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BYMS 2214, Flotilla 157 in 43 and 44. 150 in 45.
Built by: Robert Jacobs Inc., City Island, New York, USA.
Laid down: 24 August 1942.
Launched: 26 February 1943.
Completed and transferred to Royal Navy: 2 July 1943.
Reclassified: HMS J-1014 later HMS BYMS-2214.
Assigned to the Nore Command, Flotilla 157.
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.
Crew on foredeck firing at a mine on the surface. The object was to sink the mine, not blow it up!
BYMS 2214
British Yard Mine Sweeper 2214.
Nore Command, World War Two 1939 to 1945.
MOVEMENTS
2 July 43, Completed.
19 Aug 43, New York.
21 Aug 43, Boston.
23 and 24 Aug 43, Halifax.
27 to 29 Aug 43, St John’s. Crossed Atlantic Ocean from Canada to the U.K.
6 Sep to 9 Sep 43, Londonderry.
11 and 12 Sep 43, Inverness.
14 Sep 43, Great Yarmouth.
3 Aug 44 Great Yarmouth.
3 Aug 44, Southend.
25 Oct 44, Great Yarmouth, TIH.
24 Jan 44, Great Yarmouth, TIH.
9 Feb 44, Great Yarmouth, TIH.
30 Aug 44, France. As the army advance overland taking the ports, the minesweepers cleared the mines from them.
7 Sep 44, Portsmouth.
8 Sep 44, Dover.
13 Sep 44, Ramsgate.
8 Jan 45 Great Yarmouth.
4 March 45, Sheerness.
4 March 45 Ostend. Commander of M/S Ostend report for march shows that BYMS of the 157th MSF 2076, 2214, 2230, 2034 were on loan from sheerness between 4 and 14 to fill gaps.
24 April 45, Great Yarmouth.
9 May 45 Ostend. The winter of 1944–1945 was very harsh for the people of Holland. Food was cut off by the Germans and 18,000 people starved to death. Relief came at the beginning of May 1945 when minesweepers cleared Dutch ports of mines and ships carrying humanitarian aid arrived. Minesweepers, the first vessels to arrive in Dutch ports gave their food to Dutch children.
21 May to 6 June 45 Great Yarmouth.
27 June to 29 June 45, Kiel, Germany. Although the War in Europe is over, mines still need clearing from German harbours and ports.
1946 at Sheerness. Laid up at Queenborough Pier, Wildfire III, Queenborough after WW2 waiting to be returned to the United States Navy or sold.
10 Nov 46, returned to USA.
Dec 1947 Sold for a club ship at Rainham.
Finished life as a Breakwater.
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, June 1944
Temp. Lieut. R.N.V.R. H. Mc Diarmid, 20 Sep 43.
OFFICERS ON THE NAVY LIST, July 1945
Temp. Lieut, R. N. V. R., J. A. Johnson 18 Apr 45.
Temp. Sub-Lieut, R. N. V. R., D. W. Adam, 5 Sept
Temp. Sub-Lieut, R. N. V. R., S. J. Bell. 30 Sept 44.
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