CONVOY TO MALTA

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 155, 29 December 1944, Page 4

CONVOY TO MALTA

SHAW SAVILL SHIPS LOST (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.) LONDON, December 28. How the three latest and fastest motor cargo vessels of the Shaw Savill fleet, the Waimarama, Wairangi, and Empire Hope, were lost while raising the siege of Malta, in August, 1942, can now be told, says "The Times." The Waimarama brought many thousands of tons of wheat, -meat, &nd dairy produce from New Zealand and Australia to Britain before the war, and the loss of these large refrigerator vessels had its effect on the food situation in Britain. The Empire Hope v/as a new vessel, a sister-ship of the Waimarama.

Malta w,as critically short of food and of petrol for its Spitfires when an armada of the Merchant Navy's finest ships was dispatched to its succour. The convoy's naval protection was acknowledged to be inadequate, particularly in air cover.

High-level bombers first attacked the Empire Hope, but she escaped unscathed, though H.M.S. Eagle, close astern, was torpedoed. The loss of the Eagle made it impossible for the convoy to pass through the Sicilian Narrows — "Bomb Alley" — without heavy losses.

Massed attacks were concentrated on the Empire Hope the following evening, the enemy scoring 18 near-misses in 30 minutes. These damaged the engines and made the ship a sitting target. The gun crews were blown dut of the gun positions, and more than once crawled back to the guns. SWAM BACK TO SHIP. Some of the crew were blown overboard and swam back to the ship and their guns. Two direct hits set the ship on fire. She e was carrying kerosene and explosives. The destroyer Perm, which was towing, a damaged tanker, picked up the survivors of the crew.

The Wairangi became a casualty the following day about the same time as the Waimarama. After evading several aerial torpedo attacks, she was hit and, badly damaged by an enemy torpedo-boat. The crew scuttled the ship to deny to the enemy the munitions she was carrying. The destroyer Eskimo picked up the entire crew.

The Waimarama met a sudden, tragic end. The enemy scored three or four hits near the bridge, which disappeared completely with everybody on it. Petrol caught fire and the ship went down in less than four minutes. H.M.S. Ledbury gallantly tried to rescue the crew, but the greater part was lost, including the commander, ' Captain Pearce.

The Ceramic, another well-known liner of the White Star fleet, was torpedoed in December. Only one survivor so far has been reported of the passengers and crew totalling 656. Captain G. Williams, commander of the Empire Hope, and his third officer, Mr. G. V. Connolly, and Captain H. Gordon (now Sir Henry Gordon), commander of the Wairangi, and his chief engineer, Mr. A. Chalmers, were all awarded the D.S.C.