USS Etlah (AN-79)

History
United States
Name	USS Etlah (YN-98)
Builder	Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon
Reclassified	AN-79, January 1944
Launched	16 December 1944
Sponsored by	Mrs. Phyllis I. Kane
Commissioned	16 April 1945
Decommissioned	14 March 1947
Recommissioned	10 August 1951
Decommissioned	31 May 1960
Honors and; awards	2 battle stars (Korea)
Fate	Transferred to the Dominican Navy, September 1976
History
Dominican Republic
Name	Cambiaso (P207)
Acquired	September 1976
Fate	Hulked, 1994
General characteristics
Type	Net laying ship
Displacement	785 long tons (798 t)
Length	168 ft 6 in (51.36 m)
Beam	33 ft 10 in (10.31 m)
Draft	10 ft 10 in (3.30 m)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric, 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	46
Armament	1 × single 3"/50 caliber gun; 6 × single 20 mm AA gun mounts;

USS Etlah (YN-98/AN-79) was a Cohoes-class net laying ship built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was commissioned in April 1945 and spent her entire career in the Pacific Ocean. She was decommissioned in March 1947 and placed in reserve. She was recommissioned in August 1951 for Korean War service and remained active until May 1960. She was sold to the Dominican Republic in September 1976 as patrol vessel Cambiaso (P207). By 1994, Cambiaso had been removed from Dominican Navy service and hulked.

Career

Etlah was launched 16 December 1944 by Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon; sponsored by Mrs. Phyllis I. Kane; and commissioned 16 April 1945, Lieutenant H. J. Stenler, USNR, in command. ("Etlah" is apparently a native American Indian word meaning "white lily".)

From 8 June 1945 to 26 November, Etlah sailed out of San Pedro, CA, repairing and maintaining antisubmarine nets, and conducting salvage operations in the 11th Naval District. She then served at the Net Depot, Tiburon, CA, testing experimental equipment and giving salvage service in the Oakland Estuary. Following World War II. In the spring and summer of 1946, Etlah performed a miscellany of service to Joint Task Force 1, conducting atomic weapons tests at Bikini Atoll in "Operation Crossroads". The net tender was overhauled at Bremerton, WA that fall, and on 14 March 1947 was placed out of commission in reserve at Astoria, OR.

Etlah was recommissioned 10 August 1951, and after shakedown training, sailed for Yokosuka, Japan, arriving 24 December. Through the remainder of her naval career, she served in the Far East. During the Korean War, she maintained the nets guarding Tokyo Bay, and worked on the nets at Pusan Harbor and Cheju, Korea. Towing ships and targets off Japan and in the Philippines, launching and recovering radio-controlled drones in gunnery exercises, and serving as target ship for submarines and surface ships were Etlah's usual employment until 16 February 1960, when she sailed from Yokosuka for Pearl Harbor and San Diego, where she was decommissioned 31 May 1960.

Etlah received two battle stars for Korean War service.

The ship was transferred to the Dominican Republic in 1976, and renamed Cambiaso (P-207). She was decommissioned from Dominican Navy service in the early 1990s, and reduced to a hulk by 1994.^[1]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Wertheim, Eric, ed. (2007). "Dominican Republic". The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems (15th ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-59114-955-2. OCLC 140283156.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive USS Etlah (AN-79)

[Wertheim-1] Wertheim, Eric, ed. (2007). "Dominican Republic". The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems (15th ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-59114-955-2. OCLC 140283156.

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