OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, June 1943.
Skipper Lieut., R.N.R. W Jappy (act) Sep 42.
Temp. Skipper Lieut., R.N.R., J. G. M. Taylor 7 Oct 42
Temp. Skipper Lieut., R.N.R., G. Thomson (act) 7 Oct 42
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, June 1944.
Skipper Lieut., R.N.R., W Jappy (act) Sep 42.
Temp. Skipper R.N.R., G. Thomson 7 Oct 42.
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, July 1945.
Skipper Lieut., R.N.R., W. Jappy (act) (In Command) Sep 42.
Temp. Skipper R.N.R., G. Thomson 7 Oct 42
Temp. Skipper R.N.R., C. J. Palmer 6 May 45
MOVEMENTS.
7 April 43, completed.
5 June 43 Charleston.
22 June 43 New York.
23 to 25 June 43 Boston.
27 June to 26 July 43 Halifax.
13 Oct 43 to 12 Jan 44 St John’s.
25 Feb 44 Halifax. Crossed the Atlantic from Canada to the Azores island group and on to South England.
3 to 6 March 44 Horta, the Azores.
13 March 44 Falmouth.
14 March to 24 April 44 Swansea.
25 April 10 May 44 Plymouth.
8 June 44 Fowey, Cornwall.
10 June 44 Falmouth.
11 to 24 June 44 Swansea. Preceding American Convoys from West coast ports to the D-day landing Beaches.
25 Jun 44 Portland.
15 July France WTF.
6 Aug 44 Portland.
19 to 24 Aug 44 Portland.
24 Aug to 5 Sep 44. Cherbourg. Clearing mines from the all-important French port of Cherbourg after the American forces had captured it.
9 Sep to 31 Oct 44 Humber.
November 44, helped in clearing the Scheldt of mines, the most crucial minesweeping event of WW2.
2 Dec 44 Sheerness.
17 Jan 45 Antwerp.
18 Jan 45 Southend.
18 Jan 45 Harwich.
13 June to 16 July 45 Humber.
26 Aug 45 Cuxhaven, Germany. Clearing mines from German ports to allow ships carrying humanitarian aid, for people close to starvation, to discharge their cargoes.
27 Aug 45 Humber.
1946 on loan to Holland.
1 Jan 47, Returned to United States Navy and sold to Holland.
BYMS 2048
Watch these short videos about the Wildfire III Minesweepers.
Minesweepers: https://youtu.be/aTsYiZFzv5M
D-day minesweepers: https://youtu.be/ZjlA5LxCAsg
Clearing the Scheldt: https://youtu.be/8ELsc9T3Lbw
The Relief of Holland: https://youtu.be/GghYEFHmOfY
Officers and crew of BYMS 2048. Possibly taken when the BYMS 2048 was handed over to the Royal Navy in the USA.
Skipper Lieut., R.N.R. W Jappy (Left) Temp. Skipper Lieut., R.N.R., J. G. M. Taylor (Centre) Temp. Skipper Lieut., R.N.R., G. Thomson (Right) Possibly taken when the BYMS 2048 was handed over to the Royal Navy in the USA.
BYMS 2048
Skipper George Thomson.
Photographs by kind permission of Nick Duffy, whose Grandfather, George Thomson, served on BYMS 2048.
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.
BYMS 2048, Flotilla 160 in 1943, 170 in 1944 and 1945.
Built by: Gibbs Corp., Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
Laid down: 24 April 1942.
Launched: 19 August 1942
Completed and transferred to Royal Navy: 7 April 43,
Reclassified: HMS J-848 later HMS BYMS-2048
Assigned to the Nore Command, Flotilla 170 in 1944
BYMS 2048
British Yard Mine Sweeper 2048.
Nore Command, World War Two 1939 to 1945.
If you, your father or your grandfather have any additional information about this ship, crew lists, stories, photographs, please send copies of them to be added to our records and this website.
Thank you.
Contact: johntenthousand@yahoo.co.uk
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BYMS 2048, possibly while undergoing sea trail in preparation to returning to Great Britain from the USA, crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Note the ship's crest in the photograph above in now fixed to the vessel .
BYMS 2048, after sold to Holland in 1947.
BYMS, British Yard Mine Sweeper were all built to the same design. The only variation was one of appearance in the number of exhaust stacks. They were fitted with an Acoustic “hammer” on the bow to sweep for acoustic mines and a drum on the stern for the LL cables to sweep magnetic mines.