Cinchona (YN-7)
Various trees the dried bark of which produces quinine.
(YN-7: displacement 560; length 163'2"; beam 30'6"; draft 11'8"; speed 12 knot; complement 48; armament 1 3-inch; class Aloe)
Cinchona (YN-7) was launched on 2 July 1941 by Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Ore.; sponsored by Mrs. W. Casey; outfitted by Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash.; and placed in service on 15 August 1941, Lt. H. H. Breed, USNR, in charge.
Assigned to the 14th Naval District, she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 17 October 1941 where she took up duty in net repair and replacement, salvage of gear lost or adrift, and maintenance of net and boom defenses. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Cinchona manned both her machine guns and her 3-inch gun, and as the enemy repeatedly strafed her decks, she closed the gaps in the net defenses protecting the dry docks. Continuing her salvage operations in the Hawaiian group, Cinchona salvaged the district patrol vessel YP-108 off Lanai in June 1942, and in August escorted a motor torpedo boat convoy to Midway, where she installed nets around the dock spaces, returning to Pearl Harbor early in September.
She was placed in commission on 20 December 1942, her officer-in-charge Lt. T. A. Ingham receiving the title of commanding officer. She continued local operations at Pearl Harbor, and on 20 January 1944 was redesignated AN-12.
Cinchona arrived off newly invaded Saipan on 16 June 1944. She conducted patrols, assisted the tank landing ship LST-84 after an enemy bomb started a fire on board, then inspected the Japanese net line in Tanapag Harbor. She remained at Saipan on salvage and net operations until 18 November when she steamed to Guam and Ulithi to lay cables.
From 7 December 1944 to 30 June 1945 Cinchona conducted net operations, laid moorings, and aided in installing a pipeline at Guam. Returning to the States on 27 July 1945, she conducted net operations at Long Beach, Calif., and out of Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, Calif., until 24 August 1946 when she sailed for Astoria, Ore. Cinchona was placed out of commission in reserve 6 November 1946 at Vancouver, Wash.
The Navy transferred custody of Cinchona to the Maritime Administration (MarAd) at Suisun Bay, Calif., on 14 June 1961, and a little over a year later, on 1 September 1962, MarAd transferred the vessel to the Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, where she remained until purchased by Zidell Explorations, Inc., on 22 January 1976 for "nontransportation use." She was delivered to her purchaser and withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet on 17 February 1976.
Cinchona received two battle stars for her World War II service.
