HMS Palomares was a British anti-aircraft ship of the Second World War.
Originally MV Palomares, built by William Doxford & Sons, Sunderland yard in 1937, it operated as a merchant fruit carrier ship (a banana boat) for service on the MacAndrews Line in January 1938 with their Spanish service.
Service
She was purchased by the Admiralty in 1940, as these fruit ships were considered to be fast and manoeuvrable. In 1941 the Admiralty converted her to an anti-aircraft ship and then to a fighter direction ship ("seagoing anti-aircraft auxiliaries"). Most likely the conversion took place at Fairfields yard in Govan on the River Clyde with her sister ship .
In March 1942, she sailed with Pozarica, and the corvettes , , and for the port of Seyðisfjörður in Iceland. In June 1942, she sailed as an escort in Convoy PQ 17, where 25 out 36 ships were lost to the Germans, while working around Murmansk and Archangel.
In November 1942, Palomares took part in the Operation Torch landings in Algiers as an anti-aircraft ship. The ship left Gibraltar on 3 November and arrived on 8 November. The next day Palomares was hit by a bomb that caused many casualties, caused a large fire and put the steering gear was put out of action. Deceased seamen were transferred to the corvette for burial at sea and her steering gear was repaired by 10 November. HMS Palomares had a weight of and could move at .
Returned
Surviving the war, Palomares was returned to the MacAndrews Line in 1946, where she continued service with the company until 1959. She was then sold, being renamed Mary Sven and in 1961 sold again becoming Sarabande. On 5 October 1961 following a fire she drifted aground and was wrecked.