The HMT Rohna

Fifty-three years after World War Two’s largest loss of American life at sea, a small memorial reminiscent of a modest tombstone was erected in an Alabama cemetery by a tenacious group of survivors and families. The single block of stone and its short inscription hardly seem proportionate to represent a tragedy of the magnitude of the HMT Rohna; yet this is representative of the entirety of the Rohna’s story. Her legacy is one of suppression, tenacity, and a new hope arising - a hope which is carried on by the few remaining who know the story of the HMT Rohna.

As CBS news commentator Charles Osgood said of the HMT Rohna, "It's not that we forgot. It's that we never knew." One thousand fifteen American GIs died during the HMT Rohna's destruction on November 26, 1943 - more than even associated with the USS Indianapolis - and yet there is no cultural memory of the event. This lack of knowledge is due in significant part to the reprehensible actions of the US government following the tragedy.

The day after she joined Gibraltar-to-Suez Convoy KMF-26, the HMT Rohna was sunk off the coast of Algeria by an experimental German Hs-293 radio-controlled glide bomb. The Hs-293, which struck the Rohna, was the only one out of the forty-two launched at the convoy to score a direct hit and killed approximately three hundred American servicemen on impact. Even as the ship began to list heavily starboard, Rohna's anti-aircraft guns continued to fire against the Luftwaffe bombers high above until the ship finally had to be abandoned in entirety, sinking ninety minutes after the bomb first hit.

The sea was rough that evening, and since only eight of twenty-two lifeboats were launchable, most of the troop's fate lay with the mercy of the water with little more than the help of makeshift rafts. Hypothermia quickly ensued.

Valiant rescue efforts by the crews of the USS Pioneer, HMS Atherstone, SS Clan Campbell, HMS Holcombe, and HMRT Mindful succeeded in pulling nearly one thousand men out of the water in a race against time, weather, and military conditions before it became necessary to withdraw from the site. One thousand fifteen men were lost, and survivors of the disaster found quick transport to shore. Still, six soldiers succumbed to the effects of their wounds and prolonged exposure to the freezing water before they arrived, and twenty-nine more followed soon after in allied hospitals along the coast. "In total, either during or as a direct result of the sinking of the HMT Rohna, one thousand fifty Americans died, along with ninety nine crew members and passengers of various other nationalities."

All information concerning the Rohna was immediately classified by the US government, ostensibly to prevent German leadership from learning how effective their experimental weapon truly was. Families of the casualties received essentially no information regarding the death of their loved one: the dreaded telegrams informed them only that their soldier was missing in action, "no information to follow." The government was true to its word.

The Rohna's story would not become available to the public for an unwarranted twenty-four years. A quiet declassification occurred in 1967, with no public statement, no further information provided to families, no memorial put in place, and no recognition given to the heroic actions of crewmembers of the Rohna, Pioneer, and other ships involved in the tragedy. The perpetuation and preservation of the memory of the Rohna became the responsibility of the survivors themselves and their families.

Outside of the survivors' conversations within their own homes, there was almost overwhelming silence regarding the Rohna, aside from two notable articles in the New York Times. The first, dated June 14, 1945, mentions the Rohna as a part of a statistical comparison of men lost at sea during World War Two versus World War One and rightfully names the Rohna as the largest loss of American life at sea during World War Two, giving the correct statistic of 1,015 American servicemen lost. The second, dated January 4, 1946, discusses the return of 150 members of the 853rd Division who survived the sinking of the HMT Rohna and gave the barebones facts of the disaster. Both of these articles are shocking, given the 'gag order' regarding the Rohna, which was still very much in place during these post-war years.

The level of secrecy regarding the Rohna among survivors varied wildly: some never spoke of their experiences at all, while some openly told their story around the Thanksgiving dining table.

The Rohna was not mentioned again by a major news source until 1993, when John Fievet, a Rohna survivor, broke the story with an article he called "World War Two's Secret Disaster" in the American History Magazine. The article gained a fair bit of traction and caused the Rohna to be mentioned twice on Charles Osgood's CBS Radio program. On the 50th anniversary of the disaster, Osgood stated, "It was not until 1967 the story came out, and even now there is no monument. Fievet thinks there should be one." This revelation struck a chord and planted a seed.

Fievet headed the effort to establish a memorial for the Rohna. He first contacted Arlington National Cemetery and the Department of Veterans Affairs with the request to set up a memorial for the Rohna. The small group decided to take the VA's comparatively generous offer of the chance to place a memorial in a national cemetery of the group's choice. James Blaine, whose brother perished on the Rohna, took up the mantle of the next-of-kin to request the memorial, as stipulated by the VA's requirements. So that the memorial could receive dedication from the whole group who fought so tenaciously for its existence, they formed The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association (TRSMA). On May 30, 1996, the memorial was placed in Fort Mitchell National Cemetery in Seale, Alabama, bearing the inscription, "Remember the Rohna. Dedicated to the memory of the 1,015 men who died in World War II when the HMT Rohna was struck by a guided missile launched from a German bomber on November 26, 1943. May they rest in peace. The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association May 30, 1996."

Anthony Pumelia, a member of the Army Air Forces, survived the Rohna and later received a Purple Heart for injuries sustained during the disaster - a Purple Heart awarded only for injuries sustained November 26, 1943, with no mention whatsoever of the Rohna. After decades of the Rohna having little more place in his and his family's lives than as 'Dad's Thanksgiving war story,' in 2002, the Pumelia's answered the impulse to track down his old friend John Messina, with whom he went over the side of the Rohna.

After a surprisingly rapid search conducted by his loving children, Pumelia finally made a call and spoke to Messina after nearly sixty years of separation. During a long conversion, Messina told Pumelia about The Rohna Survivors Memorial Association, and the two finally reunited in person at the next reunion of the TRSMA.

Despite the monument's dedication, the story of the HMT Rohna remains largely lost to history. Few institutions are interested in her story. Many attempts throughout the years to bring this history to the forefront by the survivors and their families have fallen short. Countless attempts to contact various individuals and organizations often go suspiciously unanswered. For the memory of those who survived that tragic day, not only are they left with the nightmare, the Rohna's place in memory feels eerily similar to one from the Vietnam veteran's lens. Remaining with the survivors and those with only memories of lost loved ones is a feeling of abandonment and disregard for their contributions and sacrifices.

Individuals like Anthony Pumelia's daughter Janice see the memorial as a step in the right direction and vindication for the survivors and families of the casualties who suffered in the dark for so many decades, never knowing what truly happened. Work remains to memorialize this event further. As for now, cultural memory (in the context of the Rohna and her memorial) is impossible to discuss for the simple reason that it does not exist. "It's not that we forgot. It's that we never knew."

(edited by Laura Bailey)

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