HMS ''Palomares'' was a British anti-aircraft ship of the Second World War. Originally MV ''Palomares'', built by

William Doxford & Sons William Doxford & Sons Ltd, often referred to simply as Doxford, was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British shipbuilder, shipbuilding and marine engineering company. History William Doxford founded the company in 1840. From 18 ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

yard in 1937, it operated as a merchant fruit carrier ship (a 13.5 knot

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) for service on the MacAndrews Line in January 1938 with their Spanish service.

Service

She was purchased by the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...

in 1940, as these fruit ships were considered to be fast and manoeuvrable. In 1941 the Admiralty converted her to an anti-aircraft artillery ship and subsequently to a fighter direction ship ("seagoing anti-aircraft auxiliaries"). Most likely the conversion took place at Fairfields yard in Govan on the River Clyde with her sister ship . In March 1942, she sailed with ''Pozarica'', and the corvettes , , and for the port of

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in Iceland In June 1942, she sailed as an escort in

Convoy PQ 17 Convoy PQ 17 was an Allied Arctic convoy during the Second World War. On 27 June 1942, the ships sailed from Hvalfjörður, Iceland, for the port of Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union. The convoy was located by German forces on 1 July, shadowed ...

, where 25 out 36 ships were lost to the enemy, while working around

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and

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. In November 1942, HMS ''Palomares'' took part in the

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

landings in Algiers as an anti-aircraft ship. The ship left

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on the 3rd and arrived on the 8th. However the next day ''Palomares'' was hit by a bomb suffering a large number of casualties, engulfed in flames her steering gear was put out of action. Deceased seamen were transferred to the corvette for burial at sea and her steering gear was repaired by the 10th. In September 1943, during the

Salerno landings Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...

of Italy on the 9th, ''Palomares'' was a fighter direction ship, directing fighter planes with her radar system. In January 1944, ''Palomares'' again served as a fighter direction ship during the Anzio landings. Arriving at the beachhead on the 22nd, she struck a mine and was towed back to

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by the tugs ''Edenshaw'' and ''Evea''. In September 1945, ''Palomares'' was to have participated in the Malaya landings but could not, as a fire had damaged her engine room.

Armaments and displacement

Upon conversion to an anti-aircraft ship, HMS ''Palomares'' was equipped with eight 4-inch AA guns in four turrets and eight 2-pounder (40mm) AA guns in two quadruple mounts. In December 1942, to take the role of a fighter-direction ship, ''Palomares'' was fitted with

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

for directing fighter aircraft. HMS ''Palomares'' had a weight of 1,896 tons and could move at 13.5 knots.

Returned

Surviving the war, HMS ''Palomares'' was returned to the MacAndrews Line in 1946, where she continued service with the company until 1959. She was then sold, being renamed ''Mary Sven'' and in 1961 sold again becoming ''Sarabande''. On 5 October 1961 following a fire she drifted aground and was wrecked.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palomares World War II naval ships of the United Kingdom 1937 ships Auxiliary anti-aircraft ships of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Wear Banana boats (ships)