Chinaberry AN-61
Chinaberry
A tree of southern United States and Mexico.
(AN-61: dp. 1,100; 1. 194'7"; b. 37' dr. 13'6"; s. 12 k.;
cpl. 56; a. 1 3"; cl. Ailanthus)
Chinaberry (AN-61) was launched 19 July 1943 by Snow Shipyards, Inc., Rockland, Me. as YN-82; reclassified AN-61 and named Chinaberry 20 January 1944; and commissioned 12 March 1944, Lieutenant Commander K. G. Cady, USNR, in command.
Chinaberry sailed from New York 24 June 1944 in a convoy bound for Belfast, Ireland, arriving 10 July. She operated as net tender in European waters principally off the coast of France until 12 December when she cleared Plymouth, England in convoy for Charleston S.C., arriving 6 February 1945. After overhaul she sailed 26 March for Narragansett Bay to conduct experimental net operations and to train pre-commissioning crews for net tenders. From New York, Chinaberry sailed 11 May in convoy for the Canal Zone, continuing independently for San Diego, San Francisco, and Pearl Harbor, arriving 28 June.
Between 19 July 1945 and 5 November, Chinaberry tended nets at Eniwetok, and on 5 December, she arrived at San Pedro, Calif. Chinaberry was decommissioned 26 March 1946 at Mare Island, and sold 27 February 1950.