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British Mercantile Ship M.V. Zipper Lost at Sea on Voyage from Guyana to Barbados in 1963

The entire crew and passengers were lost at sea when the British mercantile vessel M.V. Zipper floundered in a storm on a voyage from Guyana to Barbados on February 27, 1963.  The Zipper was carrying general cargo when approximately 100 miles off Georgetown, British Guiana she encountered a storm and sank.

Before becoming M.V. Zipper this vessel was built as a YMS-1 class minesweeper of the YMS-135 subclass built for the United States Navy during World War II.

History of M.V. Zipper

  • This vessel was “laid down” on April 3, 1942, by the Hiltebrant Dock Co., Kingston, NY
  • Launched on 10th August 1942.
  • Completed 20th March 1943 as YMS-195
  • Commissioned USS YMS-195 on 23rd March 1943.
  • Named USS Chauvenet and reclassified as a Survey Ship, AGS-11, 20th March 1945.
  • Decommissioned in 1946.
  • Struck from the Navy Register 3rd July 1946
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration in February 1947
  • Sold in 1947 then became the British mercantile M.V. Zipper.
  • Sank in a storm traveling from British Guiana to Barbados in 1963

Specifications of USS Chauvenet

  • Displacement 340 t.
  • Length 136′
  • Beam 23′ 4″
  • Draft 8′ 7″
  • Speed 14.5 kts.
  • Complement 32
  • Armament: One 3″/50 dual purpose gun mount, two 20mm mounts, and two depth charge projectors
  • Propulsion: Two 1,000bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts.

https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/9615.html

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