USS ''Torchwood'' (AN-55/YN-74) was an which served with the U.S. Navy in the

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 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 performed her net laying services until war’s end, and then was given to the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

Launched at Stockton, California

''Torchwood'' (YN-74) was laid down on 22 June 1943 at

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 ...

, by the

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 ...

, redesignated ''AN-55'' on 20 January 1944; launched on 19 February 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Henry F. Bruns; and commissioned at

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 12 May 1944.

World War II service

Pacific Ocean operations

After fitting-out, ''Torchwood'' cleared San Francisco on 3 June 1944 and arrived in

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 ...

, two days later to begin a month of training. On 3 July, she put to sea, bound for

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 ...

, and arrived at

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 ...

on the 11th. After almost a fortnight in the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands ( haw, Nā Mokupuni o Hawai‘i) are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kur ...

, she got underway on 23 July and shaped a course for the southwestern

. She made a brief stop at Funafuti in the Ellice Islands on 7 August and, 10 days later, reached

Milne Bay Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range to t ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, where she reported for duty with the

U.S. 7th Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

. ''Torchwood'' served in the anchorage at Milne Bay through mid-September and then moved forward to support the landings in the

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 ...

Morotai Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands. Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...

. By early December, she was at Manus in the Admiralty Islands, but she got underway again on the 4th and returned to Milne Bay on the 6th. Three days later, she moved on to

Hollandia Hollandia may refer to: * HVV Hollandia, Dutch football team * Hollandia Victoria Combinatie, defunct Dutch football team * ''Hollandia'' (1742 ship), a ship of the Dutch East India Company, wrecked in 1743 on her maiden voyage * Jayapura, a city ...

, where she operated for a month from 14 December 1944 to 15 January 1945. After a short tour of duty at Woendi—between 18 and 25 January—she returned to Hollandia, where she served until late June. On 2 July 1945, ''Torchwood'' took station in

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 ...

with the underwater defense forces and remained there through the end of the war.

Post-war operations

On 17 November 1945, she headed back to the United States and, after stops 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 ...

and Pearl Harbor, reached San Francisco on 22 December. On 7 January 1946, she headed south and, two days later, arrived in

, her base until 7 July when she sailed for Hawaii. The ship entered Pearl Harbor on the 16th, and remained there until 24 August when she got underway for the western Pacific. After two very brief stops—one at Eniwetok and the other at

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 ...

-- ''Torchwood'' arrived in Subic Bay in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on 14 September. There, she reported to the Commander, Philippine Sea Frontier, to await decommissioning for her transfer to the government of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

by the Foreign Liquidation Commission. On 2 October, she departed Subic Bay and headed for China.

Decommissioned in China

She arrived in Shanghai on the 7th and, on the 26th, was decommissioned. That same day, she was turned over to the Foreign Liquidation Commission which, in turn, transferred her to the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. ''Torchwoods name 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 23 April 1947.

References

*
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - YN-74 / AN-55 Torchwood
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torchwood Ailanthus-class net laying ships of the United States Navy Ships built in Stockton, California 1944 ships World War II net laying ships of the United States