YMS-299

in the Battle of Okinawa

Archive for category Seacadets

USS Rhea Model, Paintings, and Ribbons

Jan 24

Posted by Anthony D Paul in After the Battle, Photos, Seacadets, Trinkets | No Comments

Bob Donaldson, the artist of the USS Rhea watercolor painting featured in this post, brother of Chuck Donaldson, has sent me a photo of his memorabilia wall including an impressive model he built of the ship.

Model and paintings of USS Rhea by Bob Donaldson

Model and paintings of USS Rhea by Bob Donaldson

A photo of the model that I built of the Rhea, the two watercolors that I painted as well as the Youth crest that was used on board when I was a cadet. Above the model is the actual battle ribbon from the ship that was given to me by a friend and ex sea cadet officer who managed to obtained the ribbons before the ship was demolished and scrapped. —Bob Donaldson

USS Rhea Photos from Jim Sherret

Feb 4

Posted by Anthony D Paul in After the Battle, Photos, Seacadets, Ships, Stories | 2 Comments

I received the below photos and story from boatswain, Jim Sherret, of the Canadian Navy cadets from the late 60’s to the early 70’s. I quite like the Christmas lights photo.

USS Rhea; Port Stanley

USS Rhea; Port Stanley

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MV Rhea Almost Sinks In Harbour, 1972

May 4

Posted by Anthony D Paul in After the Battle, Seacadets, Ships, Stories | No Comments

This story was submitted by Vernon A.C. Mills, a cadet in post-war service aboard the ship. Thanks Vern!

Being the following incident has happened many years ago, I will try to be as accurate as possible. It would be best to keep in mind that at the time, I was only 15 years old, therefore everything seemed so critical and disastrous. In all honesty, I can’t remember if the winter of 1971–1972 was particularly bad or not, after that amount of time the best I can say is, “I’ve had a sleep since then” and winter is winter.

It was during the very early spring thaw that a fairly large log had floated downstream on the Talbot River through Port Stanley, Ontario and somehow managed to get jammed between the pier and port side of the ship. Due to the strong current of the river and high winds, the constant rocking and sway of the ship, a fairly large hole had been punched into the hull right at the water line on the port side slightly forward of amidships. I believe it was Lieutenant Harrington, who at the time was at his place of employment, had been notified that the Rhea was sitting low in the water and had a noticeable list. Read the rest of this entry »

M.V. Rhea Tally Cap, Shoulder Flash and Stories

Mar 5

Posted by Anthony D Paul in After the Battle, Seacadets, Ships, Stories, Trinkets | No Comments

In correspondence with Vernon “Vern” A.C. Mills, he’s been giving me some more bits of information about the post-war doings of the ship as a cadet training facility. Among his saved trinkets are a cap tally (a band that would have been worn around a sailor’s hat) and a shoulder flash (patch). Thank you to Vern for sharing these!

M.V. Rhea cap tally (band) and shoulder flash (patch); 1970s

M.V. Rhea cap tally (band) and shoulder flash (patch); 1970s

Vern served on the ship in the 1970s, alongside Charles Donaldson, the other former cadet whom has sent me a great number of photos of the ship.

Vern also pitched in this humorous bit of information:

I just remembered something that will give you one hell of a good laugh. During my time on the Rhea, I always worked in the galley with another guy named Brian Shuart. It was Brian who got the rest of the crew and even the officers to call me, “Captain Heartburn”.  Oh yeah, my culinary skills have improved since then. (I think)

 

M.V. Rhea Cadet, Vern Mills

Mar 4

Posted by Anthony D Paul in After the Battle, Project Updates, Seacadets, Ships | 3 Comments

I’m here! I apologize for the delay in posts. The holidays were a whirlwind and I’m just getting back to going through the documents again.

I’ve been contacted by another post-war cadet from the 70s. I’ll see if he has anything great he’s willing to share with us. I’m particularly interested in the interior of the ship lately, only because I have no photos of it.

I recently found a blueprint for the ship, as well as a model-maker who does custom WWII ships. The model-maker has made sibling boats of the YMS-299, so I’d like to get my hands on a fairly accurate model of the ship with gun turret placement and all. That would help me paint a more clear picture of battle, when my grandfather talks about what gun he was using and where chaos was happening around him.

To Vern, I have a number of other documents/stories from Charles regarding the cadet service. I’ll work on getting them posted quickly for you.

Another Photo and a Painting

Sep 28

Posted by Anthony D Paul in After the Battle, Photos, Seacadets, Ships | No Comments

These came from Chuck Donaldson as well.

Rhea 52 in Welland Canal, 1959

Rhea 52 in Welland Canal, 1959

More information on Welland Canal in Ontario: on Wikipedia

Rhea 52 painted by Chuck Donaldson's brother by memory in 1992. The dock was owned by the government of Canada and rent was per year.

Rhea 52 painted by Chuck Donaldson’s brother Bob by memory in 1992. The dock was owned by the government of Canada and rent was $1 per year.

YMS-299 Additional Photos

Jun 25

Posted by Anthony D Paul in After the Battle, Photos, Seacadets, Ships | 1 Comment

As a follow-up to the previous post (http://yms299.org/archives/35), I’ve been sent a handful of additional photos of YMS-299 in post-war service as a cadet-training ship in Canada. Photos provided by Charles “Chuck” Donaldson.

I’ll come back to this post and update with as much date/location info as I have for each.

Rhea 52

Rhea 52

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Cadet Charles “Chuck” Donaldson (post-war)

Mar 4

Posted by Anthony D Paul in After the Battle, Project Updates, Seacadets, Ships | 2 Comments

Chuck Donaldson (not Chuck Paul, my grandfather) joined a junior sea cadet group when he was 13, to learn good seamanship. He was posted on the YMS-299 (then USS-Rhea) for 14 years, until it sank in 1983. Having started in the engine room and worked his way through jobs on the boat over the years, he knows everything there is to know about the boat. Intrigued, I asked him if he had a couple more photos, particularly of any inside the boat. He didn’t have any inside, but said he’d send me a couple anyway.

Well, I was expecting an email at some point, but I was expecting incorrectly. I was surprised today when I checked the mail, to find a scrapbook of the ship with professional photos of the ship sailing, a full history of the ship issued to the cadets in 70’s, handwritten memories aboard the ship, photos of himself as a boy on different parts of the deck, a beautiful painting of the ship his brother made and the sad newspaper article of its unexpected sinking at dock in 1983.

I’ll be typing up these stories and scanning these documents for inclusion here as quickly as I can. Thank you, Chuck!