page_title: Gibraltar convoys of World War II
section_title: KMF convoys
hierarchical_section_title: Gibraltar convoys of World War II / KMF convoys
caption_attribution_description: English: HMT Rohna
context_page_description: The Gibraltar convoys of World War II were oceangoing trade convoys of merchant ships sailing between Gibraltar and the United Kingdom. Gibraltar convoy routes crossed U-boat transit routes from French Atlantic ports and were within range of Axis maritime patrol aircraft making these convoys vulnerable to observation and interception by bombers, submarines, and surface warships during the Battle of the Atlantic. OG convoys brought supplies from the United Kingdom to Gibraltar from September 1939 until September 1942. Beginning with Operation Torch, OG convoys were replaced by KM convoys transporting military personnel and supplies from the United Kingdom to and past Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. HG convoys brought food, raw materials, and later empty ships from Gibraltar to the United Kingdom from September 1939 until September 1942. After Operation Torch, HG convoys were replaced by MK convoys returning mostly empty ships from the Mediterranean to the United Kingdom. KM and MK convoys ended in 1945.
context_section_description: Fast ships from the United Kingdom to the Mediterranean formed KMF convoys. Convoy KMF 1 was the Operation Torch invasion convoy leaving the Firth of Clyde on 26 October 1942 to reach Oran on 8 November. U-562 sank the 23,722-ton troopship Strathhallan from convoy KMF 5 on 22 December 1942; and aircraft sank the 19,141-ton Windsor Castle from convoy KMF 11 on 22 March 1943. Destinations moved eastward until convoy KMF 22 reached Port Said on 29 August 1943. As the Mediterranean became more secure, KMF convoys included troopships carrying soldiers to the Indian Ocean. German aircraft sank three troopships from these convoys. The 9,135-ton Santa Elena and the 19,335-ton Marnix van St. Aldegonde were sunk from convoy KMF 25 on 6 November, and the 8,602-ton Rohna from convoy KMF 26 on 26 November 1943. The last convoy of this series was convoy KMF 45 leaving the Firth of Clyde on 23 May