USS ''Silverbell'' (AN-51/YN-70) was an which served with the U.S. Navy in the South

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

theatre of operations during World War II. Her career was without major incident, and she returned home after the war bearing one

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

to her credit.

Launched in California

''Silverbell'' (AN-51) was laid down on 7 November 1942 as ''YN-70'' by

Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding Company 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, Califo ...

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

, launched on 19 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Henry Ohm; redesignated as ''AN-51'' on 20 January 1944; and commissioned on 16 February 1944.

World War II support

Pacific Ocean operations

''Silverbell'' sailed from

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " 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 fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, on 30 March to conduct

shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

training in the

San Diego, California 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 eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, area and returned on 1 April. The next day, she stood out of San Francisco en route to

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...

, Admiralty Islands. She operated between there and

Biak Biak is an island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and c ...

(

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

) until mid-September. On the 24th, the net layer sailed for

Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the south of the bay is Mindanao Isl ...

to support the landings there. She operated between Leyte,

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, and Subic Bay until 17 November 1945 when she was ordered to return 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 ...

, via

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 ...

and San Francisco, for disposal. ''Silverbell'' arrived in

, on 9 January 1946 and remained there until 3 July when she sailed for China via

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 ...

, and Subic Bay, Philippine Islands. The net layer remained in the Philippine Islands from 14 September to 22 December when she proceeded to

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

, arriving on 29 December 1946.

Post WWII service

''Silverbell'' arrived at San Francisco 21 Dec 45 for disposal. On January 10, 1947, she was transferred to the Chinese Maritime Customs for use as a

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of yac ...

and

lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. In the United States, these ships originally served as part of the Lighthous ...

. She was ordered to Shanghai in May 1946. She departed Subic Bay en route on Dec 22, 1946. She was decommissioned at Shanghai and turned over to Chinese Maritime Customs via Foreign Liquidation Commission on Jan. 10, 1947. She was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on January 28, 1947. She escaped to Taiwan during Chinese Civil War and served in the Taiwanese Customs Preventive Service, scrapped 1974.

Honors and awards

''Silverbell'' received one

for World War II service.

References

*
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - YN-70 / AN-51 ''Silverbell''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silverbell Ailanthus-class net laying ships of the United States Navy Ships built in Stockton, California 1943 ships World War II net laying ships of the United States