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Allied Secret: The Sinking of HMT Rohna
This book recounts for the first time the tragic loss of more than 1,000 American soldiers in 1943 when their troopship was torpedoed in the Mediterranean.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
207 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 28, 2019
The men whose names began with J-S were assigned the stern.
The newly designed smart-bomb, like a guided missile, dropped from the German bomber, at approximately 1630 hours on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, 26 November 1943. Just one bomb of several sent, to find its target. And for whatever reason, the Rohna was the only ship in the convoy not flying barrage balloons (devices to entangle enemy aircraft & their low flying runs to strafe any survivors).
‘The Rohna was hit just astern, behind the aft funnel.’ ‘...in the area of the engine room, some 15 feet above the water line, causing a loss of all lights, communications & water pressure.’ As a result, the Rohna was dead in the water!
‘The attack occurred in the Bay of Bougie about 12 miles off Cape Carbon, roughly between the Algerian towns of Aban & Bafu.’
The Rohna heaved & filled with water & severely listed & sank within the hour & more than 1,000 Americans, Brits & Aussies, together with a crew of men from India, was tallied as the greatest loss of troops, on a single ship at sea, in WWII. Still, nobody knew because the government kept the attack a secret, in order to protect morale & to deter propaganda, for the classified purpose of ‘military security’ (until February 1944, still with no details given of the event).
The (1997) book, Forgotten Tragedy – The Sinking of HMT Rohna by Carlton Jackson describes the event, before & after the fateful attack on the day after Thanksgiving in a disciplined & mindful method, while supported by myriad facts & plentiful eyewitness perspectives from many of the Rohna survivors.
Although, the one thing I sadly missed from the story was a comprehensive list of all the men killed by the attack on the Rohna, like in another book; Rohna Memories II: Eyewitness to Tragedy by Michael Walsh, which I was unable to locate at a nearby library, so I read instead the ample book by Carlton Jackson.
I found the Rohna by accident, as I was searching for some basic information about a tenacious teenager named Norris Poore from New Hampshire, who was listed on the Honor List (at The National Archives) for those service men & women who died in WWII. I was intrigued by his name for whatever reason & decided to follow my detective instincts, to find out more about his whereabouts during the war. While, I was intent on finding anything or everything about Norris Poore, since the enlistment records only give a few facts w/regard to a deceased veteran.
I was sad to discover Norris had died on the Rohna, as his last name began with a ‘P’ & so was ordered below decks when the attack commenced, in the stern, unfortunately, unless he defied orders & stayed topside, to later die in the Mediterranean Sea because his life belt might have been faulty, or from German planes which strafed so many survivors defenseless in the water, or maybe he drowned because he couldn’t swim, since he grew up on a farm, in Landaff, New Hampshire.
Norris Poore was only 18-years-old when he enlisted in the Army on 18 March 1943 & then celebrated his 19th birthday on April 5th 1943 & just 8 months later he tragically died at sea, so far from home. I can’t imagine the catastrophic horror of what poor Norris had to suffer, on the same day of my Mother’s 20th birthday. While, Norris was the youngest of 7 kids & his Mother died when he was 13-years-old, so I suspect Norris wanted to see something of the world away from the family farm & enlisted 9 months after his high school graduation, probably in 1942.
Like so many other troops on that fateful day, Norris was declared as non-recoverable with a solemn tribute posted at the North Africa American Cemetery & Memorial in Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia on the Tablets of the Missing. Norris was designated a Sergeant aka Technician Fourth Class in the 853rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation & destined for the CBI Theatre of Operations, somewhere in China, Burma, or India, but he never completed his mission! Still, Norris Poore was awarded the Purple Heart.
I think it’s important to remember everyone who died that day & I wish there was so much more information available about everybody who was lost on the Rohna, so we don’t forget about them, especially if we want to pay our respects, in some personal fashion, still. Since, Norris paid the ultimate price & gave his life, so that I could live my life, in subsequent freedom.
RIP Norris Poore...!
