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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Satinwood (AN-76)
ex
Satinwood (YN-89) (1943 - 1944)

Satinwood was Lend-Lease to the United Kingdom as HMS Pretext (Z-284), later HMNZS Endeavour

Ailanthus Class Net Laying Ship:

Laid down, 1 May 1943, as Yard Net Tender Satinwood (YN-89) at American Car and Foundry Co., Wilmington, DE.

Reclassified Net Laying Ship (AN-76), 17 January 1944

Launched, 23 May 1944

Delivered to the Navy, 5 August 1944

Transferred under Lend Lease to the United Kingdom 5 August 1944

Commissioned as boom defense vessel HMS Pretext (Z-284)

Custody returned to the US Navy, 22 November 1945, at Norfolk, VA.

Struck from the Naval Register, 26 March 1946

Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal

Sold, 20 July 1947 by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) to Falkland Island Dependencies Survey

Converted to a Survey Ship and renamed RRS John Biscoe

Renamed RRS Pretext, June 1956

Acquired by Royal New Zealand Navy, 15 August 1956

Refitted by John L Thornycroft and Co., Ltd, for Antarctic service

Commissioned HMNZS Endeavour

Decommissioned in 1962

Sold in June 1962 for commercial service to Mayhaven Shipping Co. refitted as a Sealer, renamed Arctic Endeavour

Final Disposition, 11 November 1982, sunk or foundered at Catalina, Newfoundland

Specifications:
Displacement 1,460 t.(fl)
Length 194' 6"
Beam 37'
Draft 13' 6"
Speed 12.1 kts.
Complement

Officers 4

Enlisted 52
Armament

one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount

four twin 20mm AA gun mounts
Largest Boom Capacity 12 t.
Fuel Capacity

Diesel 760 Bbls
Ship's Service Generators

two Diesel-drive 60Kw 120V D.C.
Propulsion

two Busch-Sulzer BS-539 Diesel-electric engines

single propeller, 1,200shp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
HMS Pretext (Z-284)
	82k	*HMS Pretext* (Z-284)*, one of the five units of this class transferred to Britain under Lend Lease near the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 23 August 1944, soon after transfer. The former searchlight platform now holds a 20mm gun but remains at its original height. US National Archives RG-19-LCM photo # 19-N-72300*, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.	Mike Green
	43k	Falkland Islands Dependencies survey ship RRS John Biscoe at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, prior to being sold to the government of New Zealand in 1956. The photo is postmarked Port Stanley, 18 December 1957.	Tommy Trampp.
HMNZS Endeavour
	268k	Antarctic Expedition ship HMNZS Endeavour, underway in Wellington harbor, New Zealand. Photograph taken in 1956 for The Evening Post Newspaper by an unidentified staff photographer. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: EP/1956/2952a-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.	Robert Hurst
	54k	HMNZS Endeavour underway off Southampton, England, en-route to New Zealand, circa 1957.	Robert Hurst, Photo courtesy Messrs. John I. Thornycroft & Co. Ltd., Woolston, Southampton, England
	43k	HMNZS Endeavour returning to her berth at Wellington, N.Z., date unknown.	Photo Courtesy David J. Robertson, RNZN Communicators Association
	60k	HMNZS Endeavour underway in an New Zealand port, date and location unknown. Photo from the collections of the Alexander Turnbull Librany, Willington, NZ	Tommy Trampp