Comments for YMS-299

Comment on Curious Receipt or Subscription by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 03:37:12 +0000

Thank you! Now, I’m afraid it poses more questions than it answers. I don’t know why my grandfather would have this when he served 30 years later. It doesn’t seem to be a worthwhile trinket to sell in a market. I’ll never know, I suppose.

Comment on Curious Receipt or Subscription by M.S.

M.S. — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:12:34 +0000

This is a receipt in the amount of $7.50 for a subscription for the period May 10, 7th yearof Tasho (1918) until February 20, 8th year of Taisho (1919). It seems the receipt was issued on December(?) 13, 8th year of Taisho but I can’t read it clearly.

Comment on YMS-299 by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:41:32 +0000

@John That would be great! Email me at anthonydpaul at gmail dot com. Thanks!

Comment on YMS-299 by John Levantis

John Levantis — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:22:49 +0000

I have a photo of the vessel the day it sank if you wish. Let me know.

Comment on October 10, 1997, YMS-299 Sinks and is Scrapped by Brian Gillis

Brian Gillis — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:26:24 +0000

Like to get in touch with Jim Howlett. I served with him on board MV Rhea in the sixties.. Can you forward my email addy to him / With Thanks

Comment on YMS-103 Muster Roll; March 21, 1945 by Carolyn

Carolyn — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:47:23 +0000

Hi,
My father has such admiration for your father and a love as a mentor for Jack Savage. I have all the released secret documents of their events in Okinawa and I continue to try and locate all people that were associated with YMS-103. My father is such a wonderful loving man who is undergoing his last days from Pulmonary Fibrosis. I have read from previous accounts that all of the YMS survisors and honered heroes have received a Citation for their splendid efforts. Dad has not account of this citation. Do you know of this citation?
Best regards,
Carolyn
Edwin L Slough’s daughter

Comment on YMS-135 Subclass Blueprints by Mark Collins

Mark Collins — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:34:31 +0000

Greetings,

My son just took his oath in the us Navy – special Operations.

I have a long time interest in mine sweepers and am fortunate to possess one of the original flags from the USS Rhea.

Looking to get a full and detailed set of blueprints of the Rhea. I read. On this site that a set exists but due to confidentiality are not published. Hoping the owner would consider allowing me to get a copy of them. Naturally I will pay a fair price.

I simply would like to have them framed and displayed beneath the Rhea flag.

Can anyone help. Thank you.

Be Well & Please Advise,
Mark

Comment on About This Site by Jim Howlett

Jim Howlett — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:29:04 +0000

I am so I have found this blog wich includes the “Rhea” I was In the Sea Cadets when we bought her, a very exciting time in my teen years .Many a weekend was spent working on this ship and traveling to Conneaut and Sandusky Ohio .
Some of my fondest memories of my youth are about this ship.
I was just looking at some stuff on a site from Port Dover [Scruton marine dot com] and in the marine antiques section low and behold there is the ships wheel from the Rhea,for sale,I must admit it brought a little tear to my eye
Its interesting the mention of Bruce Lumly he and I were great buddys for many years along with a number of others who spent time on the Rhea
Thanks for the trip back in time
Jim

Comment on YMS-299 Additional Photos by Vice Admiral J. A. Sagerholm, USN (Ret.)

Vice Admiral J. A. Sagerholm, USN (Ret.) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 08:39:13 +0000

