USS Teak ( AN - 35 ) USS " Teak " ( AN - 35 / YN - 30 ) was an " Aloe " - class net laying ship which served with the U . S . Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II . She was assigned to serve the U . S . Pacific Fleet with her protective anti - submarine nets and earned two battle stars and other commendations for her bravery . Launched in Camden , New Jersey . " Teak " ( YN - 30 ) was laid down on 25 October 1940 at Camden , New Jersey , by John H . Mathis & Company ; launched on 7 July 1941 ; sponsored by Mrs . E . L . Patch ; placed in service on 7 May 1942 ; and commissioned on 10 December 1942 at Colon , Panama Canal Zone , Lt . Harl Stanley Day , USNR , in command . World War II service . Coastal protection services . At the time of her commissioning , the net tender was assigned to the nets guarding the west gate of the Panama Canal . " Teak " transited the canal on 15 December 1942 ; departed Balboa on Christmas Eve ; and arrived at San Francisco , California , on 6 January 1943 . Based at Tiburon Naval Net Depot on West San Francisco Bay , she began tending the harbor ' s antisubmarine nets on the 10th . Throughout 1943 and into 1944 , " Teak " patrolled and maintained the nets which protected the anchorages and harbor of San Francisco Bay . She inspected the nets , repaired and replaced worn parts and buoys , and freed mooring anchors and an occasional ship fouled in the nets . These routine but vital duties were varied by repairs at Alameda , California , with gunnery drills in October , and with a voyage to San Pedro , California , in December . South Pacific operations . Reclassified a net laying ship and redesignated " AN - 35 " on 20 January 1944 , " Teak " passed under the Golden Gate Bridge shortly before sunset on 2 March and set her course for the South Pacific Ocean . Proceeding via Samoa , she reached New Guinea on 4 April and began operating out of Milne Bay and the nearby Trobriand Islands . For the next six months , she provided towing services in nearby waters , carried cargoes , placed sonar buoys , and took up unneeded buoys and moorings . Reassigned to the Leyte Gulf Service Unit of the U . S . 7th Fleet Service Force , she departed $ 3 in convoy on 18 October and entered Leyte Gulf on the 24th . For the next few weeks , despite frequent calls to general quarters , she laid net moorings and marker buoys in Leyte Gulf , aided grounded small craft , and made tows . Late in November , she began sonar buoy station duties between Samar and Homohon Islands . On 17 January 1945 , she returned to tending and laying moorings . In mid - March , she proceeded to Luzon and operated in Manila Bay , primarily occupied in raising submerged barges , sampans , diesel boats , and steamboats . During this period — while assigned to the Ship Salvage , Fire Fighting and Rescue Unit , Service Force , Pacific — she won the Navy Unit Commendation . She remained in the Philippines until late in November , when she headed , via the Mariana Islands and Pearl Harbor , for the California coast and arrived at San Pedro , California on 4 January 1946 . She was towed to Astoria , Oregon , by Mimosa ( AN - 26 ) in June and was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 30 August 1946 . She was placed in custody of the U . S . Maritime Administration in June 1961 , but remained under Navy ownership . Teak was sold to Levin Metals Corp . , San Jose , California , on 16 March 1976 . Honors and awards . " Teak " won two battle stars ( Leyte operation and Manila Bay - Bicol operation ) plus her share of the Navy Unit Commendation .