USS Aloe ( AN - 6 ) USS " Aloe " ( AN - 6 / YN - 1 ) was an which was assigned to serve U . S . Navy ships and harbors during World War II with her protective anti - submarine nets . Built in Washington . " Aloe " ( YN - 1 ) was laid down on 14 October 1940 at Houghton , Washington , by the Lake Washington Shipyard ; launched on 11 January 1941 ; and placed " in service " on 11 June 1941 , Lt . ( j . g . ) Harry R . Shawk , USNR , in charge . World War II service . Allocated to the 12th Naval District , the net tender operated in a non - commissioned status in the San Francisco , area from the summer of 1941 to the winter of 1942 , tending and laying the antisubmarine nets and booms protecting the waters of that important region . Assigned to the South Pacific . Commissioned on 30 December 1942 , Lt . Donald B . Howard , USNR , in command , " Aloe " departed San Francisco on 22 January 1943 , bound for Pearl Harbor . Routed thence to New Caledonia , she reached Noumea on 18 March . Six days later , she got underway and proceeded via the New Hebrides , to the Solomon Islands . The net tender spent the remainder of the war in the Pacific Ocean , laying and tending torpedo nets and buoys , and conducting various salvage and towing operations . She ranged from New Caledonia to Okinawa and included the Solomon Islands , the Mariana Islands , the Marshall Islands , and the Palau Islands in her itinerary . During this time , she was reclassified as a net layer , on 31 January 1944 , her hull number becoming " AN - 6 " on that date . While perhaps pedestrian , " Aloe ' s " duties were , nevertheless , vital and certainly not without hazard , as was dramatically demonstrated soon after she arrived in the Solomons in the spring of 1943 . Under attack at Tulagi . On 7 April of that year , she lay moored to the Sturgis Dock , Tulagi , when 67 " Vals " ( Aichi D3A2 dive bomber s ) , escorted by 110 " Zero " fighters — all but a very few of which had been drawn from the complements of four Japanese aircraft carrier s — arrived to attack the shipping in the harbor there . The raid was a part of Admiral Yamamoto ' s Operation " I " — a series of massive air attacks aimed at American positions in the Solomons . Obviously interested in bigger game , the Japanese planes left " Aloe " alone , sinking destroyer and an oiler and damaging a second oiler and cargo ship . Nevertheless , the net tender , with her solitary 3 - inch gun and her four . 50 - caliber machine guns , contributed to the antiaircraft barrage that helped to drive the attackers off , claiming one " Val " shot down , another " possibly " splashed , and a third " damaged . " Shooting down enemy planes in the Marianas . A little over a year later , " Aloe " next encountered the enemy during Operation " Forager " – the occupation of the Marianas . While in Task Group ( TG ) 53 . 16 on 18 June 1944 , the net - layer was cruising east of Guam when Japanese planes attacked at 17 : 59 . Utilizing local control and observing excellent fire discipline , " Aloe ' s " 20 - milhmeter and . 50 - caliber batteries scored hits on three enemy planes . Two of these Japanese aircraft crashed and the third departed the area in flames . Her last action with enemy planes came on 28 May 1945 , while she was anchored in Nakagusuku Wan , Okinawa , serving as part of Net and Buoy Unit 3 ( Task Unit 32 . 8 . 3 ) . During that morning , she took a suicider under fire with all her guns as the kamikaze made a dive on the anchorage . Damaged in a typhoon . War ' s end in August 1945 , found " Aloe " still at Okinawa . While her battle with the Japanese may have been over , there were still the " elements " with which to contend . On 9 October 1945 , a typhoon swept across Okinawa . During the storm , " Snowbell " ( AN - 52 ) inflicted minor damage on " Aloe " when the former drifted down on her . " Snowbell ' s " stern collided with " Aloe ' s " starboard bow and ripped a hole below the main deck level five feet long . Post - war inactivation . Returning to the United States in the spring of 1946 via Saipan , Guam , the Marshalls , and Hawaii , " Aloe " commenced her pre - inactivation overhaul at Swan Island , Portland , Oregon , on 3 June 1946 . Decommissioned on 3 August 1946 and placed in reserve on 26 September 1946 , the net tender remained in the Columbia River Group , Pacific Reserve Fleet , through the 1950s . Her name was stricken on 9 October 1962 . Laid up in the U . S . Maritime Administration berthing area at Olympia , Washington , the ship was sold on 14 May 1971 to I . D . Logan and was scrapped . The USS " Aloe " is featured in a mural depicting the history of the Houghton area of Kirkland , Washington . Honors and awards . " Aloe " received three battle stars for her World War II service .