SS ''Bantam '' was built by N.V. Machinefabriek & Scheepswerf van P. Smit Jr. of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1930 of 3322 gross weight and operated by

Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (Dutch for Royal Packet Navigation Company), better known as KPM, was a Dutch shipping company (1888–1966) in the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia. It was the dominant inter-island shipping line in Indo ...

. ''Bantam'', under charter, became a part of the initial United States Army local fleet in Australia, was severely damaged 28 March 1943 in New Guinea and eventually scuttled off Sydney.

Wartime operation

The ship was one of the original twenty-one vessels that reached Australia chartered by the Chief Quartermaster, U.S. Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA) on 26 March 1942 with long term details to be negotiated at higher levels. The eventual decision, involving governments in London, Washington and the

Combined Chiefs of Staff The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) was the supreme military staff for the United States and Britain during World War II. It set all the major policy decisions for the two nations, subject to the approvals of British Prime Minister Winston Churchil ...

, was that the charters through the

Dutch government The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, ...

would be handled by the British Ministry of War Transport (BMWT) for the U. S. Army. The complex arrangement was a "bareboat charter to BMWT and through the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...

(WSA) the ships were assigned by WSA to the Army but 'not, repeat not, on bareboat but on gross basis,' though under 'full control' of the Army." In early March 1943 almost half the permanent local fleet was composed of the refugee KPM vessels operated by their company crews. ''Bantam'' was operating as part of

Operation Lilliput Operation Lilliput (World War II) was the name given to a convoy operation directed by G.H.Q. Operations Instructions Number 21 of 20 October 1942 for transportation of troops, weapons, and supplies in a regular transport service between Milne ...

. On 28 March 1943, nine

Imperial Japanese The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

Val dive bombers attacked

Oro Bay Oro Bay is a bay in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea, located southeast of Buna, Papua New Guinea, Buna. The bay is located within the larger Dyke Ackland Bay. A port is operated by PNG Ports Corporation Limited with limited wharf facilities, loca ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

while ''SS Bantam'' was alongside a liberty wharf unloading. A total of seven bombs fell on or near ''SS Bantam''. The forward of the bridge, No.3 hold and engine room scored direct bomb hits, while two bombs that hit the liberty wharf tore a hole in the ship's side on the waterline and began taking water rapidly. The ship caught fire as well as the liberty wharf which was burning out of control. The two pontoons of the wharf sank. Bantam Wreck Oro Bay 1943

The Bantam was sinking and it was decided to beach her and a couple of large motor boats assisted in pulling the ship away from the wharf. went alongside and began to fight the fires. ''SS Bantam'' was beached at the head of Oro Bay. The wreck was raised and towed to Sydney, where she was scuttled 36 miles off Sydney on 24 September 1946, after being filled with unwanted

chemical warfare Chemical warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from nuclear warfare, biological warfare and radiological warfare, which together make up CBRN, the military acronym ...

agents (CWA).

References

Bibliography

External links

Zeebrieven—Zeebrief-65
3.8 mb .pdf download
Scuttled and Abandoned Ships in Australian WatersDutch merchant shipping in the south-west PacificThe Australian Merchant Navy – Dutch Fleet

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bantam (1930), SS 1930 ships Ships built in Rotterdam Merchant ships of the Netherlands World War II merchant ships of the Netherlands South West Pacific theatre of World War II Papua New Guinea in World War II Scuttled vessels of New South Wales Maritime incidents in January 1942 Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft