KG40, North Africa

[Larry deZeng]

Surprisingly, Rohwer/Hümmelchen don't have much to say about it, especially in view of their gushy reporting of similar sea-war incidents elsewhere:


26.11.1943
Westl. Mittelmeer
He 177 der II./KG.40 (Major R. Mons †) versenken vor Bougie aus dem Konvoi KMF.26 durch Gleitbombe Hs 293 den brit. Truppentransporter Rohna (8602 BRT). Über 1000 Tote unter den eingeschifften Soldaten. 8 He 177 werden abgeschossen. — Der brit. Kreuzer Orion und die Zerstörer Paladin, Teazer und Troubridge bombardieren Stellungen nördlich des Flusses Garigliano.

http://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/43-11.htm

And from my manuscript for our book (deZeng/Stankey):

II./KG 40:

Nov 43: transferred from Burg to Bordeaux-Merignac in SW France and assigned to Fliegerführer Atlantik. The first mission was flown with 25 He 177s on 21 November against a 66-ship convoy in a position west of Brest that was en-route to Great Britain from Sierra Leone and North Africa. Of the 20 Hs 293-armed Heinkels that managed to reach the convoy, 3 were shot down and 4 damaged after hitting two freighters, one of which reportedly sank some time later. A second convoy was attacked off Bougie/Algeria by 21 Heinkels on 26 November. After hitting and sinking the passenger liner “Rohna” with glide bombs, as a result of which 1, 000 U.S. soldiers lost their lives, the Gruppe was intercepted by American, British and French fighters and lost 6 He 177As (F8+DM,IM,KM,MM,BP,EP), plus two more that crashed on return to Bordeaux. Ten Allied fighters were claimed shot down by the Heinkel gunners. Among the aircrew casualties were the Gruppenkommandeur, Maj. Mons, and Hptm. Arthur Horn, Hptm. Alfred Nuss and Hptm. Egon Schmidt. All were reported missing in action.