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Locust II (YN-17)

(YN-17: dp. 700; l. 163'2"; b. 30'6"; dr. 11'8"; s. 12.5 k.; cpl. 48; a. 1 3", 2 .30 cal mg., 2 dct.; cl. Aloe)

Any grasshopper of the family Acridiidae, specifically certain species having migratory habits, often traveling in vast swarms which destroy vegetation of the places they visit; also the American tree Robinia pseudoacacia.

II

The second Locust (YN-17) was laid down by the American Shipbuilding Co., Cleveland, Ohio, 18 October 1940; launched 1 February 1941; and placed in service 13 July 1941 for passage down the St. Lawrence for a year of net-laying duties in the 3d Naval District off New York, N.Y., before commissioning December, 1942, Lt. R. Jordan, USNR, in command.

Assigned to the Service Squadron, Pacific Fleet, the beginning of 1943, Locust laid and tended torpedo nets, moorings, and buoys and participated in various towing and salvage operations in the South Pacific through World War II. The net tender was off San Cristobel Island, Solomons, in April 1943 with TU 32.4.7 when she came under attack the 5th. For about 5 minutes Locust, with YAG-26 in tow, was not only dodging fire from a Japanese bomber but also a torpedo from an undetected enemy submarine. Successfully evading the assault, she continued her small but vital role in the ultimate naval victory, serving in the Solomons, Marshalls, and New Hebrides through her reclassification to AN-22 on 20 January 1944. She departed for the west coast 6 August 1945, arriving San Pedro, Calif., the 18th. With the postwar disarmament policy in force Locust spent the next 6 months moving from one west coast berthing area to another until 8 July 1946 when she decommissioned at Astoria, Wash., and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in the Columbia River, Oreg., where she remained until stricken from the U.S. Naval Vessel Register 1 September 1962. Locust was later sold to and commissioned in the French Navy as Locuste (A-765). Into 1969, Locuste continues the duties of a net tender, as she had so faithfully for the U.S. Navy.

Published: Wed Jul 29 08:02:17 EDT 2015