HMT Rohna: The Disaster America Buried

On November 26, 1943, a German radio-controlled glide bomb struck the British troopship HMT Rohna in the Mediterranean off the coast of Algeria, killing 1,015 American soldiers in less than two hours. It was the deadliest guided-missile attack ever conducted against any target. The American and British governments classified the sinking secret. Survivors were ordered, on threat of court-martial, never to speak of it. Families received telegrams that said only "killed in action," with no ship name, no date, and no place. Roughly three hundred died on impact. The rest were drowned by their own life preserver belts, which pushed the face underwater when worn at the waist. The Army confirmed the flaw months later but the belt was issued unchanged to the Normandy troops. Of 1,015 dead, ninety-one bodies were recovered; the other 924 are commemorated at the North Africa American Cemetery in Carthage, Tunisia. 🎵 Music: Original soundtrack created for this documentary Thumbnail: HMT Rohna pre-1939 photograph, public domain (UK image, 70+ years old, author unknown). Source: Wikimedia Commons. Sources ————— Archives & Official Records Hennessy Report on the sinking of SS Rohna, 5 May 1944. NARA RG 407.3, Adjutant General's Office, AG Files 704 War Department General and Special Staffs records. NARA RG 165, College Park, Maryland Lt. Col. Alexander J. Frolich, post-action report, 30 November 1943. NARA RG 165 Major James C. Lindsell, post-action report, 28 November 1943 USS Pioneer (AM-105) deck log, 26-27 November 1943 Bureau of Public Relations memorandum, 10 January 1944 G.E. Craven, Sea Transport Department memorandum, 21 June 1944 Col. John M. Virden to Capt. T.J. Murphy, correspondence, 10 September 1958 House Concurrent Resolution 408, 106th Congress, passed 27 October 2000 North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial, ABMC, Carthage, Tunisia Commonwealth War Graves Commission records (Bombay & Tower Hill memorials) British Admiralty and War Office files, WO 361/474 (declassified 2007) Published Interviews & Testimony Saul Gurman, video testimony, TRSMA archive John Fievet, video testimony, TRSMA archive Robert Brewer, Stanley Hill, Ace Baldassari, Carlo Veterano, Al Stefenoni, Russ More, video testimony, TRSMA archive Robert Firstman, Brooklyn College "Bearing Witness" interview, April 2025 Charles Finch, interview transcripts (Jackson 1997) Hans Dochtermann, manuscript and correspondence, 1992-1995. Carlton L. Jackson Papers, MSS 581, Western Kentucky University Shawn Dochtermann, letter, Finger Lakes Times, 2003 Ludger Dochtermann, interview, Seattle Times, 22 May 2005 Books Carlton Jackson — Forgotten Tragedy: The Sinking of HMT Rohna (Naval Institute Press, 1997; reissued as Allied Secret, University of Oklahoma Press, 2002) Martin J. Bollinger — Warriors and Wizards: Radio-Controlled Glide Bombs of the Third Reich (Naval Institute Press, 2010) James G. Bennett — The Rohna Disaster: World War II's Secret Tragedy (Xlibris, 1998) Michael J. Walsh — Rohna Memories, vols. I and II (iUniverse, 2005 and 2008) James M. Wise Jr. and Scott Baron — Soldiers Lost at Sea: A Chronicle of Troopship Disasters (Naval Institute Press, 2003) Hilary St George Saunders — Valiant Voyaging: The British India Steam Navigation Company in WWII (Faber and Faber, 1948) Academic Martin J. Bollinger — "The Rohna Disaster," Naval History (USNI), vol. 38 no. 6, December 2024 Caitlin McHugh — "Unraveling the Secret: The HMT Rohna Tragedy," Ezra's Archives 1:1 (Cornell University), Spring 2011 Naval History and Heritage Command, H-Gram 022, "The Sinking of HMT Rohna" The National WWII Museum, "The Rohna Disaster," 2023 Press John P. Fievet — "World War II's Secret Disaster," American History magazine, vol. 29 no. 3, August 1993, pp. 24-35 Charles Osgood, CBS Radio "The Osgood File," 11 and 26 November 1993 New York Times — Bureau of Public Relations release, 14 June 1945 Washington Post (Stiehm), 8 June 2021 Portland Press Herald, 28 May 2023 Saul Gurman profile, Jewish Journal, May 2020 Stars and Stripes, 24 November 2022 Pioneer Publishers (Casky), May 2024 Don Moore's War Tales / Charlotte Sun (Middleton) Cross-verification Arnold Hague Convoy Database (uboat.net) — KMF-26 composition and timing Lloyd's Register 1933 — HMT Rohna specifications Merchantnavyofficers.com — Wills/Frolich primary file Imperial War Museum, object 30015749 — M1926 lifebelt catalog Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, A19840793000 — Henschel Hs 293 specifications Climate-data.org — Béjaïa November sea surface temperature climatology Rohna Survivors Memorial Association (rohnasurvivors.org) — survivor roster, "Amazing Rescue" account, Congressional Recognition records Jack Ballo, Rohna: Classified, Ultravision Films, broadcast PBS via GI Film Festival San Diego, 12 November 2025