Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

HMS BYMS-2188
ex-HMS J-988
ex-YMS-188


BYMS-2188 served the Navies of Great Britian and The Netherlands.
YMS-1 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 22 July 1942 as YMS-188 by Greenport Basin and Construction Co., Greenport, Long Island, NY
  • Launched, 26 September 1942
  • Completed, 30 March 1943 and transferred to Great Britain as HMS J-988
  • Renamed HMS BYMS-2188
  • Struck from the Naval Register 13 December 1946
  • Transferred to The Netherlands in 1946 as Volkerak (M 838)
  • Returned to U.S. custody 1 January 1947
  • Transferred to the State Department, Foreign Liquidation Commission in February 1947
  • Struck from the Naval Register in 1957
  • Fate unknown.

    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 chage projectiles
  • 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
    YMS-188
    YMS-188 90k YMS-188 underway on sea trials before transfer to Great Britain Victor Barnaby
    HMS BYMS-2188
    YMS-188 205k c. February - May 1946
    Netherlands
    Gordon Hunter in the engineroom "Happiness in the land of dials"
    From the collection of Engineman Gordon Hunter    		 Ian Hunter
    YMS-188 85k c. 1946
    "Wonders never cease. The '88' at sea on engine trials outside Ijmuiden" [The Netherlands]
    From the collection of Engineman Gordon Hunter
    YMS-188 23k c. 1946
    "Safely swept"
    From the collection of Engineman Gordon Hunter
    YMS-188 99k c. 1946
    Rotterdam, The Netherlands
    From the collection of Engineman Gordon Hunter
    There is no DANFS history available for BYMS-2188
    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
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
    All Pages © 1996 - 2023, NavSource History, All rights reserved.