USS ''Viburnum'' (AN-57/YN-76) was a 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. While operating in the Caroline Islands, she was severely damaged when struck by what appeared to be a Japanese

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

. However, she continued her work as well as she could, and, when she returned 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 ...

, she was considered too damaged to repair. She was sold in her damaged condition, and was eventually scrapped.

Constructed in California

''Viburnum'' (AN-57) -- a wooden-hulled, net-laying ship—was originally classified as ''YN-76'' when the ship's

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid on 9 December 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 ...

. Re-classified to ''AN-57'' on 1 January 1944, the ship was launched on 26 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. R. F. Chavin, the wife of

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

R. F. Chavin, USA, the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the United States Army's Stockton Ordnance Depot. ''Viburnum'' was commissioned at the Pollock-Stockton yard on 2 June 1944.

World War II service

Pacific Ocean operations

After

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, ...

out of the Naval Net Depot, Tiburon Bay, California, and post-shakedown repairs and alterations at

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, ''Viburnum'' departed Treasure Island,

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 15 August, bound 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 ...

with two high-speed sled targets in tow. The net-layer reached Pearl Harbor on 27 August, delivered her tows, and subsequently pushed on for Majuro, in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

, where she arrived on 15 September. Assigned to

Service Squadron A Service Squadron (ServRon) was a United States Navy squadron that supported fleet combat ships and US Navy Auxiliary ships. Service Squadrons were used by the US Navy from their inception in 1943 to as late as the early 1980s. At the time of th ...

10, ''Viburnum'' shifted 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 ...

, in the Caroline Islands, soon afterwards. On 28 October 1944, ''Viburnum'' was tending the net installation at Doa Channel,

Naval Base Ulithi Naval Base Ulithi was major United States Navy base at the Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea during World War II. The base was built to support the island hoping Pacific war e ...

. Late that morning, she picked up a net section from the depot ship ''Tuscana'' (AKN-3) and proceeded to stretch a double net section early in the afternoon.

Struck by a Japanese mine

In 1457, a sudden, violent explosion blew the port side of the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

deck upward, and the ship's

, Lt. Smith, ordered all hands to stand by to abandon ship. The blast had killed two men and blown a dozen others over the side. The latter were swiftly rescued by a boat from ''Volans'' (AKS-9). ''Arapaho'' (ATF-68) came alongside ''Viburnum'' at 1550, joined shortly afterwards by ''Zuni'' (ATF-95); the latter consequently moored the stricken net-layer alongside the destroyer tender ''Dixie'' (AD-14) for a thorough check of the damage. The ensuing investigation revealed that a Japanese

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

had blown a hole in the

starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

side of the ship extending 10 frames' length (from frame 10 to frame 20) and to a point within five feet of the main deck. The explosion had broken the keel, and the hole extended about eight feet up from the keel on the port side. In the ensuing days, a work crew from ''ARB-6'' cleared away the wreckage, and the ship's force recovered the bodies of the two men killed. From November 1944 to January 1945, ''Viburnum'' received repairs from ''Jason'' (ARH-1) and ''Vestal'' (AR-4) before she was docked in floating drydock ''AFDL-32'' and repaired enough to resume active operations about 9 February 1945.

End-of-war operations

''Viburnum'' remained at ''Ulithi'', performing limited harbor work in a protected harbor into the spring of 1945. She sailed for the west coast of the

on 9 May, stopped briefly at

en route, and arrived at

, on 5 June.

Post-war evaluation and disposition

Due to the heavy workload on west coast yards for repairs to damaged combatant vessels, the Navy did not desire full restoration of ''Viburnum''. Accordingly, the net-laying ship was decommissioned and placed in an "in-service" status on 12 July 1945. ''Viburnum'' was placed out of service on 3 January 1946, and her disposal was authorized on 17 January. Her 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 21 January, and the former net-layer 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 12 August 1947. The vessel was simultaneously delivered to Walter K. Wilms and Co., at

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the ent ...

, and was probably scrapped soon afterwards.

References

*
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - YN-76 / AN-57 Viburnum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viburnum 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