USS Boxwood (YN-3/AN-8) was an Aloe-class net laying ship

Net laying ship

A net laying ship, also known as a net layer, net tender or boom defence vessel was a type of small auxiliary ship.A net layer's primary function was to lay and maintain steel anti-torpedo or anti-submarine nets. Nets could be laid around an individual ship at anchor, or around harbors or other...

 which was assigned to serve U.S. Navy ships and harbors during World War II with her protective anti-submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 nets.

Career

Boxwood (YN-3)—originally named Birch but renamed before her construction began—was laid down on 19 November 1940 at Houghton, Washington

Houghton, Washington

Houghton is one of the lakeside neighborhoods of the city of Kirkland, Washington. Consisting mostly of upscale, single-family homes, Houghton overlooks Lake Washington and is one of the wealthier districts of the Eastside suburbs of Seattle. The village was named for Willard Houghton, a local...

, by the Lake Washington Shipyard

Lake Washington Shipyard

Lake Washington Shipyards was a shipyard in Houghton, Washington on the shore of Lake Washington. Today the shipyards are the site of the lakeside Carillon Point business park...

; launched on 8 March 1941; and placed in service on 25 July 1941 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...

, Lt. Robert W. Nordstrom, USNR, in charge. Assigned to duty with the Inshore Patrol, 13th Naval District, the net tender reported to the section headquarters at Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

, on 6 August and commenced operating between that port, Port Townsend, and Port Angeles, performing various towing tasks within the district. On typical chore was her towing of targets for the gunboat during September and October 1941.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 prompted a flurry of defensive activity along the U.S. West Coast. The plans for the net defense of the Puget Sound

Puget Sound

Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...

 area having been worked out in advance, Boxwood joined and in installing the Rich Pass antisubmarine net line in Puget Sound, commencing the work soon after 7 December and bringing it to completion on 27 January 1942. Over the ensuing weeks, Boxwood remained on station in the Rich Pass area, maintaining the net line and occasionally conducting local patrol work.

On 16 February, Boxwood sailed for Indian Island, Washington

Indian Island, Washington

Indian Island is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Washington, United States. It is located between Port Townsend Bay and Kilisut Harbor. Parts also border on Oak Bay and Scow Bay. Until the construction of the Port Townsend Ship Canal Indian Island was connected to the mainland...

, and was soon busily engaged in work at the Net Depot there, installing an antisubmarine net line at Port Townsend, a combination antisubmarine and anti-torpedo net line at Marrowstone Spit, and a fine mesh net line across the Portage Canal

Portage Canal

The Portage Canal was built to connect the Fox River and Wisconsin River at Portage, Wisconsin along the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway.Numerous attempts were made to build the thin Wisconsin-Fox connection through the marshy land, beginning in 1837 with the formation of the "Portage Canal Company"...

. She completed the installation of approximately a mile and a half of netting on 11 July and remained in the Puget Sound area tending nets for the remainder of 1942. Placed in full commission on 2 January 1943, Boxwood resumed her tending tasks after her overhaul at Todd, Seattle, shipyard and carried them out through the spring of 1943.

Alaskan duty

Departing the Seattle area on 26 June 1943, Boxwood relieved at Adak

Adak Island

Adak Island is an island near the western extent of the Andreanof Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Alaska's southernmost town, Adak, is located on the island...

, in the Aleutians, and assisted in the installation of antitorpedo net lines at Adak and Sand Bay

Sand Bay

Sand Bay is a strip of coast in North Somerset bordered to the south by Worlebury Hill and to the north by Middle Hope and Sand Point. It lies north of the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare, and across the Bristol Channel from South Wales. It is adjacent to the village of Kewstoke.The north end...

, and helped in laying fleet mooring buoys. After tending nets in the Adak area during the invasion of Kiska

Kiska

Kiska is an island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska located at . It is about long and varies in width from - Discovery :...

, Boxwood proceeded to Kiska as a replacement for a destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 operating off that island and thus gained the distinction of being the first net tender in that area. Soon after Boxwood's arrival, Buckeye joined her; and the two ships installed cruiser moorings in Kiska harbor, as well as approximately two miles of a combination anti-torpedo and submarine-indicator net.

Resuming her duties at Adak in October 1943, Boxwood later received minor damage while assisting the grounded destroyer in Kulak Bay. During her operations in these northern climes, Boxwood was redesignated AN-8 on 20 January 1944.

Ordered to Kiska

Kiska

Kiska is an island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska located at . It is about long and varies in width from - Discovery :...

 on 15 February 1944, Boxwood proceeded thence and repaired some of the cruiser moorings that she had laid there earlier. Completing this task by 27 February, the net tender sailed to Attu

Attu Island

Attu is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, making it the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska and the United States. It was the site of the only World War II land battle fought on the incorporated territory of the United States ,...

, where she tended net defenses until relieved by on 26 September. Upon completion of repairs and alterations at Adak on 31 October, Boxwood resumed tending the net defenses there early in November 1944. Subsequently ordered to Attu on 10 January 1945, Boxwood arrived on station two days later and relieved Buckthorn. Relieved by that ship on 22 June 1945 to return to Adak for overhaul, Boxwood was still undergoing repairs and alterations when Japan

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

 capitulated in mid-August 1945. Upon completion of the overhaul on 20 August 1945, Boxwood resumed her net tending tasks, only to receive orders to begin removing the net defenses at Adak on the 21st. Assisted by Buckthorn and , Boxwood finished this work by 14 September.

Boxwood sailed for Kodiak, Alaska

Kodiak, Alaska

Kodiak is one of 7 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline...

, on 6 October and served there until 28 November when she was ordered to Dutch Harbor. Attached to the naval operating base there, Boxwood performed utility jobs such as transporting mail and stores to nearby island bases and decommissioned the radio station at Caton Island, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. During 1946, Boxwood made several trips carrying passengers and mail between various bases in the Alaskan Sea Frontier and the naval station at Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

, through mid-August 1946 when she entered the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington...

.

In the fall of 1946, Boxwood underwent a preinactivation overhaul at the Kaiser Shipyard, Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...

. She was decommissioned on 13 November 1946 and was turned over to the Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Sub-group of the 19th Fleet and moored at Swan Island

Overlook, Portland, Oregon

Overlook is a neighborhood in the North section of Portland, Oregon on the east shore of the Willamette River. It borders University Park and Arbor Lodge on the north, Humboldt and Boise on the east, Eliot on the southeast, and Northwest Industrial and the Northwest District across the Willamette...

, Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

. She remained inactive until her name was struck from the Navy List

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 9 October 1962. Shifted to the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

 at Suisun Bay

Suisun Bay

Suisun Bay is a shallow tidal estuary at in northern California, USA. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, forming the entrance to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an inverted river delta...

, California, the ship was carried on vessel inventory reports through the end of 1974. Subsequent fate not known.