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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive
Courtesy of Tommy Trampp

HMCS Cordova (MCA 158)
ex-USS YMS-420



Call sign:
Nan - Peter - Yoke - Xray


YMS-420 served the Navies of the United States and Canada



HMCS Cordova call sign:
Charlie - Yankee - Whiskey - Victor
YMS-1 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 18 September 1943 by Henry C. Grebe and Co., Chicago, IL
  • Launched 8 April 1944
  • Completed 5 February 1945 and commissioned USS YMS-420
  • Loaned to an unknown miscellaneous activity in February 1947
  • Struck from the Naval Register 31 January 1950
  • Sold to Canada 3 December 1951
  • Commissioned HMCS Cordova (MCA 158), 9 August 1952
  • Decommissioned 4 April 1957
  • Declared surplus in 1963
  • Sold in 1970 to Harbour Ferries, Ltd. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and renamed Harbour Queen No. 1
  • Acquired in 1974 by Sea-Land Industries, Ltd. of Vancouver
  • Acquired in 1975 by Eland Distributors, Ltd. of Vancouver
  • Acquired in 1978 by Northwind Marine, Ltd. of Vancouver
  • Renamed Nakaya in 1980
  • Acquired in 1984 by British Columbia, Ltd. of Vancouver
  • Sunk in 1992 as a diving wreck at Porteau Cove Provincial Park, located 40 miles north of Vancouver.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 270 t.
  • Length 136'
  • Beam 24' 6"
  • Draft 8'
  • Speed 15 kts.
  • Complement 32
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two 20mm mounts and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 880bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS YMS-420
    YMS-420 206k c. 1945
    Crew photo    		 Joe Sam
    HMCS Cordova (MCA 158)
    YMS-420 73k HMCS Cordova still wearing her U.S. hull number Robert Hurst
    YMS-420 73k Department of National Defense photo, Courtesy of Dave Shirlaw Original photo: Haze Gray & Underway Web Site
    Replacement photo: Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    YMS-420 89k . Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
    There is no DANFS history available for YMS-420
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper (YMS) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
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