The USS Boxwood (YN-3, later AN-8) was an Aloe-class net laying ship constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. Originally named Birch, she was renamed prior to her construction. The vessel was laid down on 19 November 1940 at the Lake Washington Shipyard in Houghton, Washington, launched on 8 March 1941, and officially placed in service on 25 July 1941 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington. Designed as a net tender, the Boxwood was tasked with installing and maintaining anti-submarine and anti-torpedo net defenses in U.S. harbors and strategic locations, particularly along the West Coast and in Alaska. She was assigned to the 13th Naval District’s Inshore Patrol, operating primarily between Seattle, Port Townsend, and Port Angeles, performing towing duties and target towing for the USS Charleston in late 1941. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, she contributed to the installation of the Rich Pass antisubmarine net line in Puget Sound, completing her work there by January 1942, and continued net maintenance duties throughout 1942. In 1943, the USS Boxwood was fully commissioned and deployed to the Aleutian Islands, where she played a vital role in installing and repairing antisubmarine and anti-torpedo nets at Adak, Kiska, and Attu. She participated in the Aleutian campaign, including the invasion of Kiska, and was the first net tender to operate in that area. Her duties included laying mooring buoys and maintaining defensive net lines, essential for protecting Allied naval operations in the northern Pacific theater. During her service, she sustained minor damage assisting a grounded destroyer and was redesignated AN-8 in January 1944. After the war, her activities included decommissioning work at Adak, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor, where she also transported mail and supplies and decommissioned a radio station. She was decommissioned on 13 November 1946, transferred to the Pacific Reserve Fleet, and remained inactive until her name was struck from the Navy List in 1962. Her subsequent fate beyond her reserve status remains unknown. The USS Boxwood exemplified the crucial yet often overlooked support role of net tenders in safeguarding naval and harbor security during World War II.

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