A Tanker Saved Malta

The SS Ohio was an oil tanker built for the Texas Oil Company (now Texaco). The ship was launched on 20 April 1940 at the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. in Chester, Pennsylvania. She was requisitioned by the Allied forces to re-supply the island fortress of Malta during the Second World War.

                                            SS Ohio enters Grand Harbour, Malta, lashed
                                                  between two destroyers and a tugboat

The tanker played a fundamental role in Operation Pedestal, which was one of the fiercest and most heavily contested of the Malta convoys, in August 1942. Although Ohio reached Malta successfully, she was so badly damaged that she had to be effectively scuttled in order to offload her cargo, and never sailed again. The tanker is fondly remembered in Malta, where to this day she is considered to be the savior of the beleaguered island.

In 1942, Britain was waging war in the Mediterranean against the German Afrika Korps and Italian forces in North Africa. Crucial to this theatre of operations was the island of Malta, sitting in the middle of Axis supply lines and, if supplied with sufficient munitions, aircraft and fuel, capable of causing severe shortages to the German and Italian armies in North Africa. Munitions and aircraft were available—during a brief lull in the Axis attacks, for example, the island's defenses were reinforced by thirty eight Spitfire Mk V aircraft flown in from HMS Furious—but these, along with food and fuel, remained in critically short supply. Successive attempts at resupplying the island had mostly failed; the convoys "Harpoon" (from Gibraltar) and "Vigorous" (from Alexandria, Egypt) saw most of their merchantmen sunk and escort ships damaged. One of the ships lost during "Harpoon" was Ohio's sister ship SS Kentucky, crippled by a German air attack and then scuttled, having her stern blown in by a depth charge dropped by HMS Rye.

On 18 June, following the failures of "Harpoon" and "Vigorous", the Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet cabled the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to express his doubts about attempting another convoy. Three days later, Ohio steamed into the mouth of the Clyde, under the command of Sverre Petersen, a former Master in Sail from Oslo, in Norway. In early May 1942, a radio message had reached Captain Petersen which diverted the ship to Galveston in Texas, and then ordered the tanker to proceed to Britain. Before leaving, Ohio was fitted with one 5-inch (130 mm) gun on her stern, and a 3-inch (76 mm) AA gun in the bows. She then moved to Sinclair Terminal, Houston in Texas, where the ship loaded a full cargo of 103,576 barrels (16,467.3 m³) of petrol (gasoline), finally sailing on 25 May. Ohio discharged her cargo at Bowling-on-the-Clyde, then steamed out into the tideway and anchored, awaiting orders.

Here, the captain received a letter from Lord Leathers, the head of the British Ministry of War Transport, bidding the master a personal welcome and "...your safe arrival in the Clyde with the first cargo of oil carried in a United States tanker." However, the euphoria that such a message brought to the crew soon turned into resentment and anger. A telegram was received the same day by the head office of Texaco, from the War Shipping Administration, announcing simply that Ohio was being requisitioned "pursuant to the law". The immediate reaction was a cabled message from Mr. T. E. Buchanan, General Manager of Texaco's Marine Department to the firm's London agent, that on no account was Ohio to leave her discharging port of Bowling-on-the-Clyde. A period of indecision, meetings and debates between the highest American authorities and their British counterparts soon ensued. The master was told that further orders would arrive soon afterwards. The decision was finally taken two weeks later, when a launch sped out to the ship anchored in the Clyde and Texaco's London agent, accompanied by an official of the British Ministry of War Shipping came over the side. They met the Captain, who was informed that the ship was to be confiscated and handed over to a British crew. The American crew and the captain were exasperated by the seemingly outrageous order, but had no other option but to give in, and started to pack their kit whilst British seamen began to take the ship over.

On 10 July, Captain Petersen handed over the ship. There was no formal ceremony, and little goodwill. The American flag was taken down, and Ohio henceforward sailed under the "Red Duster". Overnight, she was transferred from American to British registry. For convenience in management, the tanker was handed over on 25 July to the Eagle Oil and Shipping Company, which was warned of the importance of the impending convoy and that "...much might depend on the quality and courage of the crew.”

