The ''YMS-1'' class of

auxiliary motor minesweepers Auxiliary motor minesweepers were small wood-hulled minesweepers commissioned by the United States Navy for service during World War II. The vessels were numbered, but unnamed. The auxiliary motor minesweepers were originally designated yard min ...

was established with the laying down of ''YMS-1'' on 4 March 1941. Some were later transferred to the United Kingdom as part of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

pact between the two nations. One ship eventually made its way into the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

postwar.

Design

The design for the class had a displacement of 270 tonnes. The ships had a length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of , and a

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

of . The vessels were capable of , being powered by two

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

(Cleveland) 8-268A, 2-cycle

diesel engines The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the die ...

which drove two shafts. The ships had a complement of 32. Their armament comprised one single 3-inch/50 caliber gun mount, two

20 mm 20 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. The dividing line between smaller-caliber weapons, commonly called "guns", from larger-caliber "cannons" (e.g. machine gun vs. autocannon), is conventionally taken to be the 20 m ...

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

guns and two

depth charge projector A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarines by detonating in the water near the target and subjecting it to a destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use high explosives with a fuze set to deto ...

s. ''YMS-1''-class ships were relatively small compared to larger contemporary

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

ships. This led to a view by some sailors that the YMS-designated ships were cramped and particularly unsteady. These conditions were described (and surely exaggerated) by one author in a humorous poem "warning" other sailors to not transfer:

Subclasses

There were two mostly cosmetic sub-types of the class, sometimes referred to as classes themselves

''YMS-135'' subclass

This subclass was identical but had only one stack rather than two, and consisted of hull numbers ''YMS-135'' through ''-445'', ''YMS-480'', and ''YMS-481''.

''YMS-446'' subclass

This subclass was also identical but had no stacks, and comprised ''YMS 446''–''YMS 479''.

BYMS

Eighty vessels of the class were ordered from US yards for transfer under

to the United Kingdom as the

BYMS-class minesweeper The BYMS class was a class of wooden motor minesweepers, part of the United States Navy YMS-1 class minesweepers. One hundred fifty ships destined for the United Kingdom were launched from 1941 to 1943. Ships The initial 80 ships were orde ...

. Another 53 built for the US Navy (with hull numbers between ''YMS-137'' and ''-284'') were transferred as further BYMS and another 17 were delivered later.

Other exports

France received 31 YMS-class minesweepers during World War 2, with one (''D202'', formerly ) being sunk by a mine in 1944. France kept its YMS-class ships in service after the end of the war,Masson 1969, pp. 59, 61–53. with seven remaining in service in 1962, used as training ships in the

École Navale École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

and as experimental vessels. Three ships of the class were transferred from France to

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

in 1954, while another was transferred to

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

in 1961.Blackman 1962, p. 94. In 1947, Poland acquired former BYMS-2211 (renamed ORP Delfin), BYMS-2257 (renamed ORP Foka), and BYMS-2282 (renamed

ORP Mors HMS ''BYMS-2282'' was a of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was built as ''YMS-282'' for the United States Navy but was transferred under Lend-Lease to the United Kingdom upon completion and never commissioned into the United St ...

). The vessels were re-armed with Soviet

85 mm air defense gun M1939 (52-K) The 85 mm air defense gun M1939 (52-K) () was an Soviet Union, Soviet anti-aircraft gun, developed under guidance of leading Soviet designers Loginov Mikhail Nikolaevich, M. N. Loginov and G. D. Dorokhin. This gun was successfully used thr ...

and four Soviet NSV machine guns. In the mid-1950s, they were removed from service. The ORP Delfin was scuttled in the Bay of Puck, where it remains a diving attraction. The

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force The , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...

received 8 vessels of this class in the 1950s. The class was named ''Ujishima''-class minesweeper. The ships were: * JDS Ujishima (MSC-655) *

JDS Etajima (MSC-656) USS Firecrest (AMS-10/YMS-231) was an acquired by the U.S. Navy for clearing coastal minefields during World War II. ''Firecrest'' was laid down 5 October 1942 by Frank L. Sample, Jr., Boothbay Harbor, Maine; launched, 3 April 1943; completed ...

JDS Nuwajima (MSC-657) USS ''Heron'' (MSC(O)-18/AMS-18/YMS-369) was a built for the United States Navy during World War II. ''Heron'' was laid down as ''YMS-369'' on 13 January 1943 by Wheeler Shipbuilding Corp., Whitestone, New York, and launched 24 July 1943. T ...

