USS Baretta ( AN - 41 ) USS " Baretta " ( AN - 41 / YN - 60 ) was an which served with the U . S . Navy in the western Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II . After surviving war action and Pacific Ocean typhoons , and she returned home safely after the war with one battle star to her credit . Launched in Washington . The wooden hulled net layer " YN - 60 " was laid down on 19 December 1942 at Everett , Washington , by the Everett Pacific Shipbuilders and Dry Dock Company ; named " Baretta " on 17 March 1943 ; launched on 9 October 1943 ; sponsored by Miss Evelyn Jaramo , the 11 - year old daughter of a shipfitter at the builder ’ s yard ; reclassified " AN - 41 " on 20 January 1944 ; and commissioned at her builder ' s yard on 18 March 1944 , Lt . Comdr . Ravenel L . Collins , USNR , in command . World War II service . Assigned to Pacific Ocean operations . After fitting out , shakedown training out of San Pedro , California , and post shakedown repairs , the net laying ship sailed for Hawaii and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 29 June . On 20 July , the net layer was ordered to report to the Commander , Service Force , Pacific , for duty " in the forward areas " and loaded mooring and net gear into August . Sailing in Task Group ( TG ) 32 . 6 on 8 August , " Baretta " proceeded to the Solomon Islands and entered Gavutu Harbor near Guadalcanal on the 26th . She remained there until getting underway on 4 September to rejoin Task Group 32 . 6 . After taking position in the convoy , " Baretta " proceeded toward the Palau Islands . The convoy reached Peleliu on 18 September , three days after the initial landings there . After receiving instructions near Orange Beach , " Baretta " escorted " LST - 661 " to Kossol Passage , arriving on 22 September . There , she took on board the men and equipment of the fleet post office to be established at Peleliu . Underway again on 24 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 in Saipan Town Harbor , Angaur , but was interrupted by an enemy air raid and , later by worsening seas that made the anchorage unsafe . In the afternoon of 29 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 on 4 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 to Kossol Passage and , following operations in that vicinity , got underway with " Spangler " ( DE 696 ) on the 10th for the Caroline Islands . A submarine contact on 12 January enlivened the voyage , and a submarine alert soon after " Baretta " entered Ulithi lagoon sent everyone to general 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 on 21 January , " Baretta " spent five days under temporary repair alongside " Oahu " ( ARG 5 ) . She got underway under her own power on the 26th and reached Pearl Harbor on 8 February for major repairs which lasted into the spring . Supporting Guam operations . The net layer departed Pearl Harbor on 16 April and proceeded via Eniwetok to Guam , arriving at Apra Harbor on 3 May . After discharging her cargo , " Baretta " reported to the Commander , Forward Area , Pacific , for temporary duty and sailed for Ulithi 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 the Ryukyus on 28 June in a 16 ship convoy . Detached on 4 July when five miles west of the southern tip of Okinawa , " Baretta " proceeded independently to Kerama 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 to Buckner Bay . Before proceeding to that place , " Baretta " assisted LCT - 466 that had lost her ramp and taken a 10 degree list to starboard . " Baretta " built a wooden jury ramp , repaired the tank landing craft ' s leaking starboard ballast 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 raging typhoon . 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 and 28 July . On 1 August 1945 , another typhoon forced her to seek shelter again . Underway at 0700 , " Baretta " raced up the east coast of Okinawa , 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 . " Salvaging 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 of 14 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 that Japan ' 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 " . On 4 September , the net layer proceeded to Unten Ko to load navigational gear to be used in marking the Kii 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 . Two hospital ship s and a U . 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 " . Surviving 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 , the battleship " 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 the Japanese home islands . She departed Japan on 29 December and proceeded via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor to the California coast . Post - war inactivation and disposal . " Baretta " underwent pre - inactivation overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard and was decommissioned there on 4 April 1946 . Her name was struck from the Navy list on 8 May 1946 , but her ultimate fate remains obscure . One source indicates that she was acquired by Mr . O . Clive Webster , of Bermuda , on 20 January 1947 . Yet , another suggests that she was transferred to the U . S . Maritime Commission and gives 24 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 .