The following are a handful of the photos I have of YMS-299 (later renamed AMS-52 Rhea). The first of which came from my grandfather’s keepsakes. The rest I found online or were sent to me by former crew members (or the family of).
YMS-299 in front of the Eastern portion of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. 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 of the bridge. (notes from Rich Warren)
If you look at the photo in full size, it has a couple dozen crew posing and waving.
YMS = Yard Minesweeper. Mines had magnetic force to make them attack battleships. The YMS was made of wood to skirt around the mines and destroy them.
Notes on the back of the photo:
- Engine: 12-cylinder, diesel, two propellers (screws)
- Speed: 14 knots max (16 mph)
- Crew: 35 men
Chuck was a motor machinist mate, 2nd class, in charge of engine room mechanics. In addition to his role in the crew, he also manned anti-aircraft gun when under attack.
(via http://www.navsource.org) YMS-135 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper:
- 1942 – Laid down, 5 June 1942 by William F. Stone and Sons Co., Oakland, CA;
- 1942 – Launched, 14 November 1942;
- 1943 – Commissioned USS YMS-299, 7 April 1943;
- 1947 – Placed in service, in reserve, 6 March 1947 at Philadelphia, PA;
- 1947 – Named Rhea and reclassified as a Motor Minesweeper AMS-52, 1 September 1947;
- 1950 – Recommissioned, 15 November 1950;
- 1955 – Reclassified a Coastal Minesweeper (Old), MSC(O)-52, 7 February 1955;
- 1957 – Placed in reserve, 1 November 1957 at New London, CT;
- 1957 – Decommissioned, 23 December 1957;
- 1959 – Struck from the Naval Register, 1 November 1959;
- 1960 – Sold in June 1960 to the Ships, Engines and Equipment Co.;
- 1960 – Sold in 1960 to the Courageous Sailing Club Inc., London, Ontario, Canada;
- 1962 – Sold in 1962 to Canadian Navy Cadet group at London, Ontario based at Port Stanley;
- 1983 – Sold in 1983 to Peter Cash, et al, Oshawa, Ontario;
- 19xx – Acquired by Gary Zulauf of Oshawa;
- 1997 – Sank due to rotted hull, 10 October 1997;
- 1997 – Raised, 11 November 1997 and scrapped.
(via http://www.navsource.org) Specifications:
- Displacement 270 t.;
- Length 136′;
- Beam 24′ 6″;
- Draft 8′;
- Speed 15 kts;
- Complement 32;
- Armament one single 3″/50 gun mount, two 20mm, two dcp;
- Propulsion two General Motors diesel engines, two shafts.
(via http://www.navsource.org) Below are some more recent photos of the ship, when it was recommissioned in post-war:
AMS-52 (YMS-299/Rhea), photo via Ed Traylor (crew member June 1956 to 23 December 1957)
AMS-52 (YMS-299/Rhea), Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
AMS-52 (YMS-299/Rhea), copyright Stan Cochran, August 1955, MSC(O)-52 at Mine Warfare School, Yorktown, VA