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Marty’s letter to grandson | Part 8 of 8: After the war

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 8 of 8: Headed home and after the war


Soon thereafter my relief showed up and on January 3rd, 1946 I received orders home so the last time I saw the YMS-468 she was high and dry in a Japanese drydock. Our 4th officer, Clint Hill (an artist from Seattle) took over as Skipper and I learned some time later when Clint visited New York that they were sent over to Korea to sweep in that area. After that they were given orders to go to Singapore for some well-deserved R&R and on the way went through another typhoon in the East China Sea. Ultimately, the Navy sold the ship to the Turkish Navy! It’s hard for me to believe that little ship could travel so far around the world!

Having been relieved by a regular navy Ensign my orders were to proceed by the first available government transportation to the nearest staging center for further transportation to the officer separation center, New York, NY and then proceed home after release from active duty. Hallelujah!!

Actually, on January 7th I boarded the USS Baxter (APA-94) and headed for San Diego via Pearl Harbor. After a short stop at Pearl we departed but soon came to a grinding halt when the ship’s boilers lost power and we had to return to Pearl at reduced speed for repairs. As a result, I was sent to an officer’s club on the beach somewhere beyond the Pali Pass for R&R until I could continue home. The repairs were evidently going to be extensive so I was transferred to the USS Fond du Lac (APA-166) and finally arrived at San Diego on January 30th. On February 3rd, I boarded DC-3 and hopscotched across the US reporting in at NY the next day. February 6th I was detached with 2 months, 6 days’ accumulated leave and finally released from active duty on April 12th, 1946. At last I could rejoin my family and get to know our 2 ½ month old beautiful baby girl, Phyllis Ann.

Marty Roberts; Pan Am travel card (front); February 19, 1953

Marty Roberts; Pan Am travel card (front); February 19, 1953


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Marty’s letter to grandson | Part 1 of 8: In training

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 1 of 8: In training


Hi Joe,
Knowing your interest in things naval, I have been collecting some more information about my experience in WWII and particularly about the task of clearing mines laid both by the Germans off our Atlantic coast and by the Japanese off Okinawa and around their islands.

Not so often referred to is the first naval engagement the US got into after entering the war. Hitler quickly decided to attack our shipping coming out of Delaware Bay from Philadelphia and Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore. This was done by his U-boats using both torpedoes and by laying mines in the entrances to these bays. One of his subs actually succeeded in getting into Chesapeake Bay and laid some mines there much to the embarrassment of our navy since this was also their largest base on the East Coast! Their attention was naturally focused on Pacific operations due to the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor.

Ensign Marty E Roberts, 1943

Ensign Marty E Roberts, 1943


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YMS-135 Subclass BuShips Blueprints

I got this collection of images from Rob Weilacher, a friend of some relatives who is a model builder. He also sent me a copy of some blueprints he purchased, but I haven’t posted them for copyright concern.

YMS-135 Blueprint; Pilot Bridge Deck

YMS-135 Blueprint; Pilot Bridge Deck

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YMS-135 Subclass Microfiche Blueprints

I somewhat crudely pieced together the partial scans of the ship’s blueprint. Here it is in totality, though the scans given to me where warped in places, so the measurements are likely not quite perfect. These came from copies of what appear to be microfiche film.

I plan to try and get my hands on better copies of these plans from the National Archives in the near future. Click through for as high of resolution as I have thus far.

YMS-135 Subclass; Blueprint

YMS-135 Subclass; Blueprint

YMS-304 3D Rendering & Microfiche Blueprints

I tracked down the source of a digital 3D model of the YMS-304 this week. The artist was gracious enough to give me a copy of the file, as well as copies of some blueprints for the YMS-135 subclass that came from the Naval archives!

I’d give personal credit to the artist, but I need to clarify if he would like me to, as the model was put together for a paid project. If I end up using it for anything commercial, I’ll have to get permissions.

So, what do I plan to do with such a great find?

Well, at the moment, not too much. The 3D model lets me pan and rotate the ship so I can get more intimate with its layout, but it is only an exterior model at the moment. I’m in the process of scheduling some Naval archive visits to get more blueprints, because I’d like to add more detail to the 3D model, then build out the interior for some digital walk-throughs. I can’t imagine how amazing it would be to virtually walk around inside of the ship, eventually even adding textures and materials to make it seem life-like. Time to sharpen up those rusty CAD skills!

Here is a quick screenshot of part of the model:
YMS-304 3D Rendering

YMS-304 3D Rendering

The YMS-304 is a near sibling of the YMS-299. Of the same subclass, the same blueprints were used in their manufacturing. The only differences between them would be minor in the construction process, as only YMS-299 to YMS-302 were built by the same builder.

Here is a sample portion from one of the blueprints:
YMS-135 Subclass; blueprint sample

YMS-135 Subclass; blueprint sample

Update: I added the full, stitched-together set of blueprints to this post.

Map of Japan

This map was originally tucked (glued) into the journal, but had since been divorced from the book. I found it amongst some other paperwork. I am guessing it was standard issue and something most naval troops had. I have Googled the document number with no hits to find out more about it. If anyone knows more, let me know.

The map’s legend reads:

NANSEI SHOTO

OKINAWA GUNTO

FROM H. O. CHART NO. 5303

"DISTANCE CHART" (side 1)

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YMS-103 Action Report; April 25, 1945

I got this action report from Richard Thornton, son of the captain who drafted it. It details the events leading up to the the beaching of YMS-103 in the first month of the Okinawa operations. You’ll see YMS-299 was in the same detail. My grandfather discusses these events in his journal as well.

YMS-103 Action Report; April 25, 1945; Table of Contents

YMS-103 Action Report; April 25, 1945; Table of Contents

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YMS-103 Muster Roll; March 21, 1945

Also via Richard Thornton, this is the first page of the YMS-103 muster roll. I don’t have the equivalent of this for YMS-299 yet, though I was curious what the document looked like.

YMS-103 Muster Roll; March 21, 1945

YMS-103 Muster Roll; March 21, 1945

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Written Citation, November 7, 1944

This is the citation mentioned in Chuck’s September letter home, commending the troops for their efforts in kicking off Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa during early April, 1945. This letter was given to all members of the YMS-299 crew (I have a second copy of it addressed to Thomas Morley, sent to me by his son).

042045 Written Citation

042045 Written Citation

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