Launching a minesweeper

Photographer

Glander Art Studio

Date

• March 28, 1942

Summary

• In this 3/4 bow view, the YMS-107, the first wooden minesweeper built by the Burger Boat Company in Manitowoc, Wisconsin for World War II service, splashes sideways into the Manitowoc River during launching at the Burger yards on March 28, 1942. Burger workers view the launch from various vantage points including a rooftop in the far distance. Two other Burger vessels under construction are visible in the background, and a derrick boom extends over the river. There is a light dusting of snow on building roofs. The large structure in the distance on the left is the Wisconsin Malting Company facility. The YMS-107 was one of fourteen wooden minesweepers that Burger Boat Company built for the U.S. Navy. Altogether during World War II Burger built 43 vessels for the Navy and Army, including utility craft, steel tugs, crash boats, rescue boats, and submarine chasers as well as the minesweepers. The YMS-107 keel had been laid down May 13, 1941. After launching on March 28, 1942, she underwent trials in Lake Michigan, was commissioned August 3, 1942, and was delivered via inland waterways and the Mississippi River to New Orleans on August 2, 1942.