Dates: 1942 - 1946
BYMS 2072 was struck on November 11, 1943 by a German aircraft-launched Henschel HS293 glider bomb during an attack just off Alinda Bay, on the east side of Leros, one of the Greek islands comprising the Dodecanese archipelago in the southern Aegean Sea.
Badly damaged, many of its crew dead and wounded, the minesweeper made to enter Portalago harbor early the following morning for temporary repairs.
However, while attempting to locate the narrow entrance, it was captured by units of a German invasion force on the eve of the battle for Leros.
The battle itself was the culmination of an unsuccessful British defense of the Italian-held islands of Leros, Tamos and Samos, which, following the surrender of Italy on September 3rd, Winston Churchill had wanted to seize before the Germans could establish a presence.
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BYMS 2148 suffered a particularly infamous fate. Laid down on 8 June 1942 as YMS-148 by the Western Boat Building Co., Tacoma, WA, she was launched on 29 November 1942 and transferred to the Royal Navy on 15 May 1943 as BYMS-2148.
She was attached to the 161st MSF (Eastern Fleet based at Trincomalee) in 1944, transferred to the 152nd MSF (East Indies Station based at Trincomalee) in 1945, served in M/S Force II in Malaya in 1946 and was returned to the US Navy on 10 November 1946.
Transferred to South Korea (Republic of Korea) in 1948 as YMS-516, she was mined and sank on 18 October 1950 during sweeping operations west of Kalma Pando, Wonsan Harbour, Korea.
