Liberty ship stranded in Bay of Bengal late 1943

[Mark Gurdy]

Hello,

In the CBI Roundup, 12 November 1943 issue, (https://www.cbi-theater.com/roundup/roundup111243.html )

there is a story about a stranded Liberty ship in the Bay of Bengal, which was refloated by a B-24 bomber plane dropping a rope across the Liberty ship's deck to facilitate the construction of a cable to two tugs which were unable to reach the side of the ship.

Does anybody know the name of the ship? The story doesn’t mention, when exactly this happened, presumably a few weeks before Nov 1943, but it says that the ship was grounded on the shifting shoals along the coast of the Bay of Bengal for several weeks befor the rescue.

Thanks,

Markku

[Brian Corijn]

Hi,

This was the William B. Ogden which had grounded on the Sacramento Shoal on 27 June 1943.
I have no further info except that it was indeed proposed in October to use an aircraft to bring over a rope and thus establish a connection.

Source RIN war diaries for 1943, file ADM 199/769 from the National Archives, Kew, London.


Kind regards,
Brian Corijn

[Mark Gurdy]

Thank You, Brian!