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.