SS Ohio was an oil tanker built for The Texas Company (later Texaco). The ship was launched on 20 April 1940 at the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. in Chester, Pennsylvania. The United Kingdom requisitioned it to re-supply the island fortress of Malta during the Second World War.
The tanker played a key 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, it was so badly damaged that it had to be effectively scuttled in order to offload its cargo, and never sailed again. The tanker is fondly remembered in Malta, where to this day it is considered the saviour of the beleaguered island.
Design and building Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. built Ohio as hull 190, launching her on 20 April 1940 and completing her that June. She was a skillful compromise, promising broad cargo-carrying capacity to the merchant and speed, balance, and stability to the mariner. Above the waterline her design echoed the outward curve of a schooner's bow, bearing the influence of the old American clipper ship design. She was the lead ship of her class of eight ships, all owned by The Texas Company.
The threat of a rearming Germany and a Japanese Empire bent on military expansion, and the approach of war, influenced Ohio design. Unofficial conversations between military and oil chiefs resulted in a ship of and , 515 feet length overall, and capable of carrying of fuel oil. The ship was completed in the unusually short time of seven months and 15 days.
The Westinghouse steam turbine engines developed 9,000 driveshaft horsepower at 90 revolutions per minute, which gave her a speed of . Ohio was considered the fastest tanker of her era. Her method of construction was controversial. For some years, the issue of welding versus riveting had raged on both sides of the Atlantic. Ohio was welded, with hopes it would prove once and for all its reliability. The ship also had a composite framing system with two longitudinally continuous bulkheads, which divided the ship into 21 cargo tanks.
The ship was launched the day after that scheduled, prompting superstitious fear in the welders, steel-cutters and other craftsmen who had assembled to watch her launch. She was christened in a ceremony presided over by the mother of William Starling Sullivant Rodgers, president of the Texas Oil Company, Florence E. Rodgers, who, grasping the ceremonial bottle of champagne in her hand, pronounced the words:
The ship slid down No. 2 slipway, entering the waters of the Delaware River. The existence of Ohio would, in her initial years, be uneventful and ordinary, plying between Port Arthur and various other American harbors. She set a speed record from Bayonne to Port Arthur, covering in four days and twelve hours, an average of more than seventeen knots.
Malta, "Pedestal" planning and Ohio
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, "The Mediterranean campaign revolved around the island of Malta, where the British based surface ships, submarines and aircraft [were] to attack the supplies for [the] Italian and German armies in North Africa. Major convoy operations were mounted to sustain Malta and the island narrowly survived." 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 38 Spitfire Mk V aircraft flown in from – 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 by aerial and surface attacks. One of the ships lost during "Harpoon" was Ohio sister ship Kentucky, crippled by a German air attack and then abandoned. The tanker was eventually finished off by the Italian cruisers and and two destroyers.
On 18 June, after the failures of "Harpoon" and "Vigorous", the Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet cabled UK 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 defensively armed with one gun on her stern and one anti-aircraft gun in the bow. She then moved to Sinclair Terminal, Houston in Texas, where she loaded a full cargo of of petrol (gasoline), and sailed 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 TE 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 US 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 UK Ministry of War Transport came aboard. They met the Captain, who was told that the ship was to be requisitioned and handed over to a UK crew. The US 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 UK 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 US flag was taken down, and Ohio henceforward sailed under the Red Ensign. Overnight she was transferred from US to UK registry. On 25 July the MoWT contracted her management 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." At about the time Ohio was transferred to the UK registry, her tonnages were revised to and .
As the UK crew started to assemble, it became clear that a large convoy was being planned. Command of the ship passed to Captain Dudley W Mason, who at 39 had already held other commands. James Wyld was to be chief engineer. 48 hours after Ohio had been transferred to British registry, her crew was completed. The ship's company numbered 77, including 24 Royal Navy and Royal Artillery Marine Regiment DEMS gunners. The ship was then moved to King George V Dock, Glasgow for improvements and additional armament. As she would be the only ship carrying kerosene and diesel fuel which were so vital to Malta's survival before she sailed she was given special strengthening to protect her against the shock of bombs exploding near her. In the previous convoy, the tanker Kentucky had been sunk with only a few hours' repair work needed on a steam pipe, which had been broken by the force of such explosions. The Ministry was determined that this should not happen again, and so Ohio engines were mounted on rubber bearings, to reduce shock, and all steam pipes were supported with steel springs and baulks of timber. A system of pipes were connected to the ships compressors and a new diesel compressor so that air at 120 lb per square inch could pressurise any holed tank and blow seawater back out.Moses 2006 p103 The armament was improved with a 3-inch anti-aircraft gun on the bow, a 5-inch gun on the stern, two more Oerlikons, machine guns and a 40 mm Bofors behind the funnel to guard against stern attacks by aircraft.
Ohio and "Pedestal"
Departure After the failure of the mid-June convoys, it was wondered if Malta could hold out on the meagre supplies rescued from "Harpoon" and "Vigorous" and small deliveries carried by submarine and by the fast minelayer until another convoy could be organised. Escorting merchant ships in the brilliance of a Mediterranean moonlit period was courting disaster. This situation limited operations in the immediate future to the moonless period in July or August between the 10th and 16th of those months. July passed as Ohio could not be fitted out in time. Once the due planning had been carried out it was decided to begin the operation in August.
Ohio steamed down to Dunglass on the Clyde and loaded 11,500 tons of kerosene and diesel fuel oils.
While the merchant ships gathered in the Firth of Clyde, the naval forces had already reached Scapa Flow. Admiral Syfret joined the battleship there on 27 July and held a convoy conference on 2 August. The same day, all leave had been stopped. At eight o'clock that evening, two hours before dusk, the convoy sailed. The 14 ships, of WS 21S led by with the cruiser Kenya and destroyers Bicester and Bramham formed up; it was dark by the time they reached the open sea.
The following day, WS21S was joined by Force F (two battleships and six destroyers) and then a further five destroyers. Further warships joined the convoy en route to Gibraltar. By the 8 August the convoy numbered 67 vessels.
Axis attacks and damage The convoy left Gibraltar in thick fog on 9 August. A day later, four torpedoes from the struck the aircraft-carrier which sank in four minutes, killing 260 men, and losing all but four planes. On the same day, German bombers attacked the convoy. On 12 August 20 Junkers Ju 88s attacked the convoy, while a further combined strike by 100 German and Italian Regia Aeronautica planes attacked the merchantmen.
In the ensuing mayhem the torpedoed Ohio amidships. A huge pillar of flame leapt high into the air. Ohio was on fire and 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. Burning kerosene bubbled up from the fractured tanks, while small gouts of flame spattered the deck up to 30 yards from the blaze. The flames were put out and the tanker managed 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 aft.
The torpedo had blown a hole, , in the port side of the midships pump-room. It had also blown a 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.