As a former commanding officer of Rhea ((July 1956 – August 1957), I was pleasantly surprised to find this history of my first command in the US Navy. In addition to the operations mentioned in the history during 1956-57, Rhea also participated in Operation Springboatd 1957, conducted in the waters of the Caribbean. All of Mine Squadron Four transited in formation from Charleston, SC, to San Juan, PR, in the midst of a storm that saw green water crashing over the open bridges of our minesweepers. The quartermaster of one of the sweeps was swept overboard at night the third day of transit, and was lost at sea duiring that storm. After arrival in Puerto Rico, we were detached to conduct independent minesweeping exercises, and we found the sheltered waters of Caneel Bay in the Virgin Islands to be ideal both for day ops and for night anchoring, a beautiful tract of the sea. We also had the opportunity to operate with several minesweepers of the RAN during that time. Incidentally, in 1956, as I recall, the US Navy was building new minesweepers designated MSC for “coastal minsweeper,” and the designation AMS was replaced with MSC (O) standing for “coastal minesweeper (obsolete).” The latter word in parentheses did not do much for morale, to say the least, but we made the best of it. I personally consider my tour in minesweepers, first as XO of Crow(MSC(O)-7) , followed by command of Rhea, as priceless learning experiences, both in gaining considerable skill in shiphandling, and in learning the art of command at a relatively early stage in my naval career.

Comment on YMS-299 by TRACY NIX

TRACY NIX — Wed, 11 May 2011 21:17:45 +0000

My daddy was on this boat. What a great man he is and always has been. He will be 89 years old in October this year. I love him very much, trust him dearly, would do anything in the world for him. He speaks highly of the Navy, the training he received, how it helped him start his own business, met my mom, and had us kids (3). I’m so thankful God allowed him to live through the War and be MY DADDY! He has recently received a U.S. Flag from a Congressman that flew at the White House. As a rider with the Patriot Guard, I will ask them to be present at my Daddy’s funeral when He goes to Heaven… My Daddy is a ROCK in my life, has never said a bad thing about anyone or taken advantage of anyone. He has always been a man of Honor and patience trusting God and his wife of over 65 years. My daddy has always worked for anything he ever got in life and taught me the same values which I passed on to my boys. I could go on forever! Maybe I will write more later, but for now THANKS TO THE UNITED STATES NAVY, THANKS TO OUR VETERANS, THANKS TO THOSE CURRENTLY SERVING IN THE MILITARY, THANKS TO OUR PRESIDENT AND THANKS TO GOD FOR HELPING GIVE US A GREAT COUNTRY AND FANTASTIC PEOPLE LIKE MY DADDY!
GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU AND EVERYONE WHO EVER READS THIS FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN

Comment on About This Site by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:40:06 +0000

Thank you for your email! I just ordered the book and a handful of others I’ve had on my list for a while. I’ll take a look at the Navsource mention. It may be one I’ve looked at already. I can also look up your ship in my grandfather’s journal and see if there are any mentions of YMS-103.

I have another pretty cool file I got this week that I’ll blog about in a moment. You should check it out.

I’ll email you back as well, to see what kind of stuff you have that you’d like me to post.

Comment on About This Site by Richard Thornton

Richard Thornton — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 18:04:04 +0000

Tony
So glad to see an interest in this severely neglected branch of the Navy during WWII operations. I sent you a separate private e-mail about potential other information that mentions the YMS-299 as well as the YMS-1, 92, 425 as well as the PGM-18. To anyone interested, go to the Navsource website and open the listing for the YMS-103. I have had them post an after-action report that my father filed as a result of the ’103 being mined. Small world, almost 65 years ago our parents and grand parents were involved in naval operations, literally within yards of each other and here we are talking about it and sharing information on what we know. Internet at it’s best.
The best book covering WWII minesweepers, IMHO, is “Most Dangerous Sea” by Arnold S. Lott LCDR, USN.

Comment on Reading Material by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 03:59:53 +0000

@tom Apologies for it taking a year to reply, but thank you for the book recommendations. To mirror your comment, the further I delve into this project, the more rewarding it becomes.

Comment on About This Site by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 13:26:10 +0000

Thank you for your comment! I sent you an email with Charles’ contact information. Also, I mentioned that I don’t have any pictures below decks yet, in case you happen to have any. In general, I’d be very appreciative of any photos, stories, mechanical information, maps, memorabilia, etc.

