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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

HM BYMS-2026
ex-HM J-826
ex-BYMS-26



BYMS-26 was built for Great Britain.
BYMS-1 Class Motor Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 12 August 1941 as BYMS-26 by Ballard Marine Railway Co., Inc., Seattle, WA
  • Launched 21 March 1942
  • Sponsored by Isobel Prentice, the daughter of the Ballard Marine Railways foreman
  • Completed and transferred to Great Britain 22 August 1942
  • Commissioned HM J-826 in February 1943
  • Renamed HM BYMS-2026 in 1944; Decommissioned in 1946 and laid up at Malta
  • Struck from the Navy Register 10 June 1947
  • Returned to U.S. custody 1 August 1947
  • Sold to Joseph Gasan, converted to a car ferry and named Calypso
  • Operated between Malta and Gozo
  • Sold to Thomas Loel Guinness and leased to Jacques Cousteau for one franc per year
  • Struck by a barge 8 January 1996 and sank at Singapore
  • Salvaged 25 January 1996 and towed to Marseille, France
  • Presently at LaRochelle, France awaiting her fate.

    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 800bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    BYMS-2026 78k c. April 1999
    La Rochelle, France
    Photos by Peter Potrowl    		 Robert Hurst
    BYMS-2026 106k
    BYMS-2026 274k 9 November 2007
    Calypso on the stocks at the Piriou Shipyard, Concarneau, Brittany, France, while undergoing restoration and transformation into a permanent exhibit
    Photo courtesy of Olivier Bernard
    There is no DANFS history available for BYMS-2026
    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 British Motor Minesweeper (BYMS) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
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