HMS ''Precept'' (Z266) 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 during the
Second World War acquired from the
United States Navy in October 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 as ''Precept'' (YN-79), a net tender of the , on 5 August 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-73. ''Precept'' was
launched on 11 April and completed on 13 October.
After delivery to the U.S. Navy on 14 October, she was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease the same day and
commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS ''Precept'' (Z266). Upon completion of wartime duty with the United Kingdom, she arrived at
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
, on 22 October 1945, and was returned to the U.S. Navy on 4 January 1946. Struck from the
Naval Vessel Register on 28 March 1946, she was transferred to the
United States Maritime Commission on 21 March 1947 and sold.
References
*
YN-79 / AN-73 Precept, HMS Precept (Z-266)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Precept (Z266)
Ailanthus-class boom defence vessels of the Royal Navy
Ships built in New Bern, North Carolina
1944 ships
World War II net laying ships