# Pampas - 1940



## davidships (Nov 3, 2007)

PAMPAS, the second of Royal Mail Line's eight "P" Class cargo motorships was completed by Harland & Wolff at Belfast in 1940 and had the shortest life of all (not to be confused with the 5th, PARAMATTA, completed in 1944 as PAMPAS in honour of her sister).

My father, a RAF RDF-operator, was aboard PAMPAS for her heavily shot-up 1942 voyage from Alexandria to Malta in convoy MW10. Only PAMPAS and TALABOT arrived, the other two merchant ships BRECONSHIRE and CLAN CAMPBELL were lost before reaching Valletta, and both of the arrivals were promptly sunk on 26 Mar in Grand Harbour by the Luftwaffe - see photo - she suffered further destruction in subsequent raids. She was bombed no less than 18 times and was in no state to be refloated. The wreckage remained in situ until 1950 when it was removed - only at that time could they recover the remains of the eight Maltese stevedores killed eight years earlier. 

This is the only photo of PAMPAS that we have found so far - but are there others lurking?

David


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## treeve (Nov 15, 2005)

Miramar... for reference for other 'readers'
http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz/ship/show/152233


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## Malcolm S (Aug 20, 2008)

The Royal Mail vessel PAMPAS I sailed on in the 60s was possibly launched as the Paramatta then re-named HMS Precinimum (sp?) and as I understood it was scheduled to be Montgommery's HQ in the East somewhere but due to engine problems she never made it.
She was fitted with landing craft on the decks and accommodation in the holds for troops.
Rgds
Malcolm


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## davidships (Nov 3, 2007)

HMS PERSIMMON ex-PAMPAS, launched as PARAMATTA, did make it to East following her service as a Headquarters Infantry Landing Ship in Normandy. Whether she was delayed or not, I don't know, but she was involved in the landings in the Irrawaddy Delta and the capture of Rangoon in April 1945. 

*Still hoping that a shoebox will contain a photo of the first PAMPAS - it would be my dream Christmas present for the "old man".*


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## Maustrauser (Mar 8, 2017)

*SS Pampas - destruction*

Hi David,
Thanks for the photo of the damaged SS Pampas. I attach a photo from the book _Our Name Wasn't Written_ by Caroline Vernon which shows SS Pampas burning at its moorings in Grand Harbour on 26 May 1942.
Cheers,
Maus


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## dylan1966 (Jun 28, 2017)

This is not Pampas?
On 169738
GT 557598
NT 314423


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## IAN M (Jan 17, 2009)

Extracted from my book, SHIPPING COMPANY LOSSES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

PAMPAS (Captain E.B. Ingram). Convoy MW.10, composed of the Pampas, HMS Breconshire (Captain C.A.G. Hutchinson), Clan Campbell and the Norwegian ship Talabot (Captain Albert Toft), sailed from Alexandria on 20 March, 1942, bound for beleaguered Malta. From the 22nd, it suffered continual attacks by large numbers Italian and German planes and only the Pampas and the Talabot succeeded in reaching Valetta. 

The Convoy dispersed on the 22nd, with each merchantman being accompanied by a destroyer. The next day, the Clan Campbell was 20 miles from the port when she was sunk. The Breconshire was 8 miles from the port on the 24th when she was disabled. Due to heavy seas, she could not be towed into Grand Harbour, but was taken to a bay on the south side of the island where she was bombed and sunk on the 27th. When over 300 bombers attacked Grand Harbour on the 26th, the Pampas was sunk and the Talabot so severely damaged that she was scuttled in case her cargo of ammunition exploded. Between them, they had been able to discharge only a few hundred tons of their cargoes. The Royal Navy lost the destroyers HMS Legion and HMS Southwold while a cruiser and two destroyers were damaged.


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## HONSECRNCCA (May 9, 2020)

*Hms persimmon*

My Father in Law now 100 years old and living in Western Australia served on HMS Persimmon. He joined her in Bombay and they practiced amphibious landings before heading to Malaysia. En-Route the first of the bombs was dropped and as they entered Sumatra the Japanese surrendered. I was looking for some images of HMS Persimmon if any one has any would be very grateful.


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## HONSECRNCCA (May 9, 2020)

*Hms persimmon cont*

I found an image and a few more article of interest.


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## HONSECRNCCA (May 9, 2020)

Conversion to a Headquarters Ship 
Early in 1944 LCI(L) 267 was converted into an LCH, Landing Craft Headquarters at Bombay. She underwent a period of modification which involved turning part of the troop decks into operations rooms and wireless offices, the installation of additional British command and control and communications equipment; 6 x Army No. 22 Radio sets; 6 X CDG, B28 receivers; 1 X CDF, B29 receiver. Echo Sounding type 763; 8 type visual signals (lanterns and torches); Type 970 Radar for navigation and control of assault craft; Outfit QH (Gee Hyperbolic Radio Navaid) 1 x TCS Transmitter. A tripod foremast was added to mount the additional aerials. In addition, single cabins were installed to accommodate assault force staff officers when embarked. When completed her troop carrying capacity was reduced by 50.
Sometime in June 1944 the flotilla personnel moved into the Royal Marines Camp at Chembur on the outskirts of Bombay where they were to remain until November 1944 when the Eastern Fleet was restructured and renamed the East Indies Fleet; under this new organisation the flotilla relocated to Chittagong which was to become their main base of operations for the fleets Amphibious Assault Force, Force ‘W’. After the D-Day landings plans were made to relocate large numbers of Major Landing Craft from the UK to the Eastern theatre under the code name ‘APPIAN’. Convoys of craft, referred to as ‘Flights’, sailed for India and Ceylon calling at Gibraltar, Oran, Malta, Port Said, Aden, and Bombay; the first Flight, ‘A’, sailed on November 15th 1944. . 
At this time the flotilla is believed to have been renumbered to 250 and consisted of LCI(L)s 114, 120, 173, 265, , 279, 285, 286, 304, 312, with three vessels converted into LCHs, numbers 261, 267 and 287.


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## HONSECRNCCA (May 9, 2020)

See my post below.....


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## MikeyDoyle (6 mo ago)

HONSECRNCCA said:


> *Hms persimmon*
> 
> My Father in Law now 100 years old and living in Western Australia served on HMS Persimmon. He joined her in Bombay and they practiced amphibious landings before heading to Malaysia. En-Route the first of the bombs was dropped and as they entered Sumatra the Japanese surrendered. I was looking for some images of HMS Persimmon if any one has any would be very grateful.


My grandfather James “Joe” Doyle was also on Persimmon


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