Spit aboard the Liberty ships John J McGraw and Samsylvan

[Bertrand H]

Hi,

At the end of December 1945 or in early 1946 two Liberty ships the John J McGraw and the Samsylvan sailed to French Indochina with 28 Spit LF IX of production batch TD/TE onboard one and 22 Spit from the same batch in the other, all for the French Armée de l'Air. Followed by 6 (?) Spit aboard the SS Diomed.

Did they come directly from France or could they have come from UK ? And where could they have been loaded ?

Thanks in advance

Bertrand

[dennis_burke]

Did that data come from this site

http://www.airhistory.org.uk/spitfire/p111.html

I've only checked one but they mention a "1 PATP" as the last assignment. And before that two MU's.

[dennis_burke]

Packed Aircraft Transit Pool I see on the abbreviations.

[Freshman]

Packed Aircraft Transit Pool I see on the abbreviations.

Location Southport, according to RAF Training & Support Units since 1912 (R Sturtivant)

Convenient for Liverpool Docks
There are two Ship Movement Cards for Samsylvan, of which one covers the period of interest.
It left Liverpool 22Nov1945 and after visiting Barry Island and Newport sailed for the Far East - Gib., Port Said, Aden, Saigon, Madras, Vizagapatam, Singapore arriving Batavia 01Mar1946.
Hope this helps, Freshman

[Zoran Petek]

Diomed
SL658, SL659, TD984, TD994, TE124, TE514

John J McGraw
TD202, TD364, TD396, TD397, TD399, TD954, TD981, TD986, TD991, TE143, TE144, TE147, TE148, TE158, TE500, TE501, TE502, TE504, TE505, TE506, TE507, TE509

Sansylvan
TD378, TD398, TE138, TE140, TD985, TD997, TE123, TE138, TE140, TE141, TE145, TE149, TE155, TE156, TE494, TE528, TE529, TE530, TE533, TE534, TE549, TE553

At Saigon I.1946. Used in Armee de l'Air by:
GC I/2 (later renamed GC 1/4): TD984, TD981, TD986...
GC III/2: TD396 (lost 31.10.1947), TD397...
GC I/3: TE514, TE534...
GC I/4 (later GC 1/3): TE121 (lost 10.11.1947), TE155, TD202/P, TD954/D (1948)...
GC I/7 (later GC 1/2): TD364, TE549, TE550...
GC II/7: TD954, TD998 (lost 26.10.1947)...

[Bertrand H]

Thanks for your detailed replies. So they sailed from UK and not from Marseille or other French port......

I had the same list of a/c and you can add the TE507 for GC 2/7 lost on 15 march 1946 with Cdt Bernard Barbier. it is in the last issue of the very good french magazine Avions (n°238) :

https://www.aircraft-navalship.com/produit/avions/4464

Bertrand

[Andy Marden]

Diomed
SL658, SL659, TD984, TD994, TE124, TE514

John J McGraw
TD202, TD364, TD396, TD397, TD399, TD954, TD981, TD986, TD991, TE143, TE144, TE147, TE148, TE158, TE500, TE501, TE502, TE504, TE505, TE506, TE507, TE509

Sansylvan
TD378, TD398, TE138, TE140, TD985, TD997, TE123, TE138, TE140, TE141, TE145, TE149, TE155, TE156, TE494, TE528, TE529, TE530, TE533, TE534, TE549, TE553

Zoran,
TE121 is in your loss list, but not in the shipping list (John J McGraw I think)
TE550 is in the squadron list, but not in the shipping list (Samsylvan I think - note spelling of ship's name)
Also, there were:
TD996 on McGraw
TD998 on McGraw
TE525 on McGraw
TE552 on Samsylvan

So 54 in total:
6 on the Diomed
26 on the John J McGraw
22 on the Samyslvan

Andy

[Freshman]

I do not know whether this helps but the Merchant Ship Movement card for the SS. Diomed (BT/389/9/202) reports the vessel discharged its cargo at Liverpool during November 1945 having been held up by a Docks Strike. This is the final entry on the card so there are no indications of its next voyage. It does however show that Diomed may have been in the right place to pick up a similar shipment to the SS. Samsylvan.

The card for SS. John J McGraw contains no useful data on 1945/46 voyages.
Freshman

[Bertrand H]

Thank you for these complements ;

TD996 was later with GC I/2 and lost on 12/02/1947

TD998 GC I/2 like TE525 and lost on 25/08/1947

It there were no useful data on 1945/46 for the SS. John J McGraw we can imagine that it is forgotten files of movement !

Bertrand

[Freshman]

Thank you for these complements ;

TD996 was later with GC I/2 and lost on 12/02/1947

TD998 GC I/2 like TE525 and lost on 25/08/1947

It there were no useful data on 1945/46 for the SS. John J McGraw we can imagine that it is forgotten files of movement !

Bertrand

Despite not being able to find any relevant details from the movement card for SS. John J McGraw on the National Archives search engine, ConvoyWeb has the following for the vessel.
There is no mention of Liverpool but there are signs of the similar voyage to that of the Samsylvan.

Departed Falmouth 02Oct1945 - arrived Avonmouth 03Oct1945..
Arrived Swansea 17Nov1945.
Departed Avonmouth 17Nov1945
Departed Swansea 27Nov1945 - arrived Post Said 08Dec1945.
Departed Suez 09Dec1945 - arrived Aden 14Dec1945.
Departed Aden 15Dec1945 - arrived Singapore 29Dec1945.

Above is the final entry. Hope it helps, Freshman.