Comment on About This Site by Vernon A C Mills

Vernon A C Mills — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 07:03:09 +0000

I was so unbelievably happy to find a website about the Rhea. I also cried to learn that She had sunk. As a Sea Cadet during the 70′s, I lived to be at Port Stanley every weekend. I think, if given the opportunity, I would have left home and lived on that ship. My teen years will never be forgotten as long as I have memories of the MV Rhea. Thank you for your time and trouble to bring back all those wonderful minutes, hours and years. Also, would you by chance have an e-mail address for Charley Donaldson, I just realized it’s been over 35 years since I’ve seen or talked to him. Many thanks.

Vern Mills

Comment on YMS-299 by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 02:50:03 +0000

@Keith I have been trying to track down any of the YMS-135 Class ships that are in existence still and have only found one so far. (Most have “fate unknown”.) YMS-328 was privately purchased, then converted into a dinner cruise ship on the West Coast. The upper deck has been modified, but I’m curious what the lower decks look like. More information: http://wwarii.com/blog/archives/john-waynes-yacht-was-wwii-minesweeper

Comment on YMS-299 by Warren Rich

Warren Rich — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 22:15:44 +0000

Hey Chuck,
Nice to see someone here. My Dad was Bob Richardson. I recall going out once. When the Legion went for a ride. I had to work for that ride. Ward room steward and remember only the first half of the trip. I’ll look around, I have some interior pics somewhere.

Comment on YMS-299 by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:12:52 +0000

@rich Thank you for the location information!

Comment on YMS-299 by Rich Warren

Rich Warren — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:34:22 +0000

I can’t comment on the ship, but that’s definitely the eastern portion of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge in the background with the ship shown floating on the spot where the new replacement bridge is currently under construction.

The Berkeley hills can be seen faintly to the east on the left side of the bridge with the Port of Oakland and now gone Alameda Naval Air Station to the right side.

Comment on YMS-299 by chuck donaldson

chuck donaldson — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:09:44 +0000

no l don,t have photos of inside but l have some pics l will give you just send me your adress below decks were kept the same as war years other than pettyofficers area 2 bunks were built over amo hatch and when sweeping gear was removed officers quarters were installed other than that we kept her the same l also have a pic of her sinking from 1997

Comment on YMS-299 by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:35:19 +0000

@chuck Wow, that is a long time with the ship. You don’t happen to have photos of the inside or anything, do you? I’d like to know more in general, as far as the layout, sleeping arrangements, etc. I don’t know if any of that would have changed between the war or when you were aboard.

Comment on YMS-299 by chuck donaldson

chuck donaldson — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:42:05 +0000

Hi, l was a crew member from 1969/1983. Started as upper deck, then went engine room. l never missed a weekend. We sailed to stateside a lot. Ashtabula, Ohio; Sandusky, Ohio; Put-in Bay, Ohio; Toledo, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania

Comment on Reading Material by Tom Weeks

Tom Weeks — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 08:32:03 +0000

My Dad served in the 77th Division in WWII. That’s the Division that invaded the Kerama Retto islands a week prior to the main landings on Okinawa. Members of his regiment (307th Infantry) were aboard the USS Goodhue during the 4/2/45 kamikaze attacks your grandfather records in his journal. I don’t know that my Dad was aboard Goodhue, but there’s a good chance.

For further contextual information about the Okinawa campaign, I recommend these two books:

“Okinawa, the Last Battle”: This is available online for free, I believe and covers the entire campaign quire well.

“Ours to Hold It High”: This is the battle history of the 77th Division. It’s an excellent account written in 1946. This is pretty pricey, but it covers the Kerama Retto invasion and the 77th’s role on Ie Shima and Okinawa very well. The kamikaze raid on 4/2 is well covered also. It seems your Grandfather was in the thick of this part of the campaign, so you might find it interesting.

