Archive for 2013

YMS ships lost in the Pacific

I’ve compiled a list of all of the minesweepers lost to Pacific actions, storms, and accidents.

Date Ship Fate Source
1944-09-24 YMS-19

Mine

  • Fate: sunk
  • Cause: mine
  • Location: off Palau, Philippines
  • Coordinates: 6°53’58″N 134°9’44″E
  • Action: Battle of Peleliu
wikimapia.org
1944-10-01 YMS-385

Mine

  • Fate: sunk
  • Cause: mine
  • Location: in Zowariau Channel, off Ulithi, Caroline Islands, Micronesia
  • Coordinates: 9°51’56″N 139°36’59″E
wikimapia.org
1944-10-17 YMS-70

Storm, Typhoon, Foundering

  • Fate: foundered
  • Cause: tropical storm
  • Location: in Leyte Gulf, Philippines
  • Coordinates: 10°56’N, 125°12’E
  • Action: Battle of Leyte
uboat.net
1945-02-14 YMS-48

Gunfire, Shore Batteries

  • Fate: scuttled
  • Cause: shore batteries, fire, & scuttling
  • Location: in Corregidor Bay, off Manila, Philippines
  • Coordinates: 14°25’N 120°34’E
  • Action: Battle for the Recapture of Corregidor
wikimapia.org
1945-04-03 YMS-71

Mine

  • Fate: sunk
  • Cause: mine
  • Location: off Bongao Island, Philippines
  • Coordinates: 4°58’N 119°47’E
wrecksite.eu
1945-04-08 YMS-103

Mine

  • Fate: destroyed
  • Cause: mine, beaching, & intentional destruction
  • Location: off Okinawa, Japan
  • Coordinates: 26°13’N 127°54’E
yms299.org
1945-05-02 YMS-481

Gunfire, Shore Batteries

  • Fate: sunk
  • Cause: shore batteries
  • Location: off Tarakan Island, Netherlands East Indies
  • Coordinates: 03°27’N 117°32’E
  • Action: Battle of Tarakan
uboat.net
1945-06-18 YMS-50

Mine

  • Fate: scuttled
  • Cause: mine & scuttling
  • Location: off Balikpapan, Netherlands East Indies
  • Coordinates: 01°18’S 116°49’E
  • Action: Battle of Balikpapan
wikipedia.org
1945-06-26 YMS-39

Mine

  • Fate: sunk
  • Cause: mine
  • Location: in Makassar Strait, off Balikpapan, Netherlands East Indies
  • Coordinates: 1°19’S 116°49’E
wrecksite.eu
1945-06-26 YMS-365

Mine

  • Fate: scuttled
  • Cause: mine & scuttling
  • Location: in Makassar Strait, off Balikpapan, Netherlands East Indies
  • Coordinates: 1°18’S 116°50’E
wrecksite.eu
1945-07-09 YMS-84

Mine

  • Fate: sunk
  • Cause: drifting mine
  • Location: off Balikpapan, Netherlands East Indies
  • Coordinates: 1°19’0″S 116°48’0″E
  • Action: Battle of Balikpapan
wikimapia.org
1945-09-16 YMS-98

Storm, Typhoon, Foundering

  • Fate: foundered
  • Cause: Typhoon Ida (category 1)
  • Location: off Okinawa, Japan
navsource.org
1945-09-16 YMS-341

Storm, Typhoon, Foundering

  • Fate: foundered
  • Cause: Typhoon Ida (category 1)
  • Location: in Buckner Bay, off Okinawa, Japan
navsource.org
1945-09-16 YMS-421

Storm, Typhoon, Foundering

  • Fate: foundered
  • Cause: Typhoon Ida (category 1)
  • Location: off Okinawa, Japan
navsource.org
1945-09-16 YMS-472

Storm, Typhoon, Foundering

  • Fate: foundered
  • Cause: Typhoon Ida (category 1)
  • Location: off Okinawa, Japan
uboat.net

In most cases, all or most of the crew survived as the damage didn’t cause immediate sinking and left time for abandoning and rescue. The biggest exceptions are the ships lost to Typhoon Ida, whom I also don’t have coordinates for. Those ships were lost to storms and their crews set adrift with most dying in the storm or to sharks.
Read the rest of this entry »

F2 Granville Lee Rumble, obituary; died at sea, serving aboard YMS-427

Here’s the obituary and gravesite of a soldier killed in action while serving alongside YMS-299, on a sibling ship. View the original on Find a Grave.

Granville Lee Rumble, served aboard YMS-427, killed in action

Granville Lee Rumble, served aboard YMS-427, killed in action

Name: Granville Lee Rumble
Age: 19
Served: US Navy, Fireman 2/C
Location: Pacific Theater of Operations
Story: Injured while doing mine sweeps. Buried at sea in 1945, alongside two other crew members.

Read the rest of this entry »

Stone Family Shipyard journaled history

Here’s a cool find! The William F. Stone & Sons Company in Oakland, California built the YMS-299. Someone from the Stone family has written up a story about the shipyard with a pile of photos, including one of the YMS-299 in 1942, before she went off into battle.

YMS-299 in Oakland, CA; 1942

YMS-299 in Oakland, CA; 1942

From the presentation:

Wooden Boat Building in San Francisco Bay: One Family’s Story

A memoir of the Stone family: William Isaac Stone, William Frank Stone, Lester Frank Stone

Presentation to the Alameda County Historical Society at the Encinal Yacht Club,
Alameda, California, January 26, 2012

by Roberta O’Grady, granddaughter of W.F. Stone and Niece of Lester F. Stone

Read the rest of this entry »

Obituary of John F. Enright, Age 77; Vet US Navy, Radioman Second Class; Served on YMS-299

I ran across this obituary of a soldier who served on YMS-299 and thought I’d share it.

Source: Chicago Tribune News

Enright, John F.
October 17, 2003

John F. Enright, age 77, Vet US Navy, Radioman Second Class, SV6, of WWII and Korean War. Served on the USS Haven, USS YMS 299 and USS New Jersey. Married for 50 years to the love of his life, Charlotte Enright, nee Cannon; best friend and devoted father of Diane (Larry) Pawelski, Mary Beth (Sam) Bick and Denise (Mike) Hurley; proud Gumpy of Tim and Matt Pawelski, Brian, Dan and Kevin Bick, Kara and Ryan Hurley; loyal and loving son of the late Ann Kelly Enright; wonderful brother-in-law to Florence Cannon and the late Rita (the late John) Felker and Donald Cannon; much loved uncle of Jack (Camille) Felker, Mary Denise (Wally) Veazie and Susan (John) Arvetis; will be missed greatly by his faithful companion, Chico “Dutch”. Visitation Friday 3 to 9 p.m. Funeral Saturday, 8:45 a.m. from the Andrew J. McGann & Son Funeral Home, 10727 S. Pulaski Rd., to St. Christina Church, Mass 9:30 a.m. Interment Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Retired Engineer of Illinois Bell of 42 years.

See the original: articles.chicagotribune.com

Project Status

Just as an update, it may appear I haven’t posted in a while, but that isn’t the case. Most of the content in this website is back-dated to the time it happened in history. For example, browse back to 1945 and see some of the letters and journal entries I’ve been transcribing and filing.