History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Precept (Z266)
Builder	Barbour Boat Works New Bern, North Carolina
Laid down	5 August 1943
Launched	11 April 1944
Completed	14 October 1944
Acquired	14 October 1944
Fate	returned to U.S. Navy, 4 January 1946
History
United States
Acquired	4 January 1946
Stricken	28 March 1946
Fate	transferred to the Maritime Commission, 21 March 1947, for disposal
General characteristics
Class and type	Ailanthus-class net laying ship
Displacement	1,190 long tons (1,210 t) (full)
Length	194 ft 6 in (59.28 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draught	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion	diesel electric, 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h)
Complement	56
Armament	1 × 3"/50 caliber gun 4 × twin 20 mm gun mounts

HMS Precept (Z266) was a net laying ship for the Royal Navy during the Second World War acquired from the United States Navy in October 1944 via Lend-Lease.

The ship was laid down as Precept (YN-79), a net tender of the Ailanthus class, on 5 August 1943 at Barbour Boat Works in New Bern, North Carolina. On 17 January 1944, while still under construction, the ship was reclassified as a net laying ship and redesignated AN-73. Precept was launched on 11 April and completed on 13 October.

After delivery to the U.S. Navy on 14 October, she was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease the same day and commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Precept (Z266). Upon completion of wartime duty with the United Kingdom, she arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 22 October 1945, and was returned to the U.S. Navy on 4 January 1946. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 March 1946, she was transferred to the United States Maritime Commission on 21 March 1947 and sold.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• YN-79 / AN-73 Precept, HMS Precept (Z-266)