Nutmeg (YN-28)
1941-1962
The hard, aromatic kernel of the seed of an East Indian tree, used as a spice.
(YN-28: displacement 560; length 163'3"; beam 30'6"; draft 11'9"; speed 13.0 knots; complement 48; armament 1 3-inch, 2 .50 caliber machine guns; class Aloe)
Nutmeg (YN-28), formerly Sycamore, was laid down on 18 October 1940 by American Shipbuilding Co., Cleveland, Ohio; launched on 13 March 1941; and placed in service on 30 October 1941, Lt. (j.g.) Valentine P. Rohange, D-V(S), USNR, officer-in-charge.
Initially allocated to the First Naval District for net-tending duty in the Boston Harbor area, Nutmeg was commissioned on 15 December 1942, Lt.Cmdr. Gus Montague, D-V(S), USNR, in command, and was reclassified as a net-laying ship, AN-33, on 20 June 1944. Through the spring of 1945 Nutmeg was engaged in maintaining and repairing net defenses in Boston Harbor. In May she was attached to CTF 24 for the purpose of maintaining the antitorpedo net in Placentia Harbor, Argentia, Newfoundland. She departed Argentia on 19 June with the gate vessel YNg-27 in tow, arriving on 23 June at South Boston Navy Yard for overhaul and repairs.
Nutmeg had been scheduled for duty at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, when she departed Boston on 21 July 1945 for transit to the West Coast via Key West, Fla., the Canal Zone, and San Pedro, Calif. Voyage repairs and a main engine casualty, however, necessitated a change in schedule, and with hostilities ended with Japan's surrender, Nutmeg was placed on the inactive list and shifted to the Columbia River Reserve Basin.
Placed out of commission, in reserve, in January 1947, she was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, entering the Olympia, Washington, group at 9:00 a.m. on 13 July 1961. Stricken from the Navy Register on 1 September 1962, ex=Nutmeg was permanently transferred to Maritime Administration (MarAd) custody at 12:01 a.m. that same day [1 September 1962]. Sold to Northwest Diesel Repair, Inc. on 7 September 1971 for scrap, the former net-laying ship was withdrawn from MarAd custody at 10:24 a.m. on 21 October 1971 to be broken up.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
13 May 2022
