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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 2049, Flotilla 170 in 1943, 170 and 169 in 1944 (known to be in 170 in June 44) 169 in 1945.
Built by: Gibbs Corp., Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
Laid down: 9 May 1942
Launched: 1 September 1942
Completed and transferred to Royal Navy: 7 April 43,
Reclassified: HMS J-849 later BYMS-2049.
Assigned to the Nore Command, Flotilla 170 in 43.
MOVEMENTS
7 April 43, completed.
1 July 43 Charleston.
10 July 43 Boston.
12 to 26 July 43 Halifax.
28 July 43 to 12 Jan 44 St John’s
9 May 44 Halifax. Crossed the Atlantic from Canada to the Azores Islands and on the Great Britain.
18 and 19 May 44 the Azores.
25 May 44 Londonderry.
3 Dec 44 Calais
27 April 44 Calais.
27 April 44 Dover.
1946 at Sheerness.
1947 at Falmouth.
May 48 Returned to United States Navy and sold to Finland.
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, June 1943,
Temp. Lieut., R.N.R., G. O. Macdonald, (In Command.) 4 Sept 42
Temp. Lieut., R.N.V.R., L. A. Reeve 16 Oct 42
Temp. Sub-Lieut., R.N.V.R., E. P. Hope-Smith 19 Oct 42
Temp. Sub-Lieut., R.N.V.R., J. Moore, 8 April 43.
Coxswain John Hope (known as Jack)
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, June 1944.
Temp. Lieut., R.N.V.R., L. A. Reeve, (In Command.) 16 Oct 42
Temp. Sub-Lieut., R.N.V.R., H. G. Rennie, 21 Oct 43.
Coxswain John Hope (known as Jack)
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, July 1945.
Temp. Lieut., R.N.V.R., L. A. Reeve, (In Command.) 16 Oct 42
Temp. Sub-Lieut., R.N.V.R., H. G. Rennie, 21 Oct 43.
Coxswain John Hope (known as Jack)
BYMS 2049
British Yard Mine Sweeper 2049.
Nore Command, World War Two 1939 to 1945.
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.
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
Able Seaman Ronald Hill served on BYMS 2049 from 28 July 1946 to 08 March 1947. Although the war had ended the men of the minesweeper continued to risk their lived daily, clearing mines from the German mine fields and the British mine Barrier.
Photograph by kind permission of his son Mark Hill.