Good luck with tracking your Grandfather’s path. That’s what I’m doing with my Dad’s activities (that’s how I ended up at your site). The second book notes that on 5May45 near the end of a fierce 6-day battle on Okinawa, my Dad’s Company “L” of the 307th (which, at full strength has about 200 men as a reinforced infantry company in WWII) had a fighting force of 23: “eight riflemen, seven machine gunners, and eight mortarmen”. One of those mortarmen was my Dad. Of course he never told me such a story. And now he’s gone, so I can’t ask. But it was a shocker to find that information out in the record. I share this because the journey you’re on can be fascinating and may lead you places you don’t expect. Good luck!

Comment on YMS-299 by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:55:42 +0000

@keith I’m not sure which still exist, but I am sure there are ships somewhere. It seems most of them got reclassified, then eventually auctioned off for private use and/or dismantled for parts. The YMS was typically a ship not specifically built for naval usage though. They were most often wooden-hulled tugs or other small muscle ships, with the intention of not detonating magnetic mines in sweep.

I hadn’t heard the food story yet, but I did a bunch of audio recordings with my grandfather before he died. His stories are typically about specific attacks, or their pets. Specifically, he liked to tell the story of their pet monkey (picked up in the Philippines) and cat. I guess the monkey would swing around the ship, catching the cat by its tail. Eventually, I’ll have those transcribed and up here. I have them in a couple of very long WAV files, so they need to get split into individual stories.

Navsource says the fate is unknown, and Wikipedia has no entry on that particular ship:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/19002.htm

Comment on YMS-299 by Keith Jett

Keith Jett — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 02:24:16 +0000

Do you know of any YMS’s that are preserved? My grandfather was on the YMS-2. He died several years ago, but I can still hear him telling me stories of the times he spent on the ship. One story I loved was how they learned they could sit their can food close to some equipment and it would heat them. Later he learned that they were micro-waves that were being released from the equipment. All he knew was that he could heat his soup and beans up on a cold night.

Comment on YMS-299 by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:14:25 +0000

It would be great to see more photos! The top picture is the one my grandfather had in a large letter-sized photo. The other three I got online, but they are obviously more recent with the “52″ designation. It is sad that the ship doesn’t exist anymore. It would have been amazing to see it.

Comment on YMS-299 by Paul Marchello

Paul Marchello — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:23:35 +0000

I have sailed on the M.V. Rhea several times out of Port Stanley, Ontario, Canada, including overnight trips to the Cleveland area. My father (Steve) was a ship’s officer, part owner and the ship’s carpenter while the vessel was owned by the Courageous Sailing Club in the 1960s and 1970s. I spent many a weekend on board while my father worked on the ship.
In fact, if the Bowling Green State Univerity photo was taken during this time period, the new hull planking was probably installed by my father! Although, I do not seen the low aft cabin that was built over the cable reel storage well near the stern. I’ll ask him next time I see him.
Also, I have some photos of the ship during this period, I’ll have to hunt them up!

Comment on YMS-299 by anthonydpaul

anthonydpaul — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:41:53 +0000

I haven’t yet! Up to this point I am still in the process of transcribing the letters and everything I have of my grandfather’s. Once I get all of that in order, I’ll begin filling in the gaps at libraries. Right now, I am in the process of putting the journal data up on the timeline page. I have the whole journal transcribed, but am doing quick Google searches on the mentioned ships, battles and naval terminology/acronyms to fill it out a bit.

I’ll definitely take a look at the Naval Archives when I get to that point. That will correct some of my dates, I am sure. One of the difficulties of matching the journal to records online is the time difference between Japan and here. Every event is recorded at dual times and often dual dates, so putting them in the proper order is tricky. A log would fix that.

Comment on YMS-299 by Tom Ruzic

Tom Ruzic — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:19:16 +0000

My father was an officer aboard YMS-331 and was almost sunk by a suicide boat on 15 April 1945 at Okinawa. I find your site very interesting. Have you been to the Naval Archives in College Park, Maryland? You can see the actual decklogs for ships of this era.