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Blue Star Line



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The Merchant Ships
of
'Operation Pedestal'
August 1942

The hardest fought convoy
 to Malta during World War II

In the summer of 1942, under the utmost secrecy, a convoy comprising fourteen of the fastest merchant ships afloat, departed Scotland bound for the tiny island of Malta, in the eastern Mediterranean. Under orders from Winston Churchill the convoy was to be escorted by the heaviest concentration of naval warships ever assigned to protect merchant shipping. At worst some of the ships must get through, or Malta would fall. Churchill instructed that he be kept informed as to the progress of the convoy at every stage.
On August 10, 1942 the most heavily defended convoy of WWII slipped quietly through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. Carrying food, diesel oil, coal, and vital aviation fuel, 14 merchant ships escorted by 59 naval warships would attempt to get through to the beleaguered island of Malta. During the three days and nights that followed, the convoy - codenamed 'Operation Pedestal' - would endure the most ferocious and heaviest bombardment of any convoy during World War II.









The Royal Navy Escort




Battleships
1 Rodney 2 Nelson
Aircraft Carriers
1 Eagle 2 Victorious 3 Indomitable 4 Furious
Cruisers
1 Phoebe 2 Sirius 3 Charybdis 4 Nigeria 5 Kenya
6 Manchester 7 Cairo
Destroyers
1 Ashanti 2 Badsworth 3 Bramham
 4 Bicester 5 Derwent 6 Foresight 7 Fury 8 Intrepid
 9 Ithuriel 10 Icarus 11 Ledbury 12 Matchless
 13 Pathfinder 14 Penn 15 Tartar 16 Zetland






The Merchant Ships

 1) Melbourne Star
2) Clan Ferguson    3) Deucalion    4) Empire Hope
5) Almeria Lykes    6) Dorset    7) Glenorchy
8) Santa Elisa     9) Waimarama    10) Wairangi
11) Rochester Castle    12) Ohio     13) Port Chalmers
14) Brisbane Star







Constantly under attack, day and night, from aerial bombing, submarine torpedo and E-Boat attack, 9 Merchant Ships were sunk, the remaining 5 Merchant Ships arrived at Malta with their valuable cargo. 






MV Deucalion
Captain Ramsey Brown
'Blue Funnel Line'
13.40 Wednesday 12th August 1942
Sunk by Aerial Torpedo





MV Clan Ferguson
Captain A N Cossar
 'Clan Line Steamers Ltd'
20.15 Wednesday 12th August 1942
Sunk  by Aerial Bombs
53 Survivors





MV Empire Hope
Captain G Williams
'Shaw Savill & Albion Line'
20.15 Wednesday 12th August 1942
Sunk by Aerial Bombs



MV Wairangi
Captain H R Gordon
'Shaw Savill & Albion Line'
 02.15 Thursday 13th August 1942
Sunk by German E-Boat Torpedo





SS Almeria Lykes
Captain W Henderson
 'Lykes Bros Steamship Co'
05.10  Thursday 13th August 1942
Sunk by Torpedo



SS Waimarama
Captain R S Pearce
'Shaw Savill & Albion Line'
08.16 Thursday 13th August 1942
Sunk by 12 Junkers 88s attack
80 crew killed





MV Dorset
Captain J C Tuckett
'New Zealand Shipping Company'
09.38 Thursday 13th August 1942
Bombed - abandoned and Sunk





MV Glenorchy
Captain G Leslie
 'Glen Line Fleet'
20.15 Thursday 13th August 1942
Sunk by German E-Boat Torpedo
'No Survivors'





SS Santa Elisa
Captain T Thompson
'Grace Line'
20.15 Thursday 13th August 1942
Sunk by torpedo 








The Five Merchant Ships
'With their valuable cargo intact'
arrive at
'Malta's Grand Harbour'





MV Rochester Castle
Captain R Wren
'UNION-CASTLE MAIL STEAMSHIP CO'
1st to arrive 5.30pm Thursday 13th August 1942





MV Melbourne Star
Captain D R MacFarlane
'Blue Star Line'
2nd to arrive 6pm Thursday 13th August 1942
14 Crew Lost





MV Port Chalmers
Captain H G Pinkney
'Commonwealth & Dominion Line'
'Port Line'
3rd to arrive 6.30pm Thursday 13th August 1942




MV Brisbane Star
Captain F N Riley
'Blue Star Line'
4th to arrive 4.15pm Friday 14th August 1942
  2 Crew Members Lost





SS Ohio
Captain Dudley Mason
'Texas Oil Co'
5th to arrive 7am Saturday 15th August 1942
aided by
 Destroyers HMS Bramham and HMS Penn



Next
'Melbourne Star - Her final voyage'



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