Dutch (US BYMS Class) Minesweeper 1:350

[josbakkers]

Fellow Cardboardengineers,for My Diorama concerning the Cruiser De Ruyter I promised to build 2 other Vessels alongside ,the Destroyer Zeeland and a Minesweeper the Zuiderdiep. But the Minesweeper Zuiderdiep (a wooden boat build in the USA and bought by the Dutch just after World War 2,remained in service till the early sixties)comes in scale 1:250 so I rescaled here to 1:350.As this Kit has a lot more details it's quite fun to build this little lady in a smaller scale.I build her as the Oosterschelde M835,one can chose from 6 different names,so all the ships names are descendend from Zeeland.The cardboard recommended for the frames is 1 mm so I used 0.5 mm intead.Hope the pictures will tell it all.
Cheers for now,Jos

[legion]

Doesn't this ship still exist and is harboured in Scheveningen? Great start btw!

[Scott K]

Originally Posted by legion

Doesn't this ship still exist and is harboured in Scheveningen? Great start btw!

A quick Google tells me it is. Darn! Wayyy beyond my ability to visit! I didn't know any other YMS ships were left besides the Calypso and John Wayne's yacht, Wild Goose. I was also disappointed to learn she was the former USS YMS-483. I had a slight hope she might have been USS YMS-140, my Dad's old ship. I've been unable to find information on her postwar disposition, other than "unknown", in 1947.

I'll be watching this build with great interest!


Scott K.

[legion]

I have been on that ship with my grandfather a few times when i was a wee lad. That is how I knew. It is a museum ship and there's a great fish store nearby (famous throughout the country). Good memories.

[kwarts]

Hallo all you minesweeper lovers,

as far as the dutch WIKI goes, the Ex Hr Ms Mercuur was first called Hr. Ms, Onverschrokken (M 886). She was build in America as an Aggressive-class minesweeper (the English WIKI does not mention the Netherlands as one of the nations who used the class). As such, she has no relation to the BYMS-class minesweeper of the Borndiep-class. Both classes were however donated to the Netherlands as part of the Mutual Defence Aid Program.

From 1973 on she was employed as a torpedo work-boat (Hr. Ms Mercuur, A 856). From 1993 on she is moored in the second (fishing) harbour of Scheveningen (The Hague).

[Don Boose]

Christiaan clears up some of the confusion.

The ship that Jos is building is Oosterschelde M835, which was the USS YMS 230 (BYMS 2230), and, to the best of my belief, doesn't exist anymore. At least, the generally reliable Navsource lists the ship as "fate unknown." YMS-230
Hr. Ms. Oosterschelde - Wikipedia

The museum ship Mercuur A856 was, as Christiaan notes, a U.S. Navy ocean minesweeper, USS MSO 483. MSO-483
The Hague - Museum Ship Mercuur A856

There never was a USS YMS 483 (YMS 482-500 were ordered, but cancelled: NavSource Auxiliary Minesweeper Photo Archive), and, as Scott points out, his Dad's ship, YMS 140, which served in the Okinawa campaign, Operation ICEBERG, and was hit by a kamikaze, was truck from the Navy Register in 1947 and is "fate unknown." http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/19230.htm

You are building a fine model, Jos, and I have enjoyed the discussion of the ship and other Dutch mine warfare ships and their histories.

Don

[josbakkers]

Scott,Kwarts,Legion and Don,thanks for all the interest,didn't know all the interest in this litle lady.Kwarts is right about the facts and figures.BYMS stands for Brooklyn Yard Mine Sweeper.As far as I can recall is that after She's put out of commision (1957)She's handed over to the Gouda Sea Cadet Corps were she was in service till 1987,later history unknown.Enclosed a few other Pictures from her Deck detail.Sure hope You all enjoy this litle Ship,or is it Boat? Jos

[Don Boose]

Nice work, Jos.

I like the term "Brooklyn Yard Minesweeper." Is that the term used in Holland?

The U.S. Navy term for "BYMS" was "British Auxiliary Minsweeeper," because a lot of the YMS ships were sent to Britain under the Lend-Lease Program.

The "MS," of course, means "minesweeper."

The designation "Y" mean "yard and district craft" and was applied to tugs and other harbor and coastal craft. "Craft" means they were sort of in between boats and ships (the U.S. Navy veterans like Nimitzfan and RAFleishman may provide a more accurate determination). NavSource Auxiliary Minesweeper Photo Archive

During World War II, minesweepers were referred to as "auxiliaries" to differentiate them from combatant vessels. Amaller auxiliaries had the "Y" prefix; larger auxiliaries had an "A" prefix (AM = minesweeper). After World War II, the Navy redesignated the larger minesweepers as "Fleet Minesweepers" and dropped the "auxiliary" prefix, identifying them as combatant vessels, so they became "MSF."
http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02055.htm

Your ship was built in 1943 by the Frank L. Sample, Jr. shipyard of Boothbay Harbor, Maine (still in business as the Boothby Harbor Shipyard): Frank L. Sample
Boothbay Harbor Shipyard, Boothbay Harbor, Maine - Design, production and care of wooden vessels - facility and crew

Whether it is a ship or a craft or a boat, I am enjoying watching you build this fine model.

Don

[salpao]

Nice start

[josbakkers]

Finally time to build on,thanks Don en Herky and yes Don the name in Holland is Brooklyn Yard Minesweeper since they all came from the States.Add now pictures from the aft deck winch which is build from 31 pieces.It's using tweezers and magnifiing glasses since the kit is originally made in 1:250 and it's now a 27% smaller.A eurocent is 16 mm round.Cheers for now Jos