HMTS PASTEUR

S.S. PASTEUR

Troopship

Troopship Pasteur

Credit: Imperial War Museum

Launched: 15 Feb 1938

Completed: Aug 1939

Acquired by the UK Gov't: 1940

Paid off: 1946

Fate: Sank in 1980 while under tow to the breakers

This page is not meant to be a comprehensive history of the troopship Pasteur,, but a record of sailors of the ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY who served in her, photos they took and stories they may have shared with their families.

At Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, the construction of Pasteur began in 1938. On 15 February of that year, she was christened Pasteur after the scientist Louis Pasteur. A fire in March 1939 delayed her fitting out and she was not completed until August 1939, just before World War II broke out. After the fall of France to Germany, she was taken over by the Great Britain government and placed under Cunard-White Star management. She was used as a troop transport and military hospital ship between Canada, South Africa, Australia and South America, and transported around 300,000 soldiers. She was sometimes called HMTS Pasteur. After the war she was returned to private interest and served in the fleets of various companies. Taken out of service in 1980, while under tow to the breakers yard in Taiwan, she rolled over on her port side and sank in the Indian Ocean.

In memory of those who have crossed the bar