Ships hit by U-boats


Palma

British Motor merchant


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NamePalma
Type:Motor merchant
Tonnage5,419 tons
Completed1941 - Harland & Wolff Ltd, Belfast 
OwnerRoyal Mail Lines Ltd, London 
HomeportLondon 
Date of attack29 Feb 1944Nationality:      British
 
FateSunk by U-183 (Fritz Schneewind)
Position5° 51'N, 79° 58'E - Grid LD 4379
Complement53 (7 dead and 46 survivors).
Convoy
RouteLiverpool - Capetown - Colombo - Madras - Calcutta 
Cargo700 tons of general cargo 
History Laid down as Pelotas, completed in April 1941 as Palma.

At 05.05 hours on 20 Jul 1941, U-95 fired two torpedoes at the unescorted Palma (Master Basil Amos Gammon) but missed. The U-boat then tried to stop the merchant with gunfire at 05.28 hours, but had to break off the gun duel after 11 minutes due to problems with the deck gun and give up the chase because the ship was running zigzagging courses at high speeds. They reported one hit, but in fact three had been scored. 
Notes on event

About 15.30 hours on 29 Feb 1944 the unescorted Palma (Master Arthur Robert Osburn) was hit by two of four torpedoes from U-183 and sank about 400 miles south of Ceylon. Four crew members and three gunners were lost. The master, 41 crew members and four gunners were picked up by HMS Balta (T 50) (T/Lt W.E. Turner, RNVR) and the British armed whaler HMS Semla (4.38) (Lt S.V. Bateman) and landed at Colombo on 2 March.

 
On boardWe have details of 56 people who were on board

Attack entries for Palma

DateU-boatCommanderLoss typeTonsNat.
20 Jul 1941U-95Kptlt. Gerd SchreiberDamaged5,419  
29 Feb 1944U-183Kptlt. Fritz SchneewindSunk5,419  


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