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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Catalpa (AN-10)
ex
 USS Catalpa (YN-5) (1942 - 1944)
 Catalpa (YN-5) (1941 - 1942)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Victor - Tango
 NAVT
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2)
Bottom Row - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal - Philippines Liberation Medal
Aloe Class Net Laying Ship:
  • Laid down, 24 October 1940, as Yard Net Tender (YN-5) at Commercial Iron Works, Portland, OR.
  • Launched, 22 February 1941
  • Placed in service, as Catalpa (YN-5), for service in the 12th Naval District, LTjg Flavius J. George, USNR, in charge
  • Commissioned USS Catalpa (YN-5), 22 May 1942, at Alameda, CA., LTjg. Flavius j. George, USNR, in command
  • Redesignated Net Laying Ship (AN-10), 20 January 1943
  • During World War II USS Catalpa (AN-10) was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Gilbert Islands, 20 November to 8 December 1943 Western Caroline Islands operation
    Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands, 6 September to 14 October 1944

  • Decommissioned, 21 October 1946, at Astoria, OR.
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group, Astoria, OR.
  • Recommissioned, 7 August 1950
  • Decommissioned, 7 October 1955, at New London, CT.
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • USS Catalpa earned two battle stars for World War II service
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 700 t.(fl) 805 t.(lim)
    Length 162' 2""
    Beam 30' 6"
    Draft 11' 8" (lim)
    Speed 12.5 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 4
    Enlisted 44
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount
    two .50 cal machine guns
    one y-gun.
    Largest Boom Capacity 12 t.
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 665 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Enterprise DSG-6 Diesel-electric engine
    single Westinghouse Main Reduction Gears
    two Diesel-drive 60Kw 120V D.C. Ships Service Generators
    single propeller, 800shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Catalpa (YN-5)
    Catalpa
    19-N-24265    		 241k Catalpa (YN-5) underway off Portland, Oregon, 9 June 1941, during builders trials.
    US National Archives, Photo No. 19-N-24265, a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 >Mike Green
    Catalpa
    19-N-24264    		 236k
    Catalpa 518k Catalpa (YN-5) original crew photo, circa early 1942, probably taken in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Reinhold Wetzel, standing, third row, second from the right end.) Larry Wetzel for his father Reinhold Wetzel Catalpa and
    John Ratomski for his father John J. Ratomski 6th Special Navy Seebee Battalion
    Catalpa 466k Catalpa (YN-5) at sea, dates and locations unknown. Larry Wetzel for his father Reinhold Wetzel Catalpa
    Catalpa 205k
    Catalpa 284k
    Catalpa 368k USS Catalpa (YN-5) moored pierside Naval Net Depot, Tiburon, CA., circa 1942. Tracy White and
    Stan Svec
    USS Catalpa (AN-10)
    Catalpa
    09181012    		 142k USS Catalpa (AN-10) Chief Petty Officers, Fiji, October 1943.
    Photo from the U.S Navy Seabee Museum, Port Hueneme, CA.    		 John Ratomski for his father John J. Ratomski 6th Special Navy Seebee Battalion
    Catalpa
    09181013    		 218k USS Catalpa (AN-10) crew photo, Fiji, October 1943.
    Photo from the U.S Navy Seabee Museum, Port Hueneme, CA.    		 John Ratomski for his father John J. Ratomski 6th Special Navy Seebee Battalion
    Catalpaa
    09181014    		 250k USS Catalpa (AN-10) crew after dismissal from formation, Fiji, October 1943
    Photo from the U.S Navy Seabee Museum, Port Hueneme, CA.    		 John Ratomski for his father John J. Ratomski 6th Special Navy Seebee Battalion
    Catalpaa
    09181015    		 234k USS Catalpa (AN-10) 3 inch gun crew, Fiji, October 1943
    Photo from the U.S Navy Seabee Museum, Port Hueneme, CA.    		 John Ratomski for his father John J. Ratomski 6th Special Navy Seebee Battalion
    Catalpa/Catalpa 304k USS Catalpa (AN-10) under way in San Francisco Bay in 1946. Todd Holmes in honor of his grandfather Raymond R. Cline S/1c, USNR USS Catalpa
    Catalpa/Catalaph 127k An annotated view of USS Catalpa (AN-10)'s rig showing the arrangement of her radar and other electronic antennas. Photographed at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, Hunters Point, CA, 21 December 1951. USS Orca (AVP-49) is shown in the background a week after being reactivated.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-445892, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.
         		US Naval Historical Center
    Catalpa/Orca 141k An annotated view of USS Catalpa (AN-10)'s foremast showing the arrangement of her radar and other electronic antennas. Photographed at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, California, on 21 December 1951. Note the sailor climbing the mast. USS Orca (AVP-49) is shown in the background a week after being reactivated.
    US National Archives photo # 80-G-445891, a US Navy photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Catalpa/Orca 91k USS Catalpa (AN-10) underway after her reactivation during the Korean War, circa 1950 to 1955.
    Courtesy Shipscribe.com    		 Mike Green
    USS Catalpa (YN-5 / AN-10)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LTjg. George, Flavius Josephus, USNR22 May 1942 - 30 September 1942
    02LT. Gherini, Francis Albert, USNR30 September 1942 - August 1943
    03LT. Krisel, Lionel, USNRAugust 1943 - January 1944
    04LT. Wells, Harold Frederick, USNRJanuary 1944 - May 1944
    05LT. Millett, Leroy Raymond, USNRMay 1944 - January 1945
    06LT. Hight, Charles Henry, USNRJanuary 1945 - August 1945
    07LT. Upson, Silas Albert, USNRAugust 1945 - 1 October 1945
    08LT. Jones, Freeman Reese, USNR1 October 1945 - December 1945
    09LTjg. Fowler, George Louis, USNRDecember 1945 - May 1946
    10LTjg. Richey, Frank Baines, USNR May 1946 - July 1946
    11ENS. Ivins, Dalton Michael, USNR July 1946 - 21 October 1946
     Decommissioned21 October 1946 - 7 August 1950
    12LT. McCartney, Sidney E. USN7 August 1950 - June 1952
    13LT. McNamara, Michael F.. USNRJune 1952 - ?
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 11 March 2022