Some months ago, I was contacted by a sailor who served aboard a sibling minesweeper across the American, European, and Pacific theatres of WWII. Lieutenant Marty Roberts of Raleigh, NC served aboard YMS-468 as Engineering Officer and later Deck Officer, from 1943 to 1946. Marty wrote up this biography of his naval service for his grandson and was kind enough to share it and his photographs with us.

This post is an eight-part series. Below is an index of all parts. Enjoy!

Marty Roberts of Raleigh, NC | February 28th, 2014
Navy Days – A Letter to Joe


Part 2 of 8: YMS-468 in the US


In the spring I received orders to report to the Gibbs Shipyard in Jacksonville, FL as Engineering Officer and part of the nucleus crew for the YMS-468, then under construction. The skipper, Ed Leach, and I were responsible for seeing that all the equipment designated for the ship was installed and the ship readied for commissioning. This was accomplished in August 1944 and with the remainder of the crew aboard we sailed out to sea heading north for Little Creek Naval Base in Chesapeake Bay, Virginia for shakedown exercises. On the way, just off Savannah, GA, when I had the bridge, I got a call “Fire in the GALLEY!” In addition to my several other duties I was Damage Control Officer, so I had to turn the con over to the Exec and rush to the galley. Smoke was pouring out of the vents above the electric range, but no flames could be seen so I had to order the men to get an axe and chop a hole through a beautiful new cabinet to get access to the area behind the range and fill the space with CO2 from our fire extinguisher. This put out the fire and we diverted to the Charleston Naval Base for repairs which were expertly done in a very short time.

YMS-468 commissioning with crew; Jacksonville, FL; August 31, 1944

YMS-468 commissioning with crew; Jacksonville, FL; August 31, 1944

Left to right: Marty E Roberts, Lieutenant (jg) (Ensign, Engineering Officer) of Rockville Centre, Long Island, NY; Al B Wiles, Lieutenant (jg) (Skipper, Commanding Officer) from Jackson, MS; Clint J Hill, Ensign (4th Officer, Communications Officer) of Seattle, WA; and Dave V Stafford, Lieutenant (jg) (Executive Officer) of CA; at port in Little Creek, VA; September 1944

Left to right: Marty E Roberts, Lieutenant (jg) (Ensign, Engineering Officer) from Rockville Centre, Long Island, NY; Al B Wiles, Lieutenant (jg) (Skipper, Commanding Officer) of Jackson, MS; Clint J Hill, Ensign (4th Officer, Communications Officer) of Seattle, WA; and Dave V Stafford, Lieutenant (jg) (Executive Officer) of CA; at port in Little Creek, VA; September 1944

An amusing thing occurred one night when I was on the flying bridge and a brand new sailor was on lookout duty. Terrified, he suddenly called to me and pointed to a bright streak in the water heading for the bow of our ship—torpedo, torpedo! The Gulf Stream has a lot of fluorescence in the water and the dolphins love to play around the bow so the “torpedo” dove under the bow and reappeared on the other side—no explosion, much relief!

A not so amusing incident occurred as we entered the Little Creek Base for the first time. As engineering officer my assigned station when entering port was at the engine room hatch where I could keep an eye on the engine room and also watch the entry activity. Our designated berth was alongside a finger pier down at the very end of the slip between two piers. The skipper had the con and was heading into the slip when I noticed that the incoming tide was causing us to drift to the right as we were moving ahead. This put us on a collision course with the stern depth charge racks of a larger fleet minesweeper docked at the end of the finger pier on our right. I couldn’t believe the skipper failed to maneuver away from the problem, but he did the wrong thing and that rack ripped a long gouge down our starboard side! Again, we got it fixed up quickly, but Ed lost his command and was transferred to the Pacific! Our new skipper, Al Wiles, from Jackson, Mississippi took over and was a gem of a commander who stayed with us until after the war ended.

Once again we spent the winter sweeping a 60-mile stretch of marked channel off the entrance to Chesapeake Bay and here are a couple of pictures showing the YMS-468 with the ice accumulation after one of the sweeps.

YMS-468 and crew; Left to right: Harold C Foster Jr., SoM3c (deckhand) of Birmingham, AL and Ambruzzi (Gunner's Mate, GM); ice accumulation while sweeping approaches to Chesapeake Bay, MD; Winter 1944

YMS-468 and crew; Left to right: Harold C Foster Jr., SoM3c (deckhand) of Birmingham, AL and Ambruzzi (Gunner’s Mate, GM); ice accumulation while sweeping approaches to Chesapeake Bay, MD; Winter 1944

YMS-468 and crew; Left to right: Harold C Foster Jr., SoM3c (deckhand) of Birmingham, AL; Clint J Hill, Ensign (Communications Officer); Ambruzzi (Gunner's Mate, GM); ice accumulation while sweeping approaches to Chesapeake Bay, MD; Winter 1944

YMS-468 and crew; Left to right: Harold C Foster Jr., SoM3c (deckhand) of Birmingham, AL; Clint J Hill, Ensign (Communications Officer); Ambruzzi (Gunner’s Mate, GM); ice accumulation while sweeping approaches to Chesapeake Bay, MD; Winter 1944

The orientation of the channel was straight East-West which meant in the winter with the wind almost always from the North we were usually sailing in the trough of the waves and on one occasion the inclination indicator on the flying bridge swung over to 58 degrees and it was only calibrated up to 60! I called the skipper and suggested we secure the sweep operation before we rolled all the way over. He agreed!

Again, the biggest event of this time was on December 10th, 1944 when Muriel and I were married and found a little home in Little Creek, VA.

Muriel and Marty, uniformed; Little Creek, VA 1944

Muriel and Marty, uniformed; Little Creek, VA 1944

Muriel and Marty; Little Creek, VA; married, Dec 10, 1944

Muriel and Marty; Little Creek, VA; married, Dec 10, 1944

Muriel and Marty; first home in Little Creek, VA

Muriel and Marty; first home in Little Creek, VA


This post is an eight-part series. Below is an index of all parts. Enjoy!

Marty Roberts of Raleigh, NC | February 28th, 2014
Navy Days – A Letter to Joe