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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Rhea (MSC[O] 52)
ex-Rhea (AMS 52)
ex-YMS-299



Call sign:
November - Papa - Bravo - November
YMS-135 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper:

  • The second Rhea was laid down 5 June 1942 by William F. Stone and Sons Co., Oakland, CA
  • Launched 14 November 1942
  • Commissioned USS YMS-299, 7 April 1943
  • Placed in service, in reserve, 6 March 1947 at Philadelphia, PA
  • Named Rhea, reclassified as a Motor Minesweeper AMS-52, 1 September 1947 and placed in service as a Naval Reserve training ship in the 4th Naval District (Philadelphia)
  • Recommissioned 15 November 1950
  • Reclassified a Coastal Minesweeper (Old), MSC(O)-52, 7 February 1955
  • Placed in reserve 1 November 1957 at New London, CT
  • Decommissioned 23 December 1957
  • Struck from the Naval Register 1 November 1959
  • Sold in June 1960 to the Ships, Engines and Equipment Co.
  • Sold in 1960 to the Courageous Sailing Club Inc. of London, Ontario, Canada
  • Sold in 1962 to Canadian Navy Cadet group at London, Ontario based at Port Stanley
  • Sold in 1983 to Peter Cash, et. al. of Oshawa, Ontario
  • Acquired by Gary Zulauf of Oshawa
  • Sank due to rotted hull 10 October 1997
  • Raised 11 November 1997 and scrapped.

    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 projectors
  • 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-299
    Rhea 179k Joe Radigan
    Rhea 304k Original photo: At the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge
    U.S. Navy photo
    Replacement photo: In front of the eastern portion of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. The Berkeley Hills can be seen faintly to the East (on the left side of the bridge) with the Port of Oakland and Alameda Naval Air Station to the right of the bridge    		 Original photo: Bill Gonyo
    Replacement photo: Joe Radigan
    USS Rhea (MSC[O] 52)
    Rhea 479k
    Namesake:

    Rhea - A non-flying bird, a member of the ostrich family, found in South America

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 29 December 2021
    Rhea 98k . Ed Traylor
    Crew member June 1956 - 23 December 1957
    Rhea 120k c. August 1955
    At Mine Warfare School Yorktown, VA    		 Stan Cochran
    Rhea
    Rhea 62k . Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Edmond Hamilton Gentry, USNR7 April 1943
    02LTJG O. Sipari, USNR1945
    03Chief Boatswain William Hendricks Sadler, USN15 November 1950 - 21 October 1951
    04LT William Cornell Magee, USN21 October 1951 - 19 November 1952
    05LT Carlos Cataneda Villareal, USN19 November 1952
    06LT Thomas Richard Kinnebrew, USN - Awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, three Legions of Merit, the Meritorious Servece Medal and the Joint Service Commendation Medal
    Retired as Vice Admiral    		1955 - July 1956
    07LT James Alvin Sagerholm, USN - USNA Class of 1952
    Retired as Vice Admiral    		July 1956 - 1957
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves, Joe Radigan and Bill Gonyo
    View the Rhea (MSC[O] 52)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper (YMS) Photo Index Back to the Motor Minesweeper (AMS) Photo Index Back to the Coastal Minesweeper (MSC) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
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