which served the U.S. Navy during World War II with her towing services. She was assigned initially to support the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and was eventually assigned to support Allied forces in the war zones of the Pacific Ocean, resulting in her crew returning home after the war with four battle stars to their credit.
USS Winterberry (AN-56/YN-75) was an Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II. Despite being attacked near Okinawa by enemy suicide planes, she managed to return safely home after the war with the ship bearing one battle star.
USS Torchwood (AN-55/YN-74) was an Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II. She performed her net laying services until war’s end, and then was given to the Republic of China.
USS Manchineel (AN-54/YN-73) was an Ailanthus-class net-laying ship which served with the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific Ocean during World War II. It managed to survive the war without incident, and returned to the United States post-war for decommissioning.
USS Spicewood (AN-53/YN-72) was an Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II. Her career was without major incident, and she returned home after the war bearing one battle star to her credit.
USS Silverbell (AN-51/YN-70) was an Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II. Her career was without major incident, and she returned home after the war bearing one battle star to her credit.
USS Papaya (AN-49/YN-68) was an Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II. Her career was without major incident, and she returned home after the war bearing two battle stars to her credit.
USS Lancewood (AN-48/YN-67) was an Ailanthus-class net laying ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. In service in the Pacific during the war, she earned one battle star. After her February 1946 decommissioning, she was sold to France as Commandant Charcot. Her fate is not reported in secondary sources.
USS Baretta (AN-41/YN-60) was an Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the U.S. Navy in the western Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II. After surviving war action and Pacific Ocean typhoons, and she returned home safely after the war with one battle star to her credit.
USS Stagbush (AN-69/YN-93) was an Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the United States Navy in the western Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II. Her career was without major incident, and she returned home safely after the war with one battle star to her credit.
USS Anaqua (AN-40/YN-59) was an Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the United States Navy in the Western Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. She served the U.S. Pacific Fleet with her protective anti-submarine nets, and returned home safely after the war.
USS Bitterbush (AN-39/YN-58) was an Ailanthus-class net laying ship which served with the U.S. Navy in the western Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II. She served the U.S. Pacific Fleet with her protective anti-submarine nets, and returned home safely after the war with one battle star to her credit.
USS Elder (AN-20/YN-15) was an Aloe-class net laying ship which was assigned to serve the U.S. Navy during World War II with her protective anti-submarine nets.
USS Buckeye (AN-13/YN-8) was an Aloe-class net laying ship in service with the United States Navy from 1942 to 1947. In the late 1970s and 1980s, she was used as a salvage training hulk.
USS Silverleaf (AN-68/YN-92) was a Ailanthus-class net laying ship which was assigned to protect U.S. Navy ships and harbors during World War II with her anti-submarine nets.
Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding Company was established in 1942 to build ships needed for World War II. As part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program the US Navy provided some of the capital to start Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding at Stockton, California. The shipyard was located at San Joaquin River and Stockton Channel, near Louis Park. After the war the shipyard closed down in February 1946.