Forgotten Tragedy

The Sinking of HMT Rohna

By Jackson, Carlton
1997, United States Naval Inst.
ISBN 1557504024
Hardcover, 207 pages, photos

Descripton: This book tells the story of British troop transport HMT Rohna, sunk the day after Thanksgiving 1943 in the Indian Ocean by the first successful German homing bomb dropped by the Luftwaffe. Details of this sinking, which resulted in the greatest single loss of American lives at sea in World War II (1,015), in addition to hundreds of British deaths, were not announced at the time because it was thought that knowledge of the existence of a homing bomb would lower Allied morale. The author researched official records and interviewed survivors, including the German pilot of the plane which released the missile.

From the uboat.net review: In late November, 1943, a troopship carrying American soldiers was sunk in the Mediterranean. This marked the first successful German homing bomb used by aircraft against a shipping target. 1,015 Americans were killed in the sinking of HMT Rohna ...
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