USS Buckthorn ( AN - 14 ) USS " Buckthorn " ( YN - 9 / AN - 14 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Originally ordered as USS " Dogwood " ( YN - 3 ) , she was renamed and renumbered to " Buckthorn " ( YN - 9 ) before construction began in December 1940 . She was launched in March 1941 , and completed in September 1941 . Placed in service at that time without being commissioned , she was commissioned in December 1942 , and decommissioned in August 1947 . She was placed in reserve in 1947 and scrapped in 1976 . Career . The second ship to be so named by the Navy , " Buckthorn " ( YN - 9 ) was laid down on 5 December 1940 at Alameda , California , by the General Engineering & Drydock Co . ; launched on 27 March 1941 ; sponsored by Mrs . Rosalie Benton Day ; and placed in service at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 16 September 1941 , Lt . Lewis Williams , USNR , in charge . That same day , the ship departed the Mare Island Navy Yard . She arrived at San Pedro , California , on the 20th and reported for duty as a unit of the net defenses and inshore patrol . She spent the next 21 months tending nets and conducting patrols at San Pedro . During that time , on 9 December 1942 , " Buckthorn ' s " status was changed from in service to in commission . At the end of June 1943 , the net tender received orders reassigning her to the 13th Naval District . She departed San Pedro on 14 July 1943 and arrived in Seattle , Washington , on the 21st . On the 22d , the ship entered the Winslow Ship Yards for an overhaul that lasted until 15 August . At that time , " Buckthorn " began tending nets at Manchester , Washington . On 3 September 1943 , she got underway from Manchester , bound for duty in Alaskan waters . The ship arrived at Dutch Harbor , Alaska , on the 12th and began service with the net defenses there . At the end of the month , she moved to Adak and , by 5 October , had joined the net defenses at Attu . On 13 October , she participated in what appears to be the only combat action of her career when she fired one round of 3 - inch and 120 rounds of 20 - millimeter at attacking Japanese bombers . She continued her service at Attu until the spring of 1944 . During that time , on 1 January 1944 , she was reclassified an auxiliary net tender and redesignated " AN - 14 " . On 24 April 1944 , she set sail to join the net defenses at Amchitka Island . Her tour of duty at Amchitka lasted from 25 April to 28 June . On 29 June , " Buckthorn " returned to Adak for almost three months of service . On 23 September , the net tender shaped a course back to Attu where she remained from 25 September to 24 January 1945 . She next tended nets at Adak again between 29 January and 16 April . On the latter day , " Buckthorn " headed back to Amchitka where she served during the period 17 April to 5 June . On 5 and 6 June , she made the voyage between Amchitka and Adak , spending the following 10 weeks at the latter island . On 18 August , " Buckthorn " departed Adak for Dutch Harbor . Between 20 August and 5 September , she underwent her first overhaul at Dutch Harbor . The ship returned to Adak on 7 September and resumed her duties with the net defenses there . " Buckthorn " continued to serve at various locations in the Aleutians until March 1946 . On 14 March 1946 , she arrived in Seattle , Washington , for her second overhaul . The ship entered the Todd Pacific Shipyard on 1 May and emerged again on 16 July . The net tender returned to Alaskan waters at Kodiak on 27 July . She resumed her former duties at the several familiar Aleutian locations until late April 1947 . On 23 April , " Buckthorn " received orders heralding her inactivation . After a leisurely voyage that included lengthy stops at Dutch Harbor , Kodiak , and Seattle , the net tender arrived in San Diego , California , at the end of the first week in August . On 20 August 1947 , " Buckthorn " was decommissioned and berthed with the San Diego Group , Pacific Reserve Fleet . Her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 July 1963 , and she was transferred to the U . S . Maritime Administration to be berthed with the Suisun Bay facility of its National Defense Reserve Fleet . She was scrapped in 1976 .