USS Whitewood ( AN - 63 ) USS " Whitewood " ( YN - 84 ) , a wooden - hulled of the United States Navy was laid down on 24 October 1942 at Rockland , Maine , by the Snow Shipyard , Inc . ; named " Whitewood " on 5 July 1943 ; re - classified a net laying ship , AN - 63 , on 1 January 1944 ; launched on 21 April 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Eben Kenney ; and commissioned on 17 July 1944 , Lt . John I . Beam , USNR , in command . Service history . World War II . " Whitewood " tended and laid nets and buoys at Boston , Mass . , and at Newport and Melville , R . I . , through the remainder of 1944 and into 1945 . After a drydocking which began at the Boston Navy Yard in March 1945 , the net layer shifted to Portland , Maine , in July . There she worked out of the Navy Net Depot at Little Diamond Island through the end of World War II in August 1945 . After shifting to Newport , R . I . , at the end of the month , she provided services for the naval net depot there and assisted in laying experimental net installations off Block Island . Operation Nanook . Although apparently slated for inactivation on 22 October 1945 , " Whitewood " apparently remained in commission through the end of the year . Early in 1946 , the ship was placed in " deferred disposal " status pending possible future use . On 11 April , she was selected to participate in Operation Nanook , Arctic exercises slated to take place in the summer of 1946 . Taken to the Boston Naval Shipyard , the ship was under conversion for the rest of the spring and into the summer . During this time , on 20 May , a fire broke out on board the ship in one of her after storerooms and caused " Nanook ' s " planners to fear that the wooden - hulled ship ' s services would be lost to the pending operation . Fortunately , the fire was put out before major damage occurred ; and the shipyard was able to repair the ship enabling her to take part in " Nanook " as scheduled . The nucleus of the " Nanook " force , Task Force ( TF ) 68 , consisted of , , , , and " Whitewood " . On 3 July , " Whitewood " departed Boston to rendezvous with " Northwind " off Greenland . For the remainder of July and into August , " Whitewood " operated in the Canadian Arctic , off western Greenland . She transited the Davis Strait to the northern part of Baffin Bay in company with " Northwind " and " Atule " and conducted exercises en route . All ships in TF 68 except the two AK ' s eventually rendezvoused at Melville Bight , Baffin Bay , on 20 July . " Whitewood " and " Atule " subsequently accompanied " Norton Sound " to Thule harbor to recover a PBM Mariner forced down with engine trouble . From 22 July to 5 August , all activities in " Nanook " centered around Thule ; " Norton Sound " remained at anchor there , in North Star Bay , servicing her two PBM ' s . Meanwhile , " Whitewood " and " Atule " operated from North Star Bay as they conducted exercises and tests in the Smith Sound – Kane Basin area . On 5 August , " Norton Sound " and " Whitewood " headed for Dundas Harbor , Devon Island , to attempt air and surface operations there . Unfortunately , the ships found the harbor iced over , with a belt of pack ice extending out three miles down the coast . " Northwind " later joined the two ships in the vicinity of Dundas Harbor , searching for a suitable anchorage that could accommodate the ships and their attached aircraft . " Whitewood " succeeded in finding a small , ice - free anchorage at Tay Bay , off northwestern Bylot Island . In the ensuing weeks , " Whitewood " reconnoitered the coastal areas in Lancaster , Eclipse , and Jones Sound s , and Prince Regent , Admiralty , and Navy Board Inlet s . Operating on this duty in company with " Northwind " , " Whitewood " landed shore parties that set up positions ashore to obtain terrestrial navigation " fixes " to dovetail with the photographic coverage obtained from the ships and planes of the project ' s task force . Eventually , the summer Arctic weather deteriorated to the point where it hindered " Whitewood ' s " surveying efforts — especially her terrestrial fixes . Released from the expedition in early September , " Whitewood " received her sailing orders on 6 September and soon set her course for Boston . She arrived there on 19 September for repairs . Reclassified as ( AG ) . While at Boston , " Whitewood " was reclassified a miscellaneous auxiliary ( AG ) on 14 January 1947 and was given the alphanumeric hull number AG - 129 . She conducted refresher training in Chesapeake Bay soon thereafter and returned to Boston on 9 July to prepare for the next round of Arctic operations . Return to the Arctic . She sailed for the Canadian Arctic in company with the Navy ' s newest icebreaker , , to participate in the successor to Operation " Nanook . " The basic missions for TF 68 in this Arctic stint were the resupply of existing weather stations and the establishment of a new one at Melville Harbor , Ville Island . " Whitewood " performed reconnaissance and survey work during the expedition , while completed her assigned task , supplying the weather station at Thule . When " Whitewood " and " Edisto " tried to force their way through the ice to deliver needed supplies to the station at Slidre Fjord , the heavy pack ice damaged " Whitewood ' s " bow sheathing , steering engine , and propeller , necessitating her return to Boston for repairs . After transferring her cargo to " Edisto " — which eventually forced her way through the pack ice to Slidre Fjord — " Whitewood " headed home . " Whitewood " underwent repairs at Boston between 1 September and 18 October before sailing for Bayonne , N . J . , for an overhaul that lasted through the end of October . She headed back northward and operated out of Argentia , Newfoundland ; and Grondal and Søndre Strømfjord , Greenland ; into late 1948 supporting the International Ice Patrol . During the tour , she touched at such ports as Narsarssuak , Grondal , Argentia , and Breton . On 6 December 1948 , while the ship was operating in heavy pack ice , a shifting floe sprung a leak in her port chain locker . A seam opened there , and the ship began to fill uncontrollably . In order to save the ship , her commanding officer , Lt . Cpmdr . F . E . Clark , ordered her beached . Meanwhile , " Edisto " , which had just completed refresher training in Narragansett Bay , was summoned to join in assisting " Whitewood " out of her predicament . Eventually , with a patch applied to her side , " Whitewood " made Boston on 8 January 1949 — exactly one month after her serious accident . Subsequently cleared for disposal on 12 March , she was decommissioned at Newport on 1 April and struck from the Navy list on 7 June . She was then sold to Walter H . Wimms of Los Angeles , Calif . , on 3 March 1950 and scrapped .