JDS Yakushima (MSC-658) USS ''Osprey'' (AMS-28/YMS-422) was a built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the third U.S. Navy ship to be named for the osprey. History ''YMS-422'' was laid down 9 October 1943 at the Astoria Marine Construction, Ast ...

* JDS Ogishima (MSC-659) *

JDS Yugeshima (MSC-660) USS ''Swallow'' (MSC(O)-36/AMS-36/YMS-461) was a built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was originally laid down as ''PCS-1416'', and, when renamed later in her career, became the third U.S. Navy ship named for the swallow. ...

* JDS Yurishima (MSC-661) *

JDS Ninoshima (MSC-662) USS ''Lark'' (YMS-376/AMS-23/MSC(O)-23) was a built for the United States Navy during World War II. History ''Lark'', originally ''YMS-376'', was laid down by Greenport Basin and Construction, Greenport Basin and Construction Co., Greenport, ...

Examples

* USS Barbet (AMS-41)(YMS-45) *

USS YMS-61 USS ''YMS-61'' was a United States Navy auxiliary motor minesweeper during World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allie ...

* USS Albatross (AMS-1)(YMS-80) * USS Brambling (AMS-42)(YMS-109) * USS Brant (AMS-43)(YMS-113) * USS Crossbill (AMS-45)(YMS-120) * USS Bobolink (AMS-2)(YMS-164) * USS Cardinal (AMS-4)(YMS-179) * USS Fulmar (AMS-47)(YMS-193) * USS Courser (AMS-6)(YMS-201) * HMS BYMS-2203 (J1003)(YMS-203) * USS Crow (AMS-7)(YMS-215) * USS Curlew (AMS-8) (YMS-218) * USS Flicker (AMS-9)(YMS-219) * USS Firecrest (AMS-10)(YMS-231) * USS Flamingo (AMS-11)(YMS-238) * USS Harkness (AMCU-12)(YMS-242) * USS James M. Gilliss (AMCU-13)(YMS-262) * USS Lapwing (AMS-48)(YMS-268) * USS Lorikeet (AMS-49)(YMS-271) * HMS BYMS-2282 (YMS-282) * USS Reedbird (AMS-51)(YMS-291) * USS Rhea (AMS-52)(YMS-299) * USS Robin (AMS-53)(YMS-311) * USS Grackle (AMS-13)(YMS-312) * USS Grouse (AMS-15) (YMS-321) * USS Plover (AMS-33)(YMS-442) * USS Redhead (AMS-34)(YMS-443) * USS Hawk (AMS-17)(YMS-362) * USS Hornbill (AMS-19)(YMS-371) * USS Hummer (AMS-20)(YMS-372) * USS Jackdaw (AMS-21)(YMS-373) * USS Kite (AMS-22)(YMS-374) * USS Lark (AMS-23)(YMS-376) *

USS YMS-386 USS ''YMS-386'' was a U.S. Navy World War II Type 1 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper. On 6 October 1942 her hull was laid down at the Colberg Boat Works of Stockton, California. During World War II, the Colberg Boat Works, constructed a number ...

* USS Seagull (AMS-55)(YMS-402) * USS Chatterer (AMS-40)(YMS-415) *

USS YMS-418 The YMS-418 was a YMS-1 class minesweeper which saw service in World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World ...

* USS Mockingbird (AMS-27)(YMS-419) * USS Siskin (AMS-58) (YMS-425) * USS Ostrich (AMS-29)(YMS-430) * USS Parrakeet (AMS-30)(YMS-434) * USS Partridge (AMS-31)(YMS-437) * USS Pelican (AMS-32)(YMS-441) * USS Turkey (AMS-56)(YMS-444) * USS Sanderling (AMCU-49)(YMS-446) * USS McMinnville (PCS-1401)(YMS-452) * USS Swan (AMS-37)(YMS-470) * USS Verdin (YMS-471) * USS Waxbill (MHC-50)(YMS-479) * USS Swallow (AMS-36)(YMS-461)

Survivors

*, yacht *, research ship *, Merchant vessel, USS YMS-123

References

* * * *

External links

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

{{Authority control Mine warfare vessel classes World War II minesweepers of the United States