ALOE AN-6 AT SOLOMONS, GUAM AND OKINAWA:
USS Aloe departed San Francisco on 22 January 1943 bound for Pearl Harbor. Routed thence to New Caledonia, she reached Noumea on 18 March. Six days later, she got underway and proceeded via the New Herbrides, to the Solomons.

On 7 April of that year, she lay moored to the Sturgis Dock, Tulagi, when 67 "Vals" (Aichi D3A2 dive bombers), escorted by 110 "Zero" fighters--all but a very few of which had been drawn from the complements of four Japanese aircraft carriers--arrived to attack the shipping in the harbor there. BUTTERNUT AN-9 was also there as part of the Tulagi fleet. The raid was a part of Admiral Yamanoto's Operation "I"--a series of massive air attacks aimed at American positions in the Solomons. Obviously interested in bigger game, the Japanese planes left Aloe and Butternut alone, but did sink the Oiler USS Kanawha AO-1 and a New Zealand Corvette at Tulagi, also the Destroyer USS Aaron Ward DD-483 across the bay at Lunga on the Guadalcanal side, as well as inflicting damage to other ships. Nevertheless, the Net Tender ALOE with her solitary 3 inch gun and her four 50 caliber machine guns, contributed to the anti-aircraft barrage that helped to drive the attackers off, claiming one "Val shot down, another"possibly" splashed and a third "damaged."

A little over a year later, ALOE next encountered the enemy during Operation Forager - the occupation of the Marianas. While in a Task Group on 18 June 1944, the ALOE was cruising east of Guam when Japanese planes attacked at about 6PM. Utilizing local control and observing excellent fire discipline, ALOE'S 20 millimeter and 50 caliber batteries scored hits on three enemy planes. Two of these Japanese aircraft crashed and the third departed in flames.

Her last action with enemy planes came on 28 May 1945, while she was anchored in Nakagusuku Wan, Okinawa, serving as part of a Net and Buoy Unit. During that morning she took a suicider under fire with all her guns as the kamikaze made a dive on the anchorage.

BUTTERNUT AN-9 IN THE SOLOMON'S:
Leaving San Francisco 1 June 1942 the Net Tender reached Noumea, New Caledonia on the 27th of June. She tended nets there, and in the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands until January 1945. She was at Tulagi, with her sister ship ALOE (previously mentioned) when the large Japanese air attack took place there. After the old oiler Kanawha AO-1 had been hit, Butternut came alongside her and brought her to shallow waters.