The minesweeping ship my grandfather served on during WWII (YMS-326)
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Thanks to your gramps.
waoo what an incredible memory you have
Your grandpa was very lucky. ‘Sweep duty was the tits back in the day. Good food, small crew, good times relatively.
I served 3 1/2 years on a ocean going minesweeper 75-79 and life expectancy in live minefield was about 20 minutes is what they told us. Wooden boats and iron men is what we were told!
During WWII my father was an officer on YMS-386, then later YMS-485 in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Typical of his generation, he never spoke much about it except once in a great while when he would mention sailing through Typhoon Louise near Okinawa in 1945 as if it were no big deal. It had been—a 58% roll, a near-collision with another mine sweeper, mountainous swells, wind-driven seas… only four of thirteen ships made the journey successfully.
Wooden boats and iron men, indeed. And your grandfather was in a place where survival in the water was measured in seconds.