USS Hoptree (AN-62)

USS Hoptree (AN-62/YN-83) was a Ailanthus-class net laying ship that served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Hoptree performed her tour of duty in the Pacific Ocean and, post-war, she was decommissioned and sold.

History
United States
Name: USS Hoptree
Namesake: A small American tree having two seeded winged fruits which have been used in place of hops
Builder: Snow Shipyards Inc., Rockland, Maine
Laid down: date unknown
Launched: 14 October 1943 at Rockland, Maine as YN-83
Sponsored by: Lt. Ann Jameson
Commissioned: 18 May 1944
Decommissioned: 1 March 1946
Reclassified: AN-62, on 20 January 1944
Stricken: 20 March 1946
Fate: sold, delivered 23 April 1947 to new owner; scrapped in 1954
General characteristics
Class and type: Ailanthus-class net laying ship
Displacement: 1,100
Length: 194' 6"
Beam: 37'
Draft: 13' 6"
Propulsion: diesel electric, 2,500hp
Speed: 12 knots
Complement: 56 officers and enlisted
Armament: one single 3 in (76 mm) dual purpose gun mount; four twin 20 mm AA gun mounts
Armor: wooden-hulled

Built in Maine

Hoptree (AN-62), a wooden-hulled net layer, was launched on 14 October 1943 by Snow Shipyards Inc., Rockland, Maine, as YN-83; sponsored by Lt. Ann Jameson; reclassified AN-62, on 20 January 1944; and commissioned on 18 May 1944, Lt. Cdr. Theodore A. Ingham in command.

World War II service

Pacific Ocean operations

Arriving at the Melville Net Depot for shakedown on 31 May 1944, Hoptree performed training and readiness operations until 27 June, when she joined the Net Layer Pre-commissioning and Training Group at Melville, Rhode Island. She then departed on 2 December for the U.S. West Coast and sailed on 3 February 1945 from the Naval Net Depot, Tiburon, California, for duty in the Pacific Ocean.

Hoptree arrived Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 13 February 1945 and was routed on to Eniwetok Atoll, where she arrived the 28th. From March through the end of the war the ship was engaged in the vital work of maintaining and repairing net defenses in the harbor, and after August she was occupied in dismantling them.

She sailed back to the United States in November 1945, arriving at San Francisco, California, on 8 November.

Post-war decommissioning

Decommissioned on 1 March 1946, deemed surplus to Navy needs, and made available for disposal, Hoptree was stricken from the List of Naval Vessels on 20 March 1946.

Subsequent maritime career

She was delivered to her purchaser, Van Camp Sea Food Company, San Pedro, California, on 23 April 1947. She operated on mercantile service until scrapped in 1954.

References


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