The USS Hazel (AN-29/YN-24) was an Aloe-class net laying ship built for the U.S. Navy during World War II, primarily tasked with installing and maintaining anti-submarine nets to protect naval installations and strategic waterways. Originally named Poplar, she was renamed Hazel shortly after keel-laying. The vessel was launched on 15 February 1941 by the American Shipbuilding Company in Lorain, Ohio, and was placed in service on 27 October 1941. She was officially commissioned on 17 December 1942 at Newport, Rhode Island, under the command of Lt. (j.g.) A. W. Brown. Constructed as a net tender, Hazel’s early service involved traveling to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and Boston, Massachusetts, for outfitting. Her initial duties included net laying at Portland, Maine, and she was present in Boston on the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. After her commissioning, she was assigned to Newport, Rhode Island, where she performed patrol duties and maintained anti-submarine nets in the Narragansett Bay area, operating from the Naval Net Depot at Melville. Besides net tending, she occasionally undertook patrol and firefighting duties. Hazel was redesignated as AN-29 on 20 January 1944. During late 1944, she performed training and experimental work related to net defenses at Portland, Maine, before returning to Boston in February 1945 to work on harbor nets. In May 1945, she was transferred to the Panama Canal Zone, where she maintained defenses in the critical canal area until the end of World War II. After the war, she was involved in removing the extensive harbor defenses, completing this task by 14 October 1945. Remaining in the 15th Naval District, Hazel conducted various duties at Coco Solo and Balboa until December 1957, when she moved to Florida. She was decommissioned on 11 February 1958 and placed in reserve at Green Cove Springs, Florida. The vessel was struck from the Navy List on 1 September 1962. Her service highlights her role in safeguarding vital maritime routes through net laying and maintenance during wartime and beyond, contributing significantly to naval harbor defenses.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.