USS Sandalwood (YN-27/AN-32) 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 Luciole. She was stricken from the French Navy and sold to Malaysian owners, but her fate beyond that is unreported in secondary sources.

USS Sandalwood at work
History
United States
NameUSS Sandalwood (YN-27)
Namesakesandalwood tree
BuilderAmerican Shipbuilding Company, Lorain, Ohio
Laid down18 October 1940
Launched6 March 1941
Sponsored byMrs. J. L. Wallace
In service25 October 1941 as Sandalwood (YN-27)
Commissioneddate unknown
ReclassifiedAN-32, 20 January 1944
Decommissioned13 August 1946, Portland, Oregon
StrickenSeptember 1967
Fatetransferred to the French Navy, September 1967
History
France
NameLuciole
AcquiredSeptember 1967
FateSold to Malaysian owners
General characteristics
Class and typeAloe-class net laying ship
Displacement
  • 560 long tons (570 t), light
  • 850 long tons (860 t), full
Length163 ft 2 in (49.73 m)
Beam30 ft 6 in (9.30 m)
Draft11 ft 8 in (3.56 m)
Propulsiondirect drive diesel, single propeller
Speed12.5 knots (23.2 km/h)
Complement48 officers and enlisted
Armament

Career

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Sandalwood (YN-27) was laid down on 18 October 1940 by the American Shipbuilding Company, Lorain, Ohio; launched on 6 March 1941; sponsored by Mrs. J. L. Wallace; delivered on 24 October 1941; and placed in service on 25 October 1941.

Following transit of the St. Lawrence River, Sandalwood proceeded down the U.S. East Coast to Norfolk, Virginia, where she remained, conducting net operations and performing occasional patrol or salvage duties, into 1944. Then, redesignated AN-32, effective 22 January, and commissioned on 1 June, she prepared for overseas duty.

On 1 October, Sandalwood was detached from the 5th Naval District. Two weeks later, in the Panama Canal Zone, she reported to CinCPac and continued on to California and Hawaii, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 25 November. She remained in the Hawaiian area into 1945; and, in late February, got underway for the Marshall Islands. At Eniwetok by mid-March, she conducted net operations there through the end of World War II. On 24 November, she steamed east, arrived at San Pedro, California, in early January 1946; and, four months later, moved north to Astoria, Oregon, for inactivation.

Decommissioned on 13 August, Sandalwood was laid up with the Pacific Reserve Fleet, initially at Bremerton, Washington, and later at Stockton, California. In 1962, she was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay. Five years later, she was returned to the Navy and sold to the government of France. Transferred in September 1967, she served as Luciole until sold by the French government.

References

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