USS ''Yew'' (YN-32/AN-37) was an built for 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 ...

during World War II. She was later transferred to the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

as ''Scorpion'' (A728). She was sold to Malaysian owners but sank while under tow from the former French ship when that ship struck a reef off Cikobia Island,

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, on 30 July 1978 and also sank.

Career

''Yew'' (YN-37) was laid down on 22 May 1941 at

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

, by John H. Mathis & Company; launched on 4 October 1941; sponsored by Miss Alice E. Morgan, daughter of Comdr. A. L. Morgan, USN (Ret.); and placed in service on 1 July 1942. Records for Yew's service are practically nonexistent. The fragmentary evidence available shows that the ship was reclassified ''AN-37'' on 1 January 1944. The net tender was ultimately decommissioned at

Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...

, Algeria, on 30 November 1944 and simultaneously transferred to the French Navy under

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, ...

. She served as ''Scorpion'' (A728) until she was nominally returned by the French on 21 March 1949 but was sold outright to the French on the same day. Her American name, ''Yew'', 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 28 April 1949. ''Scorpion'' served the French Navy into the mid-1970s before she was sunk at Cikobia Island,

, 30 July 1978.

References

*
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive – YN-32 / AN-37 Yew
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yew (AN-37) Aloe-class net laying ships Ships built by John H. Mathis & Company 1941 ships World War II net laying ships of the United States Aloe-class net laying ships of the French Navy World War II auxiliary ships of France