MS West Grama

MS "West Grama", sometimes spelled as "West Gramma", was a diesel-powered cargo ship of the , and was ]

Sources are not clear as to all of "West Grama"s whereabouts and movements through early June are not recorded. Other ships that had been selected as blockships assembled in a "corncob" fleet at Oban, though it's not clear if "West Grama" did or not. The "corncob" fleet was the group of ships intended to be sunk to form the "gooseberries", [Richard, [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/NAVEXOS_P-474C.htm Glossary of U.S. Naval Code Words: C] .] shallow-water artificial harbors for landing craft. [Richard, [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/NAVEXOS_P-474G.htm Glossary of U.S. Naval Code Words: G] .] Poropat reports that once the ship crews were told of their mission while anchored at Oban, they were not permitted to leave the ships.

Three "corncob" convoys, consisting of what one author called the "dregs of the North Atlantic shipping pool", [Howe, p. 1.] departed from Poole and reached the Normandy beachhead the next day, shortly after the D-Day landings. [" [http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/misc/index.html?yy.php?convoy=CORNCOB.1!~miscmain Convoy CORNCOB.1] ", " [http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/misc/index.html?yy.php?convoy=CORNCOB.2!~miscmain Convoy CORNCOB.2] ", " [http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/misc/index.html?yy.php?convoy=CORNCOB.3!~miscmain Convoy CORNCOB.3] ". "Arnold Hague Convoy Database". ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 18 September 2008.] Poropat reports that the corncob ships traveled under cover of darkness and, stripped of all unnecessary equipment, carried no radios, having only a signal lamp (with a spare bulb) for communication. Once at the designated location, the ships were put into position and scuttled over the next days, under heavy German artillery fire. [Howe, p. 3.] Naval Armed Guardsmen manned the guns on all the gooseberry ships to protect against frequent German air attacksAskew, pp. 179–80.] All the while, harbor pilots—about half of the New York Bar Pilots Association, according to one source—carefully positioned the ships. [cite web | last = Crichton | first = Tom | coauthors = T. Horodysky, ed. | title = The Useful Death of the MV Galveston | url = http://www.usmm.org/galveston.html | work = American Merchant Marine at War | publisher = T. Horodysky | date = 4 April 2004 | accessdate = 2008-09-18 ] "West Grama" was sunk off Omaha Beach on 8 June, though she continued to serve as an antiaircraft platform manned by Navy gun crews. On 9 June, "West Grama"'s gunners fired 19 times and were credited with assisting in the downing one German airplane; only one of "West Grama"'s Navy gunners was wounded during the attack. On 14 June, "West Grama" escaped serious damage when a bomb landed near the ship. By the time her Naval Armed Guardsmen were replaced by Army crews on 18 June, they had received credit for a second assist, and had been awarded a battle star for their participation in the Normandy Landings.

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