USS Nutmeg
USS Nutmeg (AN-33/YN-33) was an Aloe-class net laying ship built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She was built by the American Shipbuilding Company in Lorain, Ohio, laid down on October 18, 1940, and launched on March 13, 1941. She was placed in service on October 30, 1941.
Nutmeg was originally named Sycamore and served in the 1st Naval District, tending anti-submarine nets in Boston Harbor. She was reclassified AN-33 on January 20, 1944.
Her main job was to install and repair protective nets. In spring 1945 she worked on net defenses in Boston Harbor. In May 1945 she helped with the anti-torpedo net at Placentia Harbor, Argentia, Newfoundland, and on June 19 she departed Argentia with Gate Craft YNG-27 for overhaul in South Boston.
Nutmeg had been scheduled for duty at Pearl Harbor, but while traveling to the West Coast she suffered a main engine casualty. After World War II ended, she was moved to the Columbia River Reserve Basin and placed out of commission in January 1947.
She was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet in 1959 and struck from the Navy List on September 1, 1962. Nutmeg remained in reserve until she was sold on July 8, 1971; her fate after-sale is unknown.
Specifications (brief): Aloe-class net laying ship, about 560 tons, length 163 ft 2 in, beam 30 ft 6 in, draft 11 ft 8 in, powered by a diesel engine with a single propeller, speed 12.5 knots. Crew of about 48, armed with one 3-inch (76 mm) dual-purpose gun and two 0.5-inch (12.7 mm) machine guns.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:00 (CET).