Ohio (ship)
The Ohio was an oil tanker owned by the Texas Oil Company (now Texaco ). At the time of her launch on April 20, 1940 from the Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in Chester, Pennsylvania, she was the largest ship of its kind, the maximum speed was up to 16 kn (30 km / h).
The core of the Pedestal operation
During the Second World War , Malta served the Allies primarily as a base of operations for their air force. Due to German air strikes and the supply lines disrupted by German submarines and the Italian Navy, the supply situation on the island with regard to food, ammunition and fuel was catastrophic.
In August 1942, the Pedestal operation was supposed to bring relief. A convoy of cargo ships, aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and destroyers was supposed to bring urgently needed supplies to Malta, which was still held by the British. As a tanker, the Ohio was one of the most important ships in the operation. Without their fuel, the air superiority would have been lost and the German Air Force could have prepared a landing on Malta without further ado.
During this convoy voyage, the Ohio was hit twice by torpedoes from the Italian submarine Axum and several times by bomb attacking Junkers Ju 87 attack aircraft ; a shot down Stuka fell on the deck of the tanker. Despite the explosive cargo, the ship remained afloat. Since the Ohio was incapable of maneuvering due to the destroyed machine and also threatened to break up, her crew left the ship twice, but returned again and again. Finally it was decided to tow the ship, moored between the two destroyers HMS Penn and HMS Ledbury , as far as the Grand Harbor . In this way, most of the 12,000 tons of diesel and kerosene could be brought to the besieged island.
Honor, further whereabouts
The captain, Dudley William Mason, was awarded the George Cross by the British King .
After the Ohio Malta reached and was unloaded, the ship broke in two parts. Since repairs on Malta were impossible, the wreck served from then on as a storage facility and later as accommodation for Yugoslav troops.
Finally, on September 19, 1946, the two halves were towed ten miles offshore and sunk with cannon fire.
The convoy's sailors also jokingly called the Ohio Oh-haitch ten ( OH10 ).
literature
- Michael Galea: Malta Diary of a War 1940-1945. Publishers Enterprise Group, Malta, 1994. 307 pages, ISBN 99909-0-029-9
- Peter C. Smith: Pedestal: Malta Convoy of August 1942. Crecy Publishing, 2nd edition 1998. 256 pages, ISBN 0-947554-77-7
- Richard Woodman: Malta Convoys. 1940-1943. Hodder And Stoughton Verlag, 2004. 560 pages, ISBN 0-7195-6408-5