USS ''YMS-386'' was a U.S. Navy World War II Type 1 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper. On 6 October 1942 her hull was laid down at the Colberg Boat Works of

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Colberg Boat Works, constructed a number of vessels under contract with the U.S. Navy. She was launched on 23 March 1943 and commissioned on 23 July. ''YMS-386'' carried a total complement of 32, four officers and 28 crew. She had a displacement of 270 tons, a length of 136 feet, a beam of 24 feet 6 inches and a draft of 8 feet. Powered by two 880shp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines and two shafts, with a maximum speed of 15 knots. Her armament included one single 3"/50 foredeck gun mount, two Oerlikon 20mm single barrel AA guns, one port and one starboard, mounted aft of the pilot house and two DCP's (Depth Charge Projectors). In June 1945, ''YMS-386'' departed Pearl Harbor with a minesweeper convoy engaging in live-fire exercises en route to Johnson Island. From Johnson Island ''YMS-386'' again departed with other minesweeper craft to participate in mine craft sweeping operations off the coast of Okinawa Japan. En route to Okinawa, an electrical fire caused enough damage to force ''YMS-386'' to change course to Guam for approximately two weeks for repairs. While sweeping coastal waters off of Okinawa on 6 August, the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. After the formal Japanese surrender on 2 September, ''YMS-386'' continued sweeping duties of post-war Japanese harbors. While at port at Buckner Bay Okinawa, at 0430 on 4 October she received urgent orders to get underway to sail around the southern tip of Okinawa into the Sea of China and proceed 80 nautical miles to Unton Ko at the north end of the island. She sailed into mountainous swells and wind driven seas with other vessels attempting to escape the oncoming typhoon. At one point in the midst of a violent 58% roll, she escaped a near fantail collision with . After 13 hours, ''YMS-386'' was only four of 13 ships to successfully complete the journey to Unton Ko. This event became known Typhoon Louise of 4–10 October, eventually causing substantial loss of life and loss of ships. She set sail for Osaka Wan and Yokaichi Bay in Osaka to continue sweeping operations in Japanese waters until December 1945. (Excerpts from the Journal of Gunners Mate 1st Class Clifford E. Medley, USS ''YMS-386'', June 1945-December 1945)

Disposal

On 27 May 1946 ''YMS-386'' was sold and struck from the Naval Register on 3 July. Her fate is unknown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:YMS-386 1943 ships Ships built in Stockton, California World War II minesweepers of the United States YMS-1-class minesweepers of the United States Navy