Sinking of the "Rohna"-A virtually unknown WWII tragedy Few people have ever heard about the sinking of the Rohna, or the 1,105 American soldiers who died in the worst at-sea disaster in U.S. history. But Charles "Dutch" Beard, a retiree from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has not forgotten. He was on the Rohna when a German guided missile sank her during World War II. The HMT (Her Majesty's Transport) Rohna was a dilapidated old British merchant vessel converted to troopship. She sailed from Oran, Algeria, bound for Bombay, India, carrying 1,981 U.S. soldiers, including Beard, a young lieutenant in the 853rd Aviation Battalion. The Rohna also carried seven Red Cross personnel, and 195 Indian crewmen and British officers. The Rohna was part of convoy KMF-26. On Nov. 26, 1943, about 30 Luftwaffe bombers attacked the convoy. Several of the Hinkel 177 long-range bombers carried two Hs293 remote-controlled glider bombs, one under each wing. The Hs293 was, in effect, the first air-launched cruise missile. A rocket engine launched the bomb away from the bomber, then it glided toward its target under remote (radio) control. One of these weapons struck the Rohna on its port side just above the waterline, the first successful war-strike by such a weapon. [snip] >From - November 2000 Engineer Full text at - http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/pubs/nov00/story6.htm ----- Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar Nagpur, India

G'day folks, On 14/05/2008, at 2:39 AM, Harshawardhan_Bosham Nimkhedkar wrote: > Sinking of the "Rohna"-A virtually unknown WWII tragedy The "Rohna" was a British India Shipping Navigation Company vessel. Recently there have been programs on TV programs which were not very complimentary to the crew of the vessel during this action. BISN Veterans have been in correspondence with the producers of these programs to argue against the TV producers accounts of the sinking and subsequent events. ooroo If you don't hear the knock of opportunity - build a door. Anon.