The Impossible Survival of the SS Ohio by Inġ. Colin Bonnici

So many questions have remained unanswered… until now.

The day of 15 August, the feast of St Mary’s Assumption, is a much-anticipated summer holiday in Malta. However, on this very same day in 1942, during the Second World War, the island was also cheering the arrival of the oil tanker SS Ohio.

Against all odds, the T2 tanker successfully completed Operation Pedestal – nicknamed by the locals as the Santa Marija Convoy – and delivered vital oil supplies without which Malta would have surrendered. En route, Ohio endured heavy enemy attacks and sustained extensive damage, leaving her dead in the water. Survival seemed impossible, yet she did not sink. Barely afloat, she was towed into the Grand Harbour, to the great astonishment of those witnessing her arrival.

How did she survive? Was it the strength of her welded hull? Or did the oil cargo, being less dense than water, keep her afloat? Was it perhaps the sheer courage and determination of the crew that kept the ship going at all costs? Or a missed opportunity by the enemy to hit a sitting duck? Was it sheer luck or divine intervention?

Read The Impossible Survival of the SS Ohio to discover the answers to these questions, and more!