Succeeding them following the Korean Armistice was Mine Division – 111 which had almost totally converted to 50′ Motor Launch Minesweepers, heavily modified by Ship Repair Depot in Sasebo with decks, some with enclosed pilot houses and masts. They were forced by Navy wisdom to relinquish their MSB designations (Mine Sweeping Boats) and reclassify their boats as Motor Launch Mine Sweepers – MLMS. This was due to BuShips having given the MSB designation to a new 57′ minesweeper class they were developing.

In 1958 these boats were replaced by newly built 36′ Mine Sweeping Launches (MSL’s), powered by Boeing Gas Turbine Type 502-10C. Twenty MSL’s were delivered to WestPAC split between Sasebo and Long Beach, CA. Following this re-organization their LCVP’s and MLMS’s were given to Taiwan, Korea, and Vietnam. The Division was re-named Mine Division – 33, and in 1961 the USS Epping Forest LSD-4, was transferred to MinFlot 1 in Sasebo and re-designated MCS-7. Mine Countermeasures Support ship.

In August 1966 MinDiv – 33 was decommissioned and tranferred aboard the USS Epping Forest mCS-7 as the Boat Division. In Fall of 1968 the USS Epping Forest was de-commissioned. The Boat division was sent to the Sasebo Seawall for the winter. The following Spring the USS Catskill MCS-2 arrived in Sasebo as the new mothership. During which in the waning budgets due to Vietnam, the Catskill was decommissioned. Minesweeping Boat Divisions homeported in Sasebo no longer exist.

I think the Japanese perspective of what occurred with the Sasebo facilities post WWII is very interesting, Life in Base Town Sasebo

Ed Sinclair

W.J Miller QMC USN, a writer for the USN All Hands Magazine wrote a nice 6 page story on the AMS minesweepers (136″) and the CoMinRon 3 Boat Division sweepers (36′) - Which were later redesginated as Mine Sweeping Boat Division ONE for the remaider of the Korean War. Following the Korean Armistice in August 1953, the unit became Mine division – 111 homeported in Sasebo. In 1958 it was further redesignated Mine Division – 33 and reorganized to report to COMINRON THREE/MINFLOT 1 Sasebo.

Ed Sinclair

Charlotte Knight, Colliers War Correspondent, produced a nice article (attached) on AMS operations of COMINDIV Three in Korea during a fall 1951 visit to these minesweepers. These were primarily YMS designs of WWII that were converted to Auxiliary Mine Sweepers, and given ship names. The YMS Series (>425) were only given hull numbers during WWII. Fifty keywords of ship names commanding officers and key personnel are also listed in the complete article.

Seawall @ Jake (Juliet) Basin Sasebo, Japan

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE – Again to enlarge More

The Sasebo, Japan based mine sweeping boat division began as the COMinRon-3 Boat Division sometime following the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950. In early 1951 it was commissioned as Mine Sweeping Boat Division ONE, still reporting to COMinRon-3, cosisting of two 40′ motor launches and a dozen or more LCVP’s as minesweepers. Conversion to mostly 50′ motor Launches (modified with decks and even cabins, before the end of the war. At the Korean Armistace, the Division was re-named Mine Division 111, reporting to MinRon 11 in Long Beach, CA. In 1958 their 50′ Motor Launch Minesweepers (MLMS) were replaced by newly built 36′ Mine Sweeping Launches (MSL’s) built bt Sagstad Shipyards in Seattle, and powered by Boeing 502-10-C Gas Turbine Engines.

Hushion-Donaldson Korea

The sign at the beginning was their HQ Building at Jake Basin in Sasebo, Japan and the colorful North Korean Propaganda Poster was from the era early in the war. The mine explosion destroying a South Korean YMS (a 140′ WWII YMS) occured during the start of the 900 Day USN Seige of Wonsan Harbor in North Korea. The ship was of course obliterated by 900 lbs of TNT, and the USS Redhead a similar YMS/AMS was between the South Korean ship and the camera on 10-18-1950.

Ed Sinclair

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Edward Sinclair

This video shows Mine Sweeping Boat Division ONE launching Four LCVP Magnetic Minesweepers from the USS Cabildo LSD-16 in April 1952. MSB-1 had a variety of boats, including modified USN Motor Launches (40′ and 50′), and 36′ Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP’s) outfitted with Oropesa sweep gear for moored minesweeping. The four LCVP’s outfitted for magnetic minesweeping could not be launched by cranes from the LSD, because the magnetic minesweeping gear was powered by several 750 lb submarine batteries stored in the boat, making it too heavy to launch via the mother ship’s cranes. Therefore, the LSD would ballast down, flooding a portion of the well deck, and the boats would simply sail out via the stern gate. Recovering magnetic boats at night, were the reverse of the process. The LSD ballasted down, flooding the well deck with enough water to float the boats, and the boats would sail into the well deck under their own power.

The magnetic minesweeping tails were approximately 1,500 feet long, with bare electrodes hanging into the water at 1,000 and 1,500 feet, alternately pulsed positive and negative, setting up large and powerful magnetic fields to detonate magnetic mines 1,000+ feet behind the towing boats. This of course was predicated that the minesweepers be as non-magnetic as possible, because they first had to sail past these magnetic ground mines lying on the bottom of the harbor.

The video shows the boats connecting to their mag tails, retrieved from these same boats using sailor-power (by-hand) following the previous days sweep operations and “flaked-down” on the well deck.

Following the magnetic mine sweeping boats, there is an LCVP moored minesweeping boat shown cutting a moored mine. Following the severing of a moored mine cable or chain, the mines float to the surface, and generally are sunk from a safe distance away by gunfire. However, in this video you see two Mine Squadron Three Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officers in a rubber dinghy paddling to these Russian made mines, and disarming then (Rendering Them Safe) for the purpose of exploiting the technology and returning then to EOD Headquarters located in Indian Head, MD during the Korean War. Generations of EOD Divers have been trained to disarm live mines on the dozens of Russian mines captured by Mine Squadron Three Officers in Wonsan, North Korea during our 900 day seige and occupation of this enemy harbor.

In fact, one of these 1,200 lb Russian MKB behemoths was discovered floating down the Long Tao Shipping Channel (Saigon River) on December 31, 1966, and the EOD Diver LtCdr Frank Talarico disarmed the MKC Chemical Horn Mine in the river near the Saigon Port Complex. He tied a rope to an eyebolt in the mine and dagged it to shallow water, he and another EOD person removed the cover plate, and pulled out the detonator and Tetryl booster. Their training at Indian Head kept them alive. The 506 lbs of cast TNT is later steamed out of the 984 lb steel case to for return to EOD HQ.

I apologize for the abrupt end to the video. Evidently, the hosting service truncated the video due to it;s size.

Ed Sinclair