Worst US troopship disaster

26th November 1943: The HMT Rohna is hit by a German glider bomb - and over half of the US Army troops on board do not survive

The Heinkel 177. The German long-range bomber was under development for most of the war because of a demanding technical specification, including the capacity to dive bomb. By the time the issues had been resolved Germany was unable to build them in the numbers needed. A He 177 making a low pass in January 1944.

Closeup of the nose and undernose gondola of a Heinkel He 177 "Griffin" heavy bomber, Soviet Union, 1943.

USS Savannah (CL-42) is hit by a German guided bomb, off Salerno, 11 September 1943.

The worst troopship disaster to befall the U.S. happened on the 26th November 1943 - when German planes made a concerted attack on a military convoy in the Mediterranean. A force of 30 He-177 planes, the much delayed German long-range bomber, released 60 glider bombs at the ships but only succeeded in making one strike.