- USS Baretta (AN-41)
USS "Baretta" (AN-41/YN-60) was an "Ailanthus"-class
net laying ship which served with theU.S. Navy in the westernPacific Ocean theatre of operations duringWorld War II . After surviving war action andPacific Ocean typhoon s, and she returned home safely after the war with onebattle star to her credit.Launched in Washington
The wooden hulled net layer "YN-60" was laid down on
19 December 1942 atEverett, Washington , by the Everett Pacific Shipbuilders and Dry Dock Company; named "Baretta" on17 March 1943 ; launched on9 October 1943 ; sponsored by Miss Evelyn Jaramo, the 11-year old daughter of ashipfitter at the builder’s yard; reclassified "AN-41" on20 January 1944 ; and commissioned at her builder's yard on18 March 1944 , Lt. Comdr. Ravenel L. Collins,USNR , in command.World War II service
Assigned to Pacific Ocean operations
After fitting out your mum, shakedown training out of
San Pedro, California , and post shakedown repairs it blew up killing, the net laying ship sailed forHawaii and arrived atPearl Harbor on29 June . On20 July , the net layer was ordered to report to theCommander, Service Force, Pacific , for duty "in the forward areas" and loaded mooring and net gear into August.Sailing in
Task Group (TG) 32.6 on8 August , "Baretta" proceeded to theSolomon Islands and enteredGavutu Harbor nearGuadalcanal on the 26th. She remained there until getting underway on4 September to rejoin Task Group 32.6. After taking position in the convoy, "Baretta" proceeded toward thePalau Islands . The convoy reachedPeleliu on18 September , three days after the initial landings there.After receiving instructions near Orange Beach, "Baretta" escorted "LST-661" to
Kossol Passage , arriving on22 September . There, she took on board the men and equipment of thefleet post office to be established at Peleliu. Underway again on24 September , she reached that island later in the day and transferred her passengers to "Leonard Wood" (APA 12) the next morning.Palau Islands operations
For the next four months, "Baretta" maintained net defenses in the Palaus. On
26 September , she commenced working on moorings inSaipan Town Harbor,Angaur , but was interrupted by an enemy air raid and, later by worsening seas that made the anchorage unsafe. In the afternoon of29 September , she received a request for help from "LCT 867", that had fouled a mine with her anchor. "Baretta" proceeded to the scene and stood by while the landing craft carefully cut her anchor cable and then crept away from the peril."Baretta" resumed her work on moorings but, on
1 October , worsening weather forced her to stop. In the midst of a moderate gale the next morning, "LCT-404" requested help for an "LCM" whose ramp had jammed in the down position. "Baretta" answered the call, towing the craft alongside stern first, and then into the lee of the island off Red Beach. When the "LCM's" ramp had been freed and secured, the landing craft proceeded under her own power to Red Beach.Later that day,
Baretta retrieved an unmanned "LCVP" adrift in a seaway. She took the landing craft in tow, but the line parted and heavy seas prevented further attempts to salvage the "LCVP". At 1022 on4 October , "Baretta" was lying off Angaur Island when "LCT-579" struck a mine 300 yards off shore. "Baretta's" motor launch sped to the scene with a rescue party and removed 11 injured men before the damaged craft sank.Kossol Passage operations
Through the rest of 1944, "Baretta" repaired and supplied landing craft and helped to retrieve them when they broached or became stranded. After transferring gear on
3 January 1945 , "Baretta" sailed toKossol Passage and, following operations in that vicinity, got underway with "Spangler" (DE 696) on the 10th for theCaroline Islands . Asubmarine contact on12 January enlivened the voyage, and a submarine alert soon after "Baretta" enteredUlithi lagoon sent everyone togeneral quarters before she had moored.Later that day, "Baretta" sailed for
Eniwetok . On the 16th, her crew put out an engine room fire in little more than an hour; but it left her engines inoperable. As a result, "Cliffrose" (AN 42) towed her sister ship for the remainder of the voyage. Arriving on21 January , "Baretta" spent five days under temporary repair alongside "Oahu" (ARG 5). She got underway under her own power on the 26th and reachedPearl Harbor on8 February for major repairs which lasted into the spring.upporting Guam operations
The net layer departed Pearl Harbor on
16 April and proceeded via Eniwetok toGuam , arriving at Apra Harbor on3 May . After discharging her cargo, "Baretta" reported to the Commander, Forward Area, Pacific, for temporary duty and sailed forUlithi to relieve "Viburnum" (AN-57) that had been damaged by a mine. "Baretta" reached Ulithi on the 7th and, for the next three weeks, operated on the main net line there, "upending, repairing, and replacing the anti-torpedo panels." She devised a new method of handling the nets, which both saved time and reduced the possibility of damage to the buoys. "The new overlap method," according to her war diary, "proved quick and safe.""Baretta" worked at Ulithi into late June, retrieving, rigging, and laying anti-
