1943 — Feb 20, USN Minesweeper YMS-133 capsizes in trough, Coos Bay bar, OR — 13

lornajarrettblanchard February 20, 1943

–13 Dewey, Chris. “Shipwrecks in Oregon.” The Oregon Encyclopedia.” 5-1-2019 update.
–13 Marshall, Don. Oregon Shipwrecks. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1984, p. 46.

Narrative Information

Dewey: “The U.S. Navy’s minesweeper YMS-133 learned the lesson of treacherous swells where the river meets the sea. When the ship attempted to cross the Coos Bay bar in February 1943, the captain tried to come about in the channel when the minesweeper was rolled over on her beam and smashed into the sandbar. Thirteen of her complement of twenty-nine were lost.

HyperWar: “20 February, Sat. Pacific. Motor minesweeper YMS-founders and sinks, Coos Bay, OR.”

Newspapers

Feb 20: “MARHSFTELD. Ore.—(U.P.) — The navy announced today that five crew members of the minesweeper YM -133 were killed and 13 still are missing after the craft capsized a few hundred yards off the mouth of Coos bay harbor last Saturday.” (Hammond Times (IN). “Bulletins,” Feb 20, 1943, p. 1.)

Feb 23: “PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 23. – Five men are dead and 13 missing in the capsizing of the minesweeper YMS 133 based at Coos Bay, Ore., 13th naval district officials announced Monday. Eleven survivors of the 29-man crew have been taken ashore at Port Orford, Ore., the navy said.” (New Castle News. “Minesweeper Capsizes; Five Die, 13 Missing,” 2-23-1943, 11.)

Sources

Dewey, Chris. “Shipwrecks in Oregon.” The Oregon Encyclopedia.” 5-1-2019 update. Accessed 4-16-2020 at: https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/shipwrecks-in-oregon/

Hammond Times, IN. “Bulletins,” Feb 20, 1943, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=15129942

HyperWar – The Official Chronology of the US Navy in World War II. Chapter V: 1943. Accessed 4-16-2020 at: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1943.html

Marshall, Don. Oregon Shipwrecks. Portland, OR: Binford & Mort Publishing, 1984.

New Castle News, PA. “Minesweeper Capsizes; Five Die, 13 Missing,” 2-23-1943, p. 11. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=57589222