Attacks and Damage

The convoy entered Gibraltar in heavy fog on 10 August. A day later, four torpedoes from the German submarine U-73 sank the aircraft-carrier HMS Eagle, killing 260 men, and losing all but four planes. On this day, German bombers attacked the convoy. On 12 August twenty Junkers 88s attacked the convoy, while a further combined strike by 100 German and Italian Regia Aeronautica planes attacked the merchantmen. It was during the ensuing mayhem that the tanker was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Axum and caught fire. The Ohio was hit amidships, where a huge pillar of flame leapt high into the air. Ohio seemed to be out of control. Captain Mason ordered the engines to be shut down, with all deckhands available fighting the fire with the deck waterlines. Lighted kerosene bubbled up from the fractured tanks, while little gouts of flame spattered the deck to a distance of thirty yards from the blaze. Fortunately, the flames were put out and the tanker managed thirteen knots after being repaired. The blast destroyed the ship's gyrocompass and knocked the magnetic compass off its bearings, while the steering gear was put out of action, forcing the crew to steer with the emergency gear from aft.

A hole, 24 feet by 27 feet, had been torn in the port side of the midships pump-room. The explosion had also blown another hole in the starboard side, flooding the compartment. There were jagged tears in the bulkheads and kerosene was spurting up from adjoining tanks, seeping in a film up through the holes in the hull. The deck had been broken open, so that one could look down into the ship. From beam to beam the deck was buckled, but the ship held together. Another sixty Junkers 87 Stuka dive bombers attacked the convoy, focusing on Ohio. A series of near misses ensued as the tanker approached the island of Pantelleria. Bombs threw spray over the decks of the tanker, while aircraft used their machine guns. One near-miss buckled the ship's plates and the forward tank filled with water. The 3-inch (76 mm) gun at the bows was twisted in its mountings and put out of action. A formation of five Junkers 88s was broken up by the tanker's anti aircraft guns, with the bombs falling harmlessly into the sea. Another plane, this time a Junkers 87, was shot down by an Ohio gunner; however, the aircraft crashed into Ohio's starboard side, forward of the upper bridge, and exploded. Half a wing hit the upper work of the bridge and a rain of debris showered the tanker from stem to stern. The plane's bomb fortunately failed to detonate. Captain Mason was telephoned from aft by the chief officer, who told Mason that the Junkers 87 had crashed into the sea and then bounced onto the ship. Mason 'rather curtly' replied: "Oh that's nothing. We've had a Junkers 88 on the foredeck for nearly half an hour.”

As the ship turned slowly to comb torpedoes, two sticks of bombs fell on either side of the tanker. The vessel lifted, and went on lifting until she was clean out of the water. Cascades of spray and bomb splinters lashed the deck, she fell back with a crash. Ohio had differential gearing which slowed the propeller automatically; on other ships, the same effect would have shaken the engines out of their rooms. Continuously bombed, the tanker kept on steaming until another explosion to starboard sent her reeling to port. The engine-room lights went out, plunging her into darkness. The master switches had been thrown off by the force of the explosion, but they were quickly switched on again by an electrician. This time, the ship had not escaped damage. The boiler fires were blown out, and it was a race against time to restore them before the steam pressure dropped too low to work the fuel pumps. The engineers lit the fire starter torches to restart the furnaces.

The complicated routine of restarting went forward smoothly and within twenty minutes Ohio was steaming at sixteen knots again. Then another salvo of bombs hit the ship, shaking every plate, and once more the engines slowed and stopped. The electric fuel pumps had been broken by the concussion. While the crew desperately tried to reconnect the electrical wires and restart the engines via the auxiliary steam system, the engine-room was filled with black smoke until the engines were properly re-lit. The ship was making alternate black and white smoke and, with oil in the water pipes and a loss of vacuum in the condenser, Ohio started to lose way slowly, coming to a stop at 10.50 am. The crew abandoned ship, boarding HMS Penn that had come to Ohio's aid alongside another destroyer, HMS Ledbury. The latter ship was soon to leave the stricken tanker after being ordered to go in search of the cruiser HMS Manchester, which had been crippled by Italian motor torpedo boats.

Under Tow

Penn 's commanding officer, Commander J.H. Swain RN, offered Captain Mason a tow with a heavy 10-inch manila hemp rope. With the tow line in place, Penn moved ahead, straining its engines to the limit; Ohio continued to list to port. The two ships were not making any progress, even drifting backwards due to the easterly wind. Now both ships were sitting ducks, and as another serious attack developed, the destroyer went to full speed to part the tow. A German bomber dived on the tanker and was shot down by Ohio 's gunners, but just before its demise, the aircraft's crew released its cargo. A bomb hit the tanker just where the initial torpedo had hit her, effectively breaking her back, just as night was setting in. The ship was abandoned for the night. The day after, Penn was joined by the minesweeper HMS Rye. The two ships towed the tanker and succeeded in making up to five knots, overcoming the tendency to swing to port. Another attack blasted the group of ships, snapping the tow lines and immobilising Ohio's rudder. Another bomb hit the fore end of the front deck, forcing the engineers out of the engine room. Once more, Mason gave the order to abandon ship, as two more air attacks narrowly missed the tanker. A superficial examination showed that the rent that had developed in the amidships section had widened and that the ship had indeed almost certainly broken her back.

The two ships around the tanker were joined by HMS Bramham and by Ledbury (the latter returning from her search for Manchester). Meanwhile, Rye had again begun to tow Ohio with the newly arrived Ledbury acting as a stern tug. With less pull from Ledbury, a fair speed was maintained, but steering proved impossible. A stabilising factor was needed, thus Commander Swain edged Penn to the starboard side of Ohio. Rye, joined by Bramham, slowly got under way once more, with Ledbury acting as a rudder. Another Axis air attack began just as the group of ships was moving at six knots. At 10.45 AM the first wave of dive-bombers came low over the water. Only one oil bomb landed close to Ohio's bow, showering her with burning liquid. Then came three more echelons of German planes. This time, close air support from Malta was available. Sixteen Spitfires, of 249 and 229 Squadrons from Malta, had sighted the enemy. The first enemy formation wavered and broke. The second formation also broke, but one section of Junkers 88s succeeded in breaking free, making for the tanker. These were swiftly followed by the Spitfires. Three of the German planes were shot down or manoeuvred to evade the Spitfires; nonetheless one bomber held its course, and a 1,000-pound bomb landed in the tanker's wake. Ohio was flung forward, parting Ryes tow, buckling the stern plates of the tanker and forming a great hole.

Arrival in Malta

Ohio was sinking not much more than 45 miles west of Malta. Under the protection of the Spitfires, the danger of enemy attacks receded. After the tow line was parted, Ledbury was still secured to Ohio by a heavy wire which had been pulled round by the heavily yawing tanker, and had ended up alongside Penn, facing the wrong way. After a quick analysis of the possibilities, it was decided to tow the tanker with a destroyer on either side of the tanker. Bramham was immediately ordered to make for port, while Penn remained coupled to the starboard side. The speed was increased but kept to five knots, Ohio's deck was awash amidships. Now under the protection of the coastal batteries of Malta, the group of ships were slowly moving around the island, approaching Grand Harbour. The coastal batteries fired on a creeping U-Boat's conning tower, and scared off a group of E-Boats. Slowly, the group approached the tricky harbour entrance, near Zonqor Point. Here the group dispersed before a British-laid minefield. At 6.00am, with Ohio still hovering on the edge of the minefield, the situation was eased by the arrival of the Malta tugs. With destroyers still linked on either side of the tanker, these sturdy ships made fast ahead and astern and the tanker was soon proceeding up the channel to the Grand Harbour entrance. There, a fabulous welcome awaited them. On the ramparts above the wreck strewn harbour, on the Barracca, St Angelo and Senglea, great crowds of Maltese men and women waved and cheered and a brass band on the end of the mole was giving a spirited rendition of Rule Britannia. Captain Mason, however, standing at the salute on the battered bridge of Ohio, could spare not a moment's thought for the pride of bringing the ship to harbour, since the creaking plates showed that Ohio might still go to the bottom of the Grand Harbour.

Pipes were now hauled aboard and emergency salvage pumps began to discharge the kerosene. At the same time, a fleet auxiliary, RFA Boxol, began to pump the 10,000 tons of fuel oil into her own tanks. As the oil flowed out, Ohio sank lower and lower in the water. The last drops of oil left her and simultaneously her keel settled on the bottom. Her captain, Dudley William Mason, was subsequently awarded the George Cross.

Aftermath

After Ohio reached Malta, the ship broke in two from the damage she had sustained. There were insufficient shipyard facilities to repair the tanker, so the two halves were used for storage, and later barracks facilities for Yugoslavian troops.

On 19 September 1946 the two halves of Ohio were towed ten miles offshore and scuttled by gunfire from a destroyer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Ohio