Swallow III YMS-461

Swallow III

(YMS 461: dp. 320 (full); 1. 136'0; b. 24'6"; dr.
6'1 s. 12 k.; cpl. 33; a. 1 3"; cl. YMS-1)

The third Swallow was laid down on 8 June 1943 by Stadium Yacht Basin, Inc., at Cleveland, Ohio, as PCS-1416; redesignated YMS-461 on 27 September
1943; launched on 8 January 1944, and commissioned on 22 June 1944.

YMS-461 departed Cleveland on 3 July and sailed down the St. Lawrence River. She made stops at Montreal, Quebec, and Halifax, before arriving in Norfolk, Va., on 22 August. She completed shakedown training out of Norfolk on 2 September and began patrolling the east coast under the command of the Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier. She patrolled for enemy submarines and escorted coastal convoys until mid-March 1945.

On 17 March, she got underway from Norfolk and sailed south, stopping at Miami, Fla., and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before transiting the Panama Canal at the end of the first week in April. She stopped at San Diego, Calif., from 20 to 27 April, and at Pearl Harbor on 6 May; then continued on to the Central Pacific. After brief stops at Eniwetok and Guam, she arrived off Okinawa on 27 June and served there for almost two months. Late in August, she moved to Tokyo Bay and, for the next few months, operated in that area. In February 1946, she returned to the Marianas, at Saipan; then continued east via Eniwetok to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on 14 March. She reached San Francisco on the 26th, remained there in overhaul until 20 October, and then shifted to San Diego. On 16 November, YMS-461 headed back to the Far East. She stopped at Pearl Harbor, Johnston Island, and Eniwetok Atoll, before entering Apra Harbor at Guam on 9 January 1947. On 18 February 1947, she was named Swallow and redesignated AMS-36.

Swallow served in the Far East, operating out of Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan, for the following nine years. On 7 February 1955, she was redesignated MSC (O)-36. She was decommissioned on 16 April 1955 and loaned to Japan. She served the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force as Yugejima (MSC-660) and was later redesignated YAS-41. On 1 May 1968, she was returned to the custody of the United States Navy; and her name was struck from the Navy list on the same day. Her hulk was sold to Kitajima Shokai Co., of Sasebo, Japan, on 5 September 1969, for scrapping.

Swallow earned three battle stars during World War II as YMS-461.