Book review by Jack Dunsmoor, author of the book, OK2BG
The newly designed smart-bomb, like a guided missile, dropped from the German bomber, at approximately 1630 hours on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, 26 November 1943. Just one bomb of several sent, to find its target. And for whatever reason, the Rohna was the only ship in the convoy not flying barrage balloons (devices to entangle enemy aircraft & their low flying runs to strafe any survivors).
‘The Rohna was hit just astern, behind the aft funnel.’ ‘...in the area of the engine room, some 15 feet above the water line, causing a loss of all lights, communications & water pressure.’ As a result, the Rohna was dead in the water!
‘The attack occurred in the Bay of Bougie about 12 miles off Cape Carbon, roughly between the Algerian towns of Aban & Bafu.’
The Rohna heaved & filled with water & severely listed & sank within the hour & more than 1,000 Americans, Brits & Aussies, together with a crew of men from India, was tallied as the greatest loss of troops, on a single ship at sea, in WWII. Still, nobody knew because the government kept the attack a secret, in order to protect morale & to deter propaganda, for the classified purpose of ‘military security’ (until February 1944, still with no details given of the event).
The (1997) book, Forgotten Tragedy – The Sinking of HMT Rohna by Carlton Jackson describes the event, before & after the fateful attack on the day after Thanksgiving in a disciplined & mindful method, while supported by myriad facts & plentiful eyewitness perspectives from many of the Rohna survivors.
Although, the one thing I sadly missed from the story was a comprehensive list of all the men killed by the attack on the Rohna, like in another book; Rohna Memories II: Eyewitness to Tragedy by Michael Walsh, which I was unable to locate at a nearby library, so I read instead the ample book by Carlton Jackson.
I found the Rohna by accident, as I was searching for some basic information about a tenacious teenager named Norris Poore from New Hampshire, who was listed on the Honor List (at The National Archives) for those service men & women who died in WWII. I was intrigued by his name for whatever reason & decided to follow my detective instincts, to find out more about his whereabouts during the war. While, I was intent on finding anything or everything about Norris Poore, since the enlistment records only give a few facts w/regard to a deceased veteran.
I was sad to discover Norris had died on the Rohna, as his last name began with a ‘P’ & so was ordered below decks when the attack commenced, in the stern, unfortunately, unless he defied orders & stayed topside, to later die in the Mediterranean Sea because his life belt might have been faulty, or from German planes which strafed so many survivors defenseless in the water, or maybe he drowned because he couldn’t swim, since he grew up on a farm, in Landaff, New Hampshire.
Norris Poore was only 18-years-old when he enlisted in the Army on 18 March 1943 & then celebrated his 19th birthday on April 5th 1943 & just 8 months later he tragically died at sea, so far from home. I can’t imagine the catastrophic horror of what poor Norris had to suffer, on the same day of my Mother’s 20th birthday. While, Norris was the youngest of 7 kids & his Mother died when he was 13-years-old, so I suspect Norris wanted to see something of the world away from the family farm & enlisted 9 months after his high school graduation, probably in 1942.
Like so many other troops on that fateful day, Norris was declared as non-recoverable with a solemn tribute posted at the North Africa American Cemetery & Memorial in Carthage, Tunis, Tunisia on the Tablets of the Missing. Norris was designated a Sergeant aka Technician Fourth Class in the 853rd Engineer Battalion, Aviation & destined for the CBI Theatre of Operations, somewhere in China, Burma, or India, but he never completed his mission! Still, Norris Poore was awarded the Purple Heart.
I think it’s important to remember everyone who died that day & I wish there was so much more information available about everybody who was lost on the Rohna, so we don’t forget about them, especially if we want to pay our respects, in some personal fashion, still. Since, Norris paid the ultimate price & gave his life, so that I could live my life, in subsequent freedom.
RIP Norris Poore...!
Book review by Jack Dunsmoor, author of the book, OK2BG
December 13, 2024
My uncle was a wounded WWII soldier on this vessel when it was taken out by Germans. They never told public of this disaster, years later survivors had to let public know it even happened.
November 14, 2012
HMT Rohna was carrying America and allied troops through the Mediterrean when it was sank by German aviation. This is the story of that fateful voyage told from the perspective of both sides.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews