Ailanthus-class net laying ship

USS Cliffrose (AN-42), circa 1945.
Class overview
Builders	Everett-Pacific Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Everett, Washington (10) Pollock-Stockton Shipbuilding Company, Stockton, California (10) Barbour Boat Works, New Bern, North Carolina (4) Snow Shipyards, Rockland, Maine (4) American Car and Foundry Co., St. Charles, Missouri (4) Canuelette Shipbuilding Co., Slidell, Louisiana (3)
Operators	United States Navy (35)  Royal Navy (5)
Preceded by	Aloe class
Succeeded by	Cohoes class
Built	1942–1943
In commission	1943–1947
Completed	35
Lost	2
General characteristics
Type	Net tender
Tonnage	1,100 long tons (1,118 t) GRT
Length	194–198 ft (59–60 m)
Beam	34.5–37 ft (10.5–11.3 m)
Draft	11.75–13 ft (3.58–3.96 m)
Propulsion	Busch-Sulzer 539 diesel-electric, no reduction gears, 1 shaft, 1,200 hp (895 kW)
Speed	12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h)
Complement	56 men
Armament	1 × 3"/50 caliber gun 2, later 4 × single 20 mm AA

The Ailanthus class were a group of 35 wooden-hulled net laying ships of the United States Navy built during World War II as part of the huge building programs of late 1941 and early 1942 for small patrol and mine warfare vessels. Five of the class were transferred to the British Royal Navy under Lend-Lease, and another five were converted while at their shipyards into Auxiliary Fleet Tugs, the ATA-214-class.^[1]