USS Nahant (AN-83)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Nahant.

USS Nahant (YN-102/AN-83) was the third ship to be named Nahant. Originally the ship was authorized as YN-102, Nahant was reclassified AN–83 on 20 January 1944; laid down 31 March 1945 by the Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon; launched 30 June 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Hazel H. Childs; and commissioned 24 August 1945.

History
United States
Name	USS Nahant
Namesake	Nahant
Builder	Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon
Laid down	31 March 1945
Launched	30 June 1945
Commissioned	24 August 1945
Decommissioned	31 July 1946
Recommissioned	14 February 1952
Decommissioned	30 September 1968
Stricken	1 October 1968
Fate	Sold to Uruguay, 15 October 1968
Uruguay
Name	ROU Huracan
Namesake	Huracan
Acquired	15 October 1968
Decommissioned	25 January 1993
Identification	BT-30
Fate	Sold to private owner, converted to a barge
Status	Extant as a floating workshop/office
General characteristics
Class and type	Cohoes-class net laying ship
Displacement	855 long tons (869 t)
Length	169 ft (52 m)
Beam	34 ft (10 m)
Draft	15 ft (4.6 m)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric, 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	54
Armament	1 × single 3"/50 caliber gun 4 × single 20 mm AA gun mounts

Service history

Commissioned too late for action in World War II, Nahant removed net moorings in the San Francisco Bay area and tested experimental nets until 31 October 1945. She then departed the west coast and steamed to Orange, Texas. Arriving 21 November, she planted moorings, removed pilings and performed tug services for the growing Reserve Fleet until decommissioning and joining the moth ball fleet herself, 31 July 1946.

Recommissioned 14 February 1952 and assigned to the 5th Naval District, Nahant installed and tended harbor defense nets within that district until 1 March 1954, when she temporarily assumed duties as a salvage vessel. By 28 May, however, diving equipment and a decompression chamber had been permanently installed and Nahant was converted into a ship of dual mission: salvage ship and net tender. From that time until 1968, Nahant participated in Mine Hunting Unit operations, harbor clearance projects, NATO and Atlantic Fleet training operations, mining operations, torpedo net laying and recovery operations, fleet service mine tests, harbor defense operations and training exercises, and experimental mine and net test and evaluation exercises. Such operations took Nahant, homeported first at Little Creek, Virginia, and later at Charleston, South Carolina, as far north as Naval Station Argentia and as far south as Cuba. Nahant decommissioned on 30 September 1968 and was struck from the Naval Register 1 October.

Nuestra Señora De Los 33 in the port of Nueva Palmira, just visible on the opposite side of the dock at left-center of the photo.

On 15 October 1968 she was sold to Uruguay, and renamed ROU Huracan (BT-30). Huracan served a number of auxiliary roles in the National Navy of Uruguay until she was decommissioned on 25 January 1993. She was then acquired by a fishing club in Paysandú and based on the Uruguay River. She was later sold to a private owner, who renamed her Nuestra Señora De Los 33 and converted her into a barge, removing her propulsion. As of October 2020 she remains extant as a floating workshop and office in Nueva Palmira.

References

• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive USS Nahant (AN-83)

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.