HMS Palomares
 HMS Palomares in August 1941 |
|
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | MV Palomares |
| Operator: | MacAndrews Line |
| Builder: | William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland |
| Launched: | 1937 |
| Out of service: | 1940 |
| Fate: | Sold |
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
| Name: | HMS Palomares |
| Owner: | Royal Navy |
| Acquired: | 1940 |
| Fate: | Sold |
| Career (United Kingdom) | |
| Name: | MV Palomares |
| Operator: | MacAndrews Line |
| Acquired: | Post WWII |
| Out of service: | Mid-1950's |
| General characteristics | |
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2009) |
HMS Palomares was originally MV Palomares, built by William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland yard in 1937 and sailed as a merchant fruit carrier ship (13.5 knot banana boat) for service on the MacAndrews Line in January 1938 with their Spanish service.
She was purchased by the British Admiralty in 1940. In 1941 the Admiralty converted her and seven others to Anti-aircraft Artillery ships and eventually Fighter Direction Ships (seagoing Anti Aircraft Auxiliaries). Most likely the conversion took place at Fairfields yard in Govan on the Clyde with her sister ship HMS Pozarica.
In March 1942, she sailed with Pozarica, and the corvettes HMS Poppy, Lotus, La Malouine and Dianella for the port of Seyðisfjörður.
In June 1942, she sailed as an escort in the infamous Convoy PQ-17.
During Operation Torch she was badly damaged in the Mediterranean and eventually towed back to Belfast. Surviving the war, HMS Palomares was returned to the MacAndrews Line, where she continued service until the mid-1950s.