torpedo net moorings, until getting underway for theRyukyus on28 June in a 16 shipconvoy . Detached on4 July when five miles west of the southern tip ofOkinawa , "Baretta" proceeded independently toKerama Retto to relieve "Terebinth" (AN 59). She and her sister ships then recovered the anchor legs of the fleet telephone moorings in Kerama Retto for transfer toBuckner Bay . Before proceeding to that place, "Baretta" assisted LCT-466 that had lost her ramp and taken a 10 degree list tostarboard . "Baretta" built a wooden jury ramp, repaired thetank landing craft 's leaking starboardballast tank and shifted the cargo load to port.Okinawa operations
The next afternoon, "Baretta" moved to the anchorage at Unten Ko, off northeastern
Okinawa where she was protected from a ragingtyphoon . By the 21st, the storm had abated and finally "Baretta" moved to Buckner Bay. Upkeep and logistics occupied her for about a week. Then she joined "Stagbush" (AN-69) and "Winterberry" (AN-56), and together they laid the fleet telephone moorings in Buckner Bay on 27 and28 July .On
1 August 1945 , another typhoon forced her to seek shelter again. Underway at 0700, "Baretta" raced up the east coast ofOkinawa , battered by a strong wind from the northeast. She rolled 30 degrees to each side before reaching the relatively tranquil waters of Katena Ko, a typhoon anchorage two miles south of Unten Ko. "Baretta" rode out the blow "anchored bow and stern with two auxiliary minesweepers tied alongside."alvaging a Japanese midget submarine
After the storm passed, she proceeded with "Catclaw" (AN 60) to Uten Ko where they salvaged a Japanese
midget submarine . "Baretta" returned to Buckner Bay on the 11th and, the next day, commenced net maintenance work south of the entrance gate at Buckner Bay. At 1700 on the afternoon of14 August , all minecraft were "directed to be prepared for departure on one hour's notice." At 0800 the next morning, "Baretta" was proceeding to the net line when she received word by radio notifying "...all ships present thatJapan's surrender had been officially accepted and all offensive action was to cease."End-of-war operations
To prepare for the
occupation of Japan , paths through the mine strewn approaches to the ports of debarkation had to be cleared. Such an effort required the support of ships like "Baretta". On4 September , the net layer proceeded to Unten Ko to load navigational gear to be used in marking theKii Suido channel off the port of Wakayama. There she took on concrete "clump" anchors and navigational buoys before loading additional equipment at Buckner Bay.She reached the entrance to Kii Suido at noon on
11 September and stood into Wakayama in the wake of the second sweep unit. Twohospital ship s and aU.S. 5th Fleet task group followed. The next morning, "Fraser" (DM 24) and "Stagbush" began laying channel buoys. "Baretta" later joined them, planting buoys at three mile intervals. Each of the net layers received a "well done" from "Fraser".urviving in a typhoon
On the evening of the 16th, weather reports warned of an approaching
typhoon ; and, at 0920 on the 17th, "all ships received orders to be ready to get underway on 30 minutes notice." After letting out more anchor chain, "Baretta" waited as the wind increased to force 6 by 1800. Dragging anchor, "LCI-814" fouled the net layer's bow at 1855. "Baretta" backed down and released more chain, enabling the landing craft to free herself.During the night, the wind velocity increased until, at 0100 on the 18th, "Baretta" clocked it at between 81 and 89 knots. Yard and landing craft in her vicinity continually dragged anchors, but "Baretta's" bow anchor held. By 0730, the wind quieted to 30 knots, and "Baretta" headed for the lee of Awajii Island to avoid heavy swells coming from the northeast.
The storm abated that afternoon, and "Baretta" returned to Wakanoura Wan and surveyed the devastation: three "LST's" and a "YMS" lay stranded on the northern beaches of the anchorage and a PBY "Catalina" seaplane had been sunk. On the 19th, the net layer replanted a mid channel radar buoy in Kii Suido which the typhoon had dragged some 500 yards away from its original position.
A gift of 30 cases of beer
An unusual assignment came next. While entering Kii Suido on
22 September , thebattleship "California" (BB 44) had snagged a channel buoy in her streamed paravanes, taking it with her some 25 miles before she anchored. "Baretta" recovered the "kidnapped" buoy and received, in compensation, "thirty cases of beer from the BB....""Baretta" spent the rest of the year laying and replanting buoys around the
Ryukyus and in theJapanese home islands . She departed Japan on29 December and proceeded via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor to theCalifornia coast.Post-war inactivation and disposal
"Baretta" underwent pre-inactivation overhaul at the
Mare Island Navy Yard and was decommissioned there on4 April 1946 . Her name was struck from the Navy list on8 May 1946 , but her ultimate fate remains obscure. One source indicates that she was acquired by Mr. O. Clive Webster, ofBermuda , on20 January 1947 . Yet, another suggests that she was transferred to theU.S. Maritime Commission and gives24 January 1947 as the date on which that occurred. To add to the mystery, merchant registers do not mention the ship in their postwar issues.ee also
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United States Navy
*World War II References
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* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/18/18041.htm NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - YN-60 / AN-41 Baretta]
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