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Looking for information/photos of ship PLM 13 and PLM 8

2K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  seaman38 
#1 ·
Hello,

I would appreciate any information about the following ships that my father sailed in during WWII

P.L.M. 13
P.L.M. 8

Kind Regards,
janepatton
 
#3 ·
Jane,
Welcome to Ships Nostalgia.
I'm afraid I don't have any information for PLM 8, but I do have some for PLM 13.

PLM 13
Official Number: 174321
3442 grt 2084 nrt
345.0 x 49.5 x 25.0 feet
3-cylinder Triple Expansion Steam Engine by Smiths Dock Co Ltd Middlesbrough. 430nhp 9 knots
13.10.1920 Launched by Smith's Dock Co. Ltd, Middlesborough. Yard number 761.
04.1921 Completed for Societe Nationale d' Affretements, Paris, France as PLM 13. She was a French steam collier for the "Paris, Lyon, Marseille" (hence PLM) railway company.
18.02.1941 Intercepted by the Ocean Boarding Vessel HMS MARSDALE in position 28-12N 012-23W and taken to Gibraltar.
12.03.1941 Registered in the ownership of the Ministry of Shipping, London.
09.05.1941 Christian Salvesen and Co., Leith, appointed managers.
08.1941 Owners became the Ministry of War Transport, London.
16.07.1945 UK register on vessel closed on her return to the French Government.
1946 Owners became Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais (Societe Nationale d' Affretements, managers), Paris. AKA SNCF - the French nationalised railway company.
1951 Sold to W. Rostedt, Abo, Finland and renamed MARIANNE.
1958 Sold to the Three Diamonds Shipping Corporation, Liberia (Eugenia Saridis and Constantinos Bastas) and renamed DIMITRAKIS.
28.02.1961 Laid up at Piraeus.
20.03.1961 Breaking up began at Piraeus.

As you can see, she was built for a French railway company to carry coal and was then taken over by the UK during the war. My Grandfather sailed in her during the early part of the war when she was managed by Salvesens of Leith - they were his regular employers for some time.

See attached a couple of photographs of her, plus her voyage card which covers her service under the UK flag from 1941-1945. The second photograph shows her during her wartime configuration, with Carley Floats (liferafts) on deck and a gun mounted aft.
Hope this helps.
 

Attachments

#4 ·
My father served on PLM 13
He joined at Middlesbrough Jan 30 1942
and said on her on Convoy FN618 from Southend to Methil, EN41 from Methil to Oban, and then ON64 from Liverpool to Halifax arriving Feb 27 1942.
He returned on her on Convoy SC76 - Halifax to Liverpool, April 11 1942.
He described her as very slow, cockroach ridden, and many other unflattering terms ! His next ship was the Manchester Merchant, which he said was streets ahead in comfort and speed.
 
#6 ·
Plm13

I am very interested in all your comments re PLM 13.
My father sailed on her for 18 months as of 1st Engineer after being torpedoed on the Melrose Abbey in the North Atlantic in December 1942.
I am currently searching for crew agreements - there is no record of PLM 13, ship number 174321 at Newfoundland or in the National Archives.
Does anyone know if there are other terms that would help my search?
Thank you in anticipation for your assistance.
Jane Patton
 
#8 ·
Plm13

Thanks for this information Roger. One of the reasons I have become interested in crew agreements is to determine if a ship was fueled by coal or oil and the crew agreement lists the designation of the crew. PLM 13 was a collier - would she have been fueled by coal?

Thanks again in anticipation of your assistance.

Janepatton
 
#9 ·
Anyone put me on course to find details/photo of PLM 1Y. My father served on her in 1943, it's the only vessel I haven't been able to trace.

Also in my own service if anyone can point me in the direction of a photograph of s.t. Swanland (H402) built 1914, I sailed on her in 1951

Thanks.
 
#10 ·
Hello again,
I would hardly class her as a Collier. Many of her early voyages were to/from Wabana. The principal cargo exported from Wabana was iron ore. To my mind she was what we call today, a Bulker. She carried cargo in bulk. This would not exclude cargo's of coal.
Given her age and details in Lloyds Register, I would conclude she was coal fired.
Her WW2 movement card can be downloaded for free from here
https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8654663
You would need to register.

seaman 38.
I think PLM 1Y is erroneous, my guess is it is a typo or something similar. Could you post as an attachment the do***ent where you obtained this information.

regards
Roger
 
#11 ·
Roger Griffiths;3062503 seaman 38. I think PLM 1Y is erroneous said:
Hello Roger

Probably old age but it looked like 1Y at first glance, as it is hand written in ink in the Discharge Book, but on closer inspection it could be PLM 17 (Off No 1678040) all very feint now as was 1943

Joined Sydney NS 9.07.43 -- Discharged London 4.08.43

Rgds Ivan
 
#12 · (Edited)
#13 ·
Hello Hugh, nice to hear from you, all is well here and muddling through. Thank you for all the information, it is greatly appreciated and fills the gap. This pandemic has certainly given a lot of us time to catch up on things we unintentionally neglected previously. Again thank you for the information

Kind regards

Ivan
 
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