USS ''Winterberry'' (AN-56/YN-75) was an which served with 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 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 ...

. Despite being attacked near

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

by enemy suicide planes, she managed to return safely home after the war with the ship 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 ...

Launched in California

''Winterberry'' (AN-56) -- originally projected as ''Tupelo'' (YN-75) -- was laid down on 17 September 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 ...

; reclassified an auxiliary net-laying ship and redesignated ''AN-56'' on 20 January 1944; launched on 22 March 1944; and commissioned on 30 May 1944.

World War II service

Pacific theatre operations

Following preliminary operations along the

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

coast, ''Winterberry'' departed

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 ...

, on 30 July and headed west. The net-laying ship arrived in

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 10 August and remained there for almost a month. She stood out of Pearl Harbor on 5 September to resume her voyage westward. ''Winterberry'' stopped briefly at

Johnston Island Johnston Atoll is an unincorporated territory of the United States, currently administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Johnston Atoll is a National Wildlife Refuge and part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine Nation ...

on 9 September and reached Majuro Atoll on the 15th. Records regarding ''Winterberry's'' service between mid-September 1944 and the time of the Okinawa invasion in April 1945 are fragmentary and imprecise. She appears to have served at Majuro,

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 ...

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 ...

, and in the Palau Islands. In November, she was definitely at

Kossol Roads Kossol Roads is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob in northern Palau at .Kossol Roads
a ...

in the Palau group because she reported sighting a

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 ...

at 0858 on the 19th while she was laying

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 ...

nets at the west entrance to the roadstead. She indicated that the submarine submerged and surfaced three times in the space of two minutes and then moved off before auxiliary motor minesweeper USS ''YMS-33'' belatedly got underway to investigate. That submarine probably was ''RO-37'', which and sank later that day about 20 miles north of the west entrance.

Supporting the Okinawa invasion

While it is conceivable that she was in the neighborhood of the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

for the preliminary occupation of the roadstead at

Kerama Retto The are a subtropical island group southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Geography Four islands are inhabited: Tokashiki Island, Zamami Island, Aka Island, and Geruma Island. The islands are administered as Tokashiki Village and Zamami Vill ...

, no hard evidence supports the conclusion. In any event, she was off Okinawa on 1 April 1945, D-day for the invasion of that bitterly contested island. By the 7th, she had moved to Ulithi. ''Winterberry'' was back at Okinawa by 28 May. At 0730 that day, an enemy plane attacked the ships assembled in

Buckner Bay is a bay on the southern coast of Okinawa Island on the Pacific Ocean in Japan. The bay covers and ranges between to deep. The bay is surrounded by the municipalities of Uruma, Kitanakagusuku, Nakagusuku, Nishihara, Yonabaru, Nanjō, all in ...

. ''Winterberry'' opened fire, but the enemy succeeded in crashing into one of the attack transports.

Attacked by aircraft

Fifteen minutes later, three more dive bombers raided the anchorage. They dove in from the sun and immediately drew antiaircraft fire. ''Winterberry'' opened up with her guns and assisted in bringing down two of the three raiders. At the height of that melee, a Japanese "Val" swooped on the anchorage. ''Winterberry'' could not fire on this enemy because friendly ships were in her line of fire, but the other ships brought him down. During the early afternoon of 3 June, she again assisted in downing a

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

. At 1912 on the 11th, she joined the antiaircraft barrage when a single "Val" swooped down out of a heavy cloud cover. Oblivious to the curtain of gunfire, he dove at dock landing ship . He overshot the dock landing ship, climbed, did a wingover and entered his second suicide dive. This time, he chose a victory ship; but the antiaircraft fire, which he had ignored so contemptuously, cut his mission short. ''Winterberry's'' guns combined with those of the other ships in the area to splash the kamikaze but a scant few yards short of his intended victim.

End-of-war operations

During the waning months of World War II, ''Winterberry'' continued to serve at Okinawa. On 5 August, she departed the Ryukyus, bound for

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

where she arrived on the 11th. The cessation of hostilities on 15 August found her still at

. However, on the 20th, she got underway for

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. The net-layer reached her destination three days later and operated in the

Volcano Islands The or are a group of three Japanese-governed islands in Micronesia. They lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and belong to the municipality of Ogasawara, Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. The islands are all active volcanoes lying atop ...

—at Iwo Jima and at Chichi Jima—until late in October. On 24 October, she departed Iwo Jima to return to the United States.

Post-war disposition

After stops at Saipan,

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 ...

, Johnston Island, and Pearl Harbor, she entered

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 ...

, harbor on 29 November and reported to the Commandant,

11th Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

, for disposal. She was decommissioned at San Diego on 15 February 1946, and 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 26 February 1946. The former net-layer was subsequently transferred to the

U.S. 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 ...

for final disposition. She was sold to Joe Medina Enterprises, of San Diego, California, on 31 March 1947.

Honors and awards

''Winterberry'' earned one

for World War II.

References

*
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - YN-75 / AN-56 Winterberry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winterberry 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