USS Locust (AN-22)

USS Locust (YN-17/AN-22) was an Aloe-class net laying ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was later transferred to the French Navy as Locuste (A765). She was sold to Malaysian owners but sank after striking a reef off Cikobia Island, Fiji, on 30 July 1978. She was towing the former French ship Scorpion, which also sank.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Locust.
Locust (YN-17) underway, probably during builders trials in late December 1942, off Cleveland, OH
History
United States
Name: USS Locust (YN-17)
Namesake: locust tree
Builder: American Shipbuilding Company, Cleveland, Ohio
Laid down: 18 October 1940
Launched: 1 February 1941
In service: 13 July 1941
Commissioned: December 1942
Reclassified: AN-22, 20 January 1944
Decommissioned: 8 July 1946, Astoria, Oregon
Stricken: 1 September 1962
Honors and
awards:		 “Consolidation of Solomon Islands” campaign
Fate: transferred to the French Navy
History
France
Name: Locuste (A765)
Fate: sold to Malaysian owners; struck a reef off Cikobia Island, Fiji, 30 July 1978, while towing the former Scorpion; both ships sunk
General characteristics
Class and type: Aloe-class net laying ship
Displacement:
  • 560 long tons (570 t), light
  • 850 long tons (860 t), full
Length: 163 ft 2 in (49.73 m)
Beam: 30 ft 6 in (9.30 m)
Draft: 11 ft 8 in (3.56 m)
Propulsion: direct drive diesel, single propeller
Speed: 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h)
Complement: 48 officers and enlisted
Armament:

Career

The second ship to be so named by the Navy, Locust (YN-17) was laid down by the American Shipbuilding Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 18 October 1940; launched 1 February 1941; and placed in service 13 July 1941 for passage down the St. Lawrence River for a year of net-laying duties in the 3d Naval District off New York, New York, 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 Ocean through World War II.

The net tender was off San Cristobel Island, in the Solomon Islands, in April 1943 with Task Unit 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 Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, and New Hebrides through her reclassification to AN-22 on 20 January 1944.

She departed for the U.S. West Coast 6 August 1945, arriving San Pedro, California, 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, Oregon, and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in the Columbia River, Oregon, 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 (A765). In later service, she struck a reef off Cikobia Island, Fiji, 30 July 1978 and sank.

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References


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