 |
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:SS-Ohio_supported.jpg) Ohio entering Grand Harbour in Malta lashed between two destroyers and a tugboat | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ohio |
| Owner |
|
| Operator | Eagle Oil & Shipping (1942–44) |
| Port of registry |
|
| Builder | Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. |
| Yard number | 190 |
| Laid down | 7 September 1939 |
| Launched | 20 April 1940 |
| Completed | June 1940 |
| Acquired | Transferred to MoWT 10 July 1942 |
| Decommissioned | 15 August 1945 |
| Identification |
|
| Nickname(s) | "OH 10" |
| Fate | Sunk by naval gunfire practice 19 September 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | SS Ohio |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 68.3 ft (20.8 m) |
| Depth | 36.2 ft (11.0 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Complement | 77 men (24 DEMS gunners) |
| Armament |
|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:ICS_Whiskey.svg){kind=small}
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:ICS_Echo.svg){kind=small}
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:ICS_Kilo.svg){kind=small}
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:ICS_Victor.svg){kind=small}
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:ICS_Bravo.svg){kind=small}
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:ICS_Delta.svg){kind=small}
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:ICS_Yankee.svg){kind=small}
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:ICS_Quebec.svg){kind=small}
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.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3]
- ^ Holland, James (2005). Fortress Malta: An Island Under Siege, 1940–1943. Cassell Military. ISBN 0-304-36654-4.[page needed]
- ^ Spooner, Tony (1996). Supreme Gallantry: Malta's Role in the Allied Victory, 1939–1945. London.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)[page needed] - ^ "Speech by HE Dr. George Hyzler, Acting President of Malta, on the Occasion of the 225th Anniversary of the American Independence". Retrieved 20 June 2007.