USS Naubuc (AN-84)

USS Naubuc (YN-109/AN-84/YRST-4) was a Cohoes-class net laying ship which was assigned to protect U.S. Navy ships and harbors during World War II with her anti-submarine nets. Her World War II career was short due to the war coming to an end, and she was inactivated only to be commissioned again some time later as a tender for salvage craft.

Constructed in Duluth, Minnesota
The second ship to be so named by the Navy, Naubuc (AN–84) was laid down 31 December 1943 as (YN–109) by the Marine Iron and Shipbuilding Co., Duluth, Minnesota; launched 15 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Harold E. Ford; and commissioned 15 March 1945, Lt. (jg.) W. M. Bauer in command.

World War II related service
Following a delayed shakedown off the U.S. East Coast, Naubuc departed Boston, Massachusetts, 24 April 1945, en route to California. Arriving at San Pedro, California, 7 June, she completed intensive net training drills and headed west, anchoring in Pearl Harbor 17 July.

By 1 August she was at Eniwetok, whence she continued on to the Philippines, performing her specialized services of laying and tending protective nets around ships arid across harbor entrances at Leyte until after the cessation of hostilities. Encoute to CONUS in October, she stopped at Kwajalein and Pearl Harbor, arriving at San Francisco, California, 1 December. On completion of an abbreviated tour in the Panama Canal Zone, Naubus reported at San Diego, California, 2 January 1946, for duty in the 11th Naval District.

Post-war inactivation
Ordered to Seattle, Washington, for inactivation the following month, she decommissioned and entered the 19th Fleet, at Astoria, Oregon, 6 September 1946. She remained in the Columbia River Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet, until struck from the Naval Vessel Register 1 September 1962. She was then transferred to the custody of the U.S. Maritime Administration and placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet.

Reinstatement as a tender
Reacquired five years later, Naubuc was reinstated to the Naval Vessel Register 1 June 1967 arid scheduled to be converted to a Salvage Craft Tender. In March 1968 she was reclassified (ARST–4) and assigned to the 13th Naval District for conversion. In her later years, she was outfitted with four 12-cylinder diesel engines that powered four rotating thrusters mounted on vertical shafts. She was configured as a cable laying and implantment vessel with a cable drum located in the bow along with a cable guide going over the stern. The four thrusters allowed the vessel to stay "on station". When underway, however, only the two bow or stern thrusters were operated at any one time. The vertical thruster shafts increased the vessel's draft significantly. The thrusters were easily damaged by impact with the bottom. The Naubuc's final mission was as a support vessel for a cable underwater recovery vehicle (CURV-2) in the Tongue of the Ocean, off Andros Island.

Final decommissioning
On 1 September 1975 Naubuc was struck from the Navy List and sold.