Abele (AN-58)
1944-1946
A white poplar tree.
(AN-58: displacement 785; length 168'6"; beam 33'10"; draft 10'10"; speed 12.3 knots; complement 46; armament 1 3-inch, 3 20 millimeter; class Bitterbush)
Abele (AN-58) was laid down on 8 January 1943 at New Bern, N.C., by the Barbour Boat Works; launched on 19 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. G. B. Waters; and commissioned at Morehead, N.C., on 2 June 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Jesse H. Bloodworth, D-V(G), USNR in command.
Following brief shakedown training out of Norfolk, Va., and Boston, Mass., the net laying ship sailed on 11 August 1944 for the Pacific. She made stops at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; the Panama Canal Zone; Manzanillo, Mexico; and San Diego, Calif. On 27 September, she reached Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, and reported to Commander Minecraft, Pacific Fleet, who assigned her to target towing and net defense duty.
On 24 January 1945, Abele left Pearl Harbor, bound for Iwo Jima. After sailing via Eniwetok and Guam with Task Group 51.5, the ship arrived off Iwo Jima on 20 February and began laying a torpedo net. She remained in the area for eight days laying nets and fleet moorings before getting underway on the 28th and heading for Saipan to prepare for the upcoming Okinawa invasion.
After a brief period spent in the Leyte Gulf staging area, Abele arrived off Kerama Retto on 26 March 1945 to begin laying net defenses. Although she was attacked by Japanese suicide boats and aircraft during the next seven weeks, she suffered no damage. On 18 April, the ship assisted in the downing of one enemy airplane. On 12 May, she sailed to Nagagusuku Wan, Okinawa, and assisted in laying five miles of heavy antitorpedo nets across the harbor entrance. She also claimed credit for downing one Japanese Aichi D3A Type 99 carrier bomber (Val) on 11 June.
Abele was ordered to Tinian on 5 August 1945 to recover the antitorpedo net located there. Following the formal Japanese surrender early in September, the ship got underway to return to the west coast of the United States. She reached San Francisco, Calif., in late November.
Abele was decommissioned on 1 March 1946; her name was stricken from the Navy Register on 28 March 1946; and the vessel was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission for disposal on 7 May 1947.
Abele was awarded one battle star for her World War II service.
Luann Parsons
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
26 January 2022
