USS ''Anaqua'' (AN-40/YN-59) was an which served with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in the Western Pacific Theater of Operations during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She served the U.S. Pacific Fleet with her protective anti-submarine nets, and returned home safely after the war.

Built in Washington

''YN-59'' was laid down on 16 December 1942 at

Everett, Washington Everett is the county seat and largest city of Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is north of Seattle and is one of the main cities in the metropolitan area and the Puget Sound region. Everett is the seventh-largest city in the ...

, by the

Everett-Pacific Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company Everett-Pacific Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company was established in 1942 to build ships needed for World War II. Yard construction began on 1 March 1942. As part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program the US Navy provided some of the capital to star ...

; launched on 16 August 1943; sponsored by Miss Marian Swalwell; redesignated ''AN-40'' and named '' Anaqua'' on 20 January 1944; and placed in commission on 21 February 1944.

World War II service

Service in the frigid North Pacific

After conducting shakedown training in

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

, the net laying ship got underway for

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

and reached

Dutch Harbor Dutch Harbor is a harbor on Amaknak Island in Unalaska, Alaska. It was the location of the Battle of Dutch Harbor in June 1942, and was one of the few sites in the United States to be subjected to aerial bombardment by a foreign power during Worl ...

on 20 May. She then began her assignment of tending nets in waters off Alaska and the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

. On 16 October, while the ship was hauling net gear from Cold Bay to

, she encountered a severe storm with high winds. The damage ''Anaqua'' sustained was so extensive that she was ordered to return to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for availability. The battered vessel arrived at

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington, on 20 December and entered

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

at the

Lake Washington Shipyard Lake Washington Shipyards was a shipyard in the northwest United States, located in Houghton, Washington (today Kirkland) on the shore of Lake Washington, east of Seattle. Today, the shipyards are the site of the lakeside Carillon Point busines ...

Kirkland, Washington Kirkland is a city in King County, Washington, United States. A suburb east of Seattle, its population was 92,175 in the 2020 U.S. census which made it the sixth largest city in the county and the twelfth largest in the state. The city's downto ...

. Upon completion of the repairs, she got underway on 5 February 1945 for the Naval Net Depot, Tiburon, California. While en route to that port, she encountered a storm off the coast of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. The ship sprung numerous leaks through the main deck and the boat deck. Moreover, several electrical fires broke out and caused considerable damage. Upon her arrival at Tiburon, the ship was sent to the Martinolich Shipyard in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

for repairs to her new damage.

Assigned to the western Pacific

On 11 March, ''Anaqua'' again stood out to sea and arrived back at Tiburon safely and took on a load of amphibious gear before sailing for

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. During her voyage across the eastern Pacific, the ship experienced several steering engine failures. She reached

on 26 March, unloaded her net gear, and entered a drydock at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard where, in addition to repair of her steering system, her hull was re- caulked to eliminate persistent leaks. ''Anaqua'' resumed operations late in May, took on a cargo, and, on 25 May, sailed for the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

. After a brief stop en route at

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

, the net tender reached

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

on 16 June, discharged her cargo, and then proceeded to Tinian to lay gasoline tanker

moorings A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''a ...

. She completed this job on 22 June and sailed on to

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

. She arrived there on the 26th and spent the next four months in the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

of that atoll maintaining anti-torpedo nets in conjunction with five other net tenders. This duty was interrupted briefly by a trip to Yap Island following the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

to load Japanese ordnance gear for transportation back to Ulithi.

End-of-war operations

Following her return to the atoll, ''Anaqua'' assisted in closing down the large fleet anchorage at

. The vessel helped remove of anti-torpedo net. This salvage work was completed by 17 October, when she headed home with a barge in tow. The ship paused at

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

to unload nets being transported by the barge and then proceeded to

. During this passage, rough seas and inclement weather slowed her progress, and ''Anaqua'' headed for Midway Islands to refuel. The vessel finally reached

on 12 November. The net tender left Hawaii on the 16th and reached

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, California, on 25 November. Shortly thereafter, she sailed to

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

, where preparations to deactivate the ship began.

Post-war decommissioning

''Anaqua'' was decommissioned at San Pedro on 7 February 1946, and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 26 February 1946. The ship was sold on 6 March 1946 to Mr. Robert J. Heffner,

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the List of ...

References

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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - YN-59 / AN-40 Anaqua
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anaqua Ailanthus-class net laying ships of the United States Navy Ships built by Everett-Pacific Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company 1943 ships World War II net laying ships of the United States