USS Butternut ( YAG - 60 ) USS " Butternut " ( AN - 9 / YN - 4 / ANL - 9 / YAG - 60 ) was laid down as a yard net tender on 11 March 1941 at Houghton , Washington , by the Lake Washington Shipyard ; launched on 10 May 1941 ; and placed in service at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 3 September 1941 , Lieutenant Andreas S . Einmo , USNR , in charge . After fitting out at Puget Sound the ship began service with the Inshore Patrol , 13th Naval District , early in October . She tended antisubmarine nets and performed minesweeping tasks until May 1942 . On 13 May 1942 , USS " Butternut " was placed in commission at Seattle , Washington , Lieutenant Andreas S . Einmo , USNR , in command . World War II Pacific Theater operations . The ship departed Seattle , Washington , on 17 May for a brief visit to San Francisco , California , until 1 June when she got underway for the southwestern Pacific . After escorting across the ocean , " Butternut " arrived in Nouméa , New Caledonia , on 27 June . For 18 months , she tended nets in the southwestern Pacific , first at New Caledonia , later in the New Hebrides , and then in the Solomons . Her active service was interrupted only by two repair periods — August and September 1943 at Port Chalmers , New Zealand , and November 1943 to February 1944 at Pearl Harbor . During her overhaul at Pearl Harbor , she was reclassified a net laying ship and was redesignated AN - 9 . In January 1945 , the ship steamed from the Solomons via $ 3 , New Guinea , to Leyte in the Philippines . She spent the ensuing two years engaged in net and other district craft operations in the waters adjacent to the islands of Leyte and Samar . Post - War net laying assignments . USS " Butternut " departed Leyte Gulf in convoy on 24 February 1947 and shaped a course for the Marianas . She arrived at Guam on 9 March and began three years of service in the Trust Territories of the Pacific Ocean Islands . Based at Apra Harbor on Guam , she carried passengers and cargo among the islands as well as laying and tending nets at various islands . The ship also performed several assignments off Iwo Jima laying mooring buoys and assisting in the recovery , repair and replacement of submarine lines . the ship departed Guam on 19 June 1950 for repairs at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard . The net laying ship completed repairs and put to sea on 15 September . Steaming via Guam and Iwo Jima , she arrived in Sasebo , Japan , on 28 October . The ship conducted operations at Sasebo and Yokosuka , Japan , until 7 July 1951 when she set sail for Guam to resume her former duties in the Trust Territories . On 12 December 1951 , USS " Butternut " arrived in Pearl Harbor for regular overhaul . She completed repairs almost eight months later , putting to sea for the west coast of the United States . The net laying ship reached San Francisco , California , on 15 August 1952 but moved south to San Diego , California , soon thereafter . Assigned to the 11th Naval District , USS " Butternut " spent a little more than five years operating in and around San Diego tending nets and buoys as well as serving as a training platform for students at the Naval Net School , Tiburon , California , and for members of the U . S . Naval Reserve . Pacific Missile test support . In 1957 , however , her mission changed significantly with the de - emphasis of nets in harbor defense in favor of more sophisticated techniques . On 14 December 1957 , the Naval Ordnance Test Station ( NOTS ) , China Lake , California , assumed operational control of USS " Butternut " . Administrative control remained with the commandant , 11th Naval District . For the next seven years , the ship provided support services for the Polaris missile test and development program . In addition to serving as a monitoring platform for the scientists and engineers engaged in the program , USS " Butternut " towed hardware and support craft to and from the San Clemente Island test site , conducted surveys of the ocean bottom at the site , carried missiles to the site , and performed a myriad of other support services . In 1964 , the U . S . Navy concluded its Polaris missile tests at San Clemente Island and closed the facility there . China Lake , however , retained operational control over " Butternut " for the purpose of testing the Mark 46 anti - submarine warfare ( ASW ) torpedo and its first modification . That duty , punctuated by repair periods , occupied her until the summer of 1969 . Decommissioning . Found to be excess to the needs of the U . S . Navy late in June 1969 , USS " Butternut " was decommissioned at San Diego , California , on 18 July 1969 , and her name was struck from the navy list that same day . Post - decommissioning activity . Almost immediately , however , she was reinstated on the list of service craft as YAG - 60 for service on the Pacific Missile Range . That assignment lasted for about two years until June 1971 . On 1 July 1971 , her service craft designation was struck from the navy list . Early in 1972 , she became a salvage training hulk for Service Squadron ( ServRon ) 5 at Maui in the Hawaiian Islands . She was so employed until June 1977 at which time she was destroyed as a target . Awards . USS " Butternut " received one battle star for World War II service .