OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, June 1943
Tempy. Lieut. L Hutchinson 5 Aug 42.
Tempy. Lieut. J Izod. 1 July 42
Tempy. Sub-Lieut., D. H. Sayer 1 July 42.
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, June 1944.
Tempy. Lieut., L. Hutchinson, 7 April 42
Tempy. Lieut., J Izod. 1 July 42
Tempy. Sub-Lieut., D. H. Sayer, 1 July 42
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, July 1945.
Tempy. Sub-Lieut., H W.Knott, Mar 45
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BYMS 2011 tied up at Ancona, Italy.
BYMS 2011 with her original number, still being fitted out. Note, gun barrel not in place.
BYMS 2011, fitted out with sun canopy while in the Mediterranean.
MOVEMENTS.
Completed. 21 September 1942
9 March 1943, San Francisco, USA.
3 April 1943, Balboa, Panama Canal.
13 April 1943, Cristobal, Panama Canal.
21 May 1943, Recife, Brazil.
29 April to 24 June 1943, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa.
1 to 4 August 1943, Gibraltar.
9 to 30 August 1943, Malta.
31 October 1943, Naples.
17 April 1944, Taranto, Italy.
18 April to 7 May 1944, Messina, Sicily.
16 May 1944, Taranto, Italy.
15 May to 2 June1944, Brindisi, Italy, Adriatic.
3 to 5 June 1944, Bari, Italy, Adriatic.
5 to 9 June 1944, Brindisi, Italy, Adriatic.
10 June to 16 September, 1944, Bari, Italy, Adriatic.
15 Nov 1944, Ancona, Italy, Adriatic.
11 August 1945, Ancona, Italy, Adriatic.
Returned to USA. 7 July 1947.
AWARDS FOR MINESWEEPING
DSC: Distinguished Service Cross. DSM: Distinguished Service Medal. MID: Mention in Dispatches.
Lewis HUTCHINSON, Lieutenant, BYMS 2011. 23 Jan 45. MID awarded for courage and skill in hazardous minesweeping operations off the Adriatic coast of Italy.
BYMS 2011
British Yard Mine Sweeper
BRITISH YARD MINE SWEEPERS.
BYMS’s were built in the United States and transferred the Royal Navy under the Lend-lease Programme. “British Yard Mine Sweepers” are so called because they were built to the same design as the US Navy’s “Yard Mine Sweepers”.
Crews for the BYMS’s would sail to the United States, often on the Queen Mary, which could sail unescorted because of her greater speed, to collect their vessel. They would then have the formidable task of sailing their small vessel back across the Atlantic Ocean, often in winter.
MINE SWEEPING FLOTILLA: 151st MSF, Mediterranean: 2011, 2012, 2020, 2023. 1943.
Built by: Associated Shipbuilders, Seattle, Washington, USA. (West Coast)
Laid down: 25 February 1942
Launched: 30 April 1942
Handed over to Royal Navy: 21 September 1942
Returned to USA: 7 July 1947
Sold 7 July 1947 to J. Bartolo of Malta and renamed Young Joe.
1949 Sold to S. L. Mizzi, Malta and renamed Young Joe
1951 Sold to Brufina of Brussels, Belgium and renamed Eureka.
1956 Sold to the Belgium Navy as renamed Eureka (QM 900)
SPECIFICATIONS:
Wooden hull. Length, 130 feet. Beam, 25 feet 6 inches. Depth, 12 feet I inch. Draft, 8 foot 10.5 inches. Displacement 207-215 tons.
Engine: Two 800 bhp General Motors diesel engines.
Speed: 14.6 knots. 10 knots while sweeping. (Eight knots with double Oropesa sweeps)
Range: 2,500 at ten knots.
Compliment: 3 officers and 27 men.
Armament: One 3-inch HA/LA gun and two Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns.
BYMS’s were fitted with a drum on the stern with LL (double L) cables for sweeping magnetic mines, an acustic hammer on the bow for sweeping acustic mines and Oropesa floats for sweeping tethered mines.
All YMS and BYMS were built to the same design, the only variation was in the number of exhaust stacks. Minesweepers 1 to 134 had two sacks, 135 to 480 had one stack, 466 to 479 had no stacks.