Talk:SS Japara (1930)

Conflation of two ships and subsequent sale/rename dates
I have removed a set of sale dates and renamings after finding those dates apply to reliable sale dates for two ships: SS Japara (1930) or MS Japara (1938) (seen here)—not just the older ship. With dates conflated it is likely the whole list is conflated and a possible source is most definitely confused. Until this can be untangled with reliable sources best leave the things out.

The possible source for the names, the only place I have found that particular set, is a web page, apparently a railway enthusiast's work, that badly conflates the two ships. No, "The Japara was built by Mach. Fabr. & Scheepswerf P. Smit Jr., Rotterdam for the Rotterdamsche Lloyd NV Line, being commissioned on May 13th 1939." did not do this at all:


 * On December 2nd 1942 the Japara transported sections of the USMC Squadron VMD-154 from San Diego to Espiritu Santo Island, New Hebrides, arriving December 23rd 1942.


 * On December 25th/26th the Japara is reported transporting B Squadron, 2/6 Australian Armoured Regiment with eleven Stuart Tanks from Milne Bay to Oro Bay (the Allies were stalled at Buna), under Captain W. G. van Zeggeren, escorted by the corvette HMAS Lithgow.

Hardly! San Diego to New Hebrides was "big Japara" while "little Japara" was between two Milne Bay—Oro Bay trips at that time.

The "big" Japara had two sister ships and one is just as often conflated with the older ship of the same name: SS Bantam (1930) and MS Bantam (1939). I did a double take in Gill as I found Bantam out in the ocean far from island haunts, then saw footnote with tonnage. Many ships of the same name exist and are easily confused, particularly when of the same nationality and operating simultaneously in a general area; in this case both newer ships operated on longer routes but passed through SWPA. Without either tonnage or date unspecified in sources it can be a mess! Palmeira (talk) 18:18, 29 December 2014 (UTC)
 * See N.V. Machinefabriek & Scheepswerf P. Smit Jr., Rotterdam and the ships list for the yard number 452 1930 version and www.maritiemdigitaal.nl and www.marhisdata.nl for the yard number 516 1939 version. Wrong image for this item. --Stunteltje (talk) 08:12, 19 June 2019 (UTC)