HMS ''Precise'' (Z285) was a
net laying ship
A net laying ship, also known as a net layer, net tender, gate ship or boom defence vessel was a type of naval auxiliary ship.
A net layer's primary function was to lay and maintain steel anti-torpedo or anti-submarine nets. Nets could be laid ...
for the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
during the
Second World War
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 ...
acquired from 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 December 1944 via
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
.
The ship was
laid down
Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.
Keel laying is one o ...
as ''Boxelder'' (YN-80), a net tender of the , on 14 September 1943 at Barbour Boat Works in
New Bern, North Carolina
New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...
. On 17 January 1944, while still under construction, the ship was reclassified as a net laying ship and redesignated AN-74. ''Boxelder'' was
launched on 20 July and completed on 19 December.
After delivery to the U.S. Navy on 21 December, she was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease the same day and
commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS ''Precise'' (Z285). Upon completion of wartime duty with the United Kingdom, she was returned to the U.S. Navy on 14 December 1945. Struck from the
Naval Vessel Register on 28 March 1946, she was transferred to the
United States Maritime Commission
The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...
on 10 April 1947 and sold.
References
*
YN-80 / AN-74 Boxelder, HMS Precise (Z-285)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Precise (Z285)
Ailanthus-class boom defence vessels of the Royal Navy
Ships built in New Bern, North Carolina
1944 ships
World War II net laying ships