Most Americans have never heard of the HMT Rohna and what happened on that fateful day of November 26, 1943.
On November 25, 1943 at Oran, Algeria, Howard boarded the Rohna headed for the China-Burma-India theater. Destination was Port Said, Egypt. There was a crew of 195, along with 1,981 American troops and 7 Red Cross personnel. The Rohna sailed along with four other ships and joined a convoy that same day; she was the second ship in the port column, for a total of 24 ships. The following day the USS Pioneer joined the convoy. According to 2nd Officer Wills of the Rohna, there were no warnings of enemy aircraft received.
Before dawn on November 27th a German HS293 glider bomb was dropped by a Henkel 177 bomber which hit the Rohna. The device blew open a huge hole near the after end of the engine room and the No. 6 troop’s deck. Hundreds died upon impact. After the explosion that destroyed the Engine Room, the ship was engulfed in flames and started to sink. It was impossible to lower the lifeboats on the portside due to the side plates forced outwards by the explosion. Many of the lifeboats on the starboard side were lowered but were soon capsized because of the hundreds of troops that were already in the water and trying to climb into them. Others perished from cold and exhaustion while darkness and rough seas hampered rescue efforts. A total of 1,015 American troops, 3 Red Cross personnel, and 120 crewmen perished.
Stories were told of desertion of the Indian crew, equipment failures, and the deplorable condition of the lifeboats and rafts. Then there were the cold waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the darkness and the heavy seas, which made the rescue operations difficult. The United States, British, and French rescue ships worked courageously to save the passengers and crew who made it off the Rohna. One U.S. ship, the USS Pioneer, picked up 606 survivors.
The HMT Rohna was the first transport ship carrying U.S. troops to be sunk during World War II. Also, two important but unknown historical events occurred at that time. It was the first successful “hit” of a merchant vessel at-sea carrying US troops by a German remote-controlled, rocket-boosted bomb, and it resulted in the greatest loss of troops at sea in U.S. history.
It was so devastating that the U.S. Government placed a veil of secrecy upon it. The events which followed, were so shameful that the secrecy continued for decades until recently, when documents were released under pressure of the Freedom of Information Act.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wijuneau/OlsonHowardRohna.htm
How we got the A Bomb before the Germans did is beyond me. Divine intervention or there really are aliens at Area 51 are my first two guesses. Glider bombs (Smart munitions) and R/C mini-tanks (Battlefield drones). I mean really, I had no idea. Just WOW.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740299/
You guys need to watch this show. Its based on the premise the Axis won and what present day would be like. (I think it underestimates the Nazis. Today we would be mining asteroids with slave labor.)