Chester Frederick Wortman was the oldest child of Phillip and Rose Wortman born on 2/20/1907. His father Philip was a citizen of the United States while his mother Rose immigrated from Germany. He had a sister named Hazel and they grew up in Passaic New Jersey. He will enlist in the Army at the age of thirty- three with the serial number 32568014 and the rank of PFC.

Once Chester completed his schooling and started to work as an electrician. In 1928 he is listed in the phone book on Grant Ave. working at his profession. Life continues for Chester and he will get married to Miss Dorothy Clark of Kearney St. They will have the service on Easter Sunday, April 5th 1942 at St. Mary’s rectory in Totowa New Jersey. Chester had registered for the draft on October 6 1940 and then was enlisted on October 23rd 1942 in Newark New Jersey with the serial number 32568014.

After Basic Training is completed PVI. Chester Wortman starts his training with the 31st Signal Construction Battalion. Eventually the 31st Signal Construction Battalion is slated for the China-India-Burma Theatre. As they board the Rohna in Oran in Algeria North Africa, nobody would guess that they would become part of a fateful journey that would have to be kept secret for years.

The HMT Rohna was a coal burning ship that was carrying 2,193 soldiers and a crew of 195. In the beginning all seemed smooth with the convoy and there even was a Thanksgiving dinner served to the soldiers. Unfortunately, on 11/26 things were about to change. Based on survivors who finally were able to tell their story the Germans set two waves of attacks. The first from 4:30-4:45 and the second from 4:45-5:00. Both of these attacks included regular and radio-controlled bombs but the fighters and anti-aircraft kept them away. Witnesses say next they saw one more aircraft coming towards the Rhona. It has been determined to be a He-177 being flown by Maj. Hans Dochtermann with two Hs-293 guided bombs under each wing. One is released and 92 seconds later there is impact with the Rhona. The impact and devastation are immediately recognized.

Unfortunately, the Rohna which was originally built as a civilian liner to hold 100 people comfortably. With such a large number of lives on board it created appalling conditions and roughly twenty times over the amount that she was built for. Men were given life preserving belts without the proper training on how they should be worn. The preservers had a carbon dioxide cartridge that was used to inflate the belts. Soldiers should have had the belts high under their arms when they inflated hem in the water. Those who had them around their waste and inflated only brought their midsection to the surface. This made it very hard to bring their head to the surface and above the choppy water.

“Abandon Ship” is ordered and survivors of the initial attack go over the side into the Mediterranean. The weather had become difficult, and the sea was producing 15-foot swells. Of the 16 life boats that were on the Rohna only 5 were launched. The water was very cold, and hypothermia took the lives of many that had successfully escaped the sinking ship. USS Pioneer collected 606 survivors alone. Overall, 1,015 of the 2,000 personnel was lost. Over 100 crewmen also were casualties of the bombing. In the confusion PFC Chester Wortman disappeared during the sinking and was not seen again. His body was not recovered.

PFC Chester Wortman and men who are not “recoverable” are honored with their names being placed on “The Tablet of the Missing-Army/Air Force” in Tunisia. The Wortman family have to endure placing a second gold star in a window when they find out that a cousin is also on the doomed Rohna.

Commendations

Purple Heart

Stories Behind the Stars:

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars Project (www.storiesbehindthestars.org). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII Fallen here on Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen’ s name and read his/her story. If you noticed anything missing in this profile, you can contact the author, Click on the author’s name located at the bottom of the story page next to the words “added by”.

Thank you,

The author is

Jba45ww2@gmail.com

Resources:

Birth-https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/6094732:61252

1920 cencus-https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/65987359:6061

1930 cencus-https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/10755000:6224

Procedues-https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/06/06/remembering-rohna-youre-supposed-be-dead.html

Work- https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/713419318:2469

Wedding- https://www.newspapers.com/image/526120288/?article=0830975c-09cd-48ac-8c6e-81bf80e14f37&focus=0.15076551,0.6560129,0.2706051,0.6845407&xid=3398&_gl=1*1ml1es7*_gcl_aw*R0NMLjE2OTEzNDA2NTIuQ2owS0NRandpYjJtQmhEV0FSSXNBUFpVbl9saTZPUEFzUjc3LXVwRlctWFl5WkJaMExoWDIwQzYwcjh5NDBJLVRQWUJJeTc1b0FYZHNfQWFBaU1tRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_dc*R0NMLjE2OTEzNDA2NTIuQ2owS0NRandpYjJtQmhEV0FSSXNBUFpVbl9saTZPUEFzUjc3LXVwRlctWFl5WkJaMExoWDIwQzYwcjh5NDBJLVRQWUJJeTc1b0FYZHNfQWFBaU1tRUFMd193Y0I.*_gcl_au*MTYwMTg3MDczNS4xNjkwNTYyNTYz*_ga*ODczMDEwMTU4LjE2OTA1NjI1NjQ.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*YTgzYTY5MDYtNTA1MS00Y2RmLTk1OTctMzMzODhhOTA0Mjc5LjI0LjEuMTY5MjczNDY4OS41OC4wLjA.&_ga=2.35833632.120508574.1692728605-

Register- https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/301449426:2238

Enlist-https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/2566112:8939

Tablet of Missing-

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56251406/chester-f-wortman

Chester F Wortman