MOVEMENTS.
2 November 1943, completed.
31 Oct 1943, St John’s Newfoundland, Canada.
21 Nov 1943, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
21 to 29 Dec 1943, Charleston, South Carolina, United States.
3 to 6 Jan 1944, Bermuda.
8 Jan 1944, Bermuda.
16 to 21 Jan 1944, Horta, Azores.
27 and 28 Jan 1944, Falmouth.
29 Jan 1944, Portsmouth.
3 Aug 1944, Great Yarmouth.
15 20 Nov 1944, Portsmouth.
Sep 1944, Newhaven.
11 to 16 Dec 1944, Portsmouth.
9 Jan 1945, Portsmouth.
12 February 1948, returned to USA.
AWARDS FOR MINESWEEPING
DSC: Distinguished Service Cross. DSM: Distinguished Service Medal. MID: Mention in Dispatches.
Robert George THOMPSON, Robert George, LT/JX20232 LS, BYMS 2234. 16 Jan 45. MID awarded for gallantry and skill in minesweeping operations off the coast of France.
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, June 1943.
Not on Navy Lists.
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, June 1944.
Tempy. Skipper Lieut., H. Spall (act) 3Nov 43 (In Command)
Tempy. Skipper A. M. Jappy, 3 Nov 43
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, July 1945.
Tempy. Lieut., H. J. McKemp, 18 Sept 44. R.N.Z.N.R. (In Command)
Tempy. Skipper, A. T. Varley. DSM. 21 Mar 45.
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BYMS 2234
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: 168th MSF: 2042, 2062, 2063, 2234 2253, 2254, 2279, 2280.
Based at: Portsmouth/ANCXF 1944. East Indies 1945. (ANCXF is the Allied Naval Commander Expeditionary Force, leading up to D-day and beyond.)
Built by: Frank L. Sample, Jr., Boothbay Harbor, Maine, USA.
Laid down: 27 April 1943.
Launched: 4 September 1943.
Handed over to Royal Navy: 2 November 1943.
Returned to USA: 12 February 1948.
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.