William Johnston, a motor machinist mate first class on the ship. (Courtesy of Bill Johnston)
The U.S.S. YMS 426 was a minesweeper built in Tacoma at Mojean-Ericson Shipyard. My father, Motor Machinist Mate First Class William Elliott Johnston, was stationed in Tacoma while it was being built. My parents lived at 711 S. 'K' St. (now a parking lot.) The commissioning party was held at the Swiss in October 1944. Following that the ship left for California.
On Dec. 3 my father and the crew of the YMS 426 were given three hours notice they were leaving San Francisco for Pearl Harbor.
Dad had expected my mother to join him in California during the four-month "shake down" of the newly commissioned ship. Mom had been with him the year before and lived with his aunt in Berkeley. Orders were issued that no one was to inform anyone, including family, they were sailing. For an unknown amount of time the YMS 426 just disappeared.
Dad starting writing Mom a letter on Dec. 4 telling her where he was and what he would be doing over the next two months, only ending after the ship's first tow runs at the beginning of the invasion of Iwo Jima.
Dad knew exactly what he was doing. "I am going to keep writing to you letters the censor would not let go … when I have a chance I will send them back to the states in one stack." He also developed a code he could tell Mom where he was without the Navy censor cutting it out of his letters. "If I happen to mention 'Phil' in some silly way you will know I am in the Philippines Islands. Otherwise I will still be at Guam or Saipan."
I found the letter tucked among family papers going back to the 1920s and in a Japanese bamboo suitcase Dad had picked up somewhere. It was tied with string and buried under bundles of letters Mom had written Dad from when they met in September 1941 to October 1945. Undisturbed for more than 60 years, I was not really aware of this treasure of family history as I started to read them.
Not only did the letters provide insight into the daily lives of sailors in one of the more hostile environments of World War II and to the reactions of sailors to the very real dangers surrounding them daily, I read the deep love my father had for my mother. My Mom was pregnant with me when Dad left and he wrote "I am glad that 'Jake' (my nickname even after I was born) is coming. He should be quite a boy or girl when I see him." I was six months old when Dad got home. I enjoyed reading his several affectionate references to 'Jake.' All too often in the years to come our relationship would be rocky and distant.
As the YMS 426 crossed the Pacific he wrote "This ship sure does leak! Water is coming down nearly all the bulkheads in the engine room and there is a creek running by my bunk – I have my eye on it." On reaching Pearl Harbor Dad was surprised. "Pearl Harbor has more ships in one spot than I have ever seen before … there must be something big coming up." There was and he was going to be right in the middle of it.
Starting the end of December Dad recorded the YMS 42 left Pearl Harbor and was on patrol or part of several convoys between Guam, Saipan and Eniwetok. "I hear we are going to within four miles of some Jap-held islands in the Marshalls. I hope we get to fire a few rounds from the three-inch into them." He complained "last night we had a sub prowling around. We made a good run on it, but the captain lost his nerve and did not drop any charges. So it went deeper and went under one of the tugs and we lost it."
On Jan. 17 they tied up off Saipan and he wrote the ship was "welcomed by an air raid – the Japs were trying for the B-29 field at the other end of the island. It was a very nice show and I enjoyed it very much."
The first week of February there was "a lot of talk about taking over the Bonin Islands (Iwo Jima) some 700 miles north of us and the same distance south of Tokyo and a couple of days later we found out for sure we were going." The YMS 426 left Tinian to join the rest of the sweeps. He reasoned "It seems we are going to sweep for two days before they land and at some time shell the beach."
Sounding optimistic, Dad wrote "We are going to start sweeping tomorrow so I will find out how it works out." Then he added "I had better not send you this letter until we are all finished with the landings and sweeping or you would be worried – but the way it looks to me it will be quite safe."
Navy archives record "Minesweepers started at one minute past sunrise (on Feb. 16, 1945). Poor visibility. Couple of minesweepers up West Coast but drew no fire." But the YMS 426 did draw fire from the beach. Dad reported "We started to go in twice but they had some 40 millimeters that chased us back. The battleships and cruisers would open up and finally knocked them out."
The YMS 426 "….made our first two runs without sweeping any mines. I do not think they have any. We came within 500 yards of the beach and had lots of nice firing at a gun emplacement when someone started to climb out. He must have heard the shell coming because he jumped back in just as it hit." Being shot at from the beach was not the only danger. "Last night we had an air raid – one of the battleships knocked down an airplane … it looked rather pretty all afire coming sailing out of the sky."
The last page of the letter was written on the night of Feb. 17 and ends. Never sent and unread for 60 years! The Marines started landing at Iwo Jima on Feb. 19. There were 20,000 Japanese dug in and 90 percent of them would be dead before the American victory, which came at the cost of 6,000 Marines lives. A high price paid for the island, creating a critically needed landing field for B-29s bombing the Japanese mainland. The landing was made possible by the formidable Navy armada that started with three days of pre-landing preparations. Minesweepers cleared the waters for the landing and supplies to support it.
My Dad was part of the operation from day one. His role in his historic drama was just one in the thousands involved in the invasion of Iwo Jima and he survived when many thousands did not. Dad talked about his experiences in World War II because he understood the history he had been part of and he wanted his children to understand how important it was to our country, the lives of his fellow sailors and our family history.
I only wish I had listened more and asked more questions. Although I remember an evening when I was about 15. I told Dad if I ever joined the military I would be a Marine and he said "Let me tell you what I saw at Iwo Jima."
Did I mention I am a veteran of the United States Air Force?
Bill Johnston is a North End resident who occasionally contributes guest editorials for the opinion page of Tacoma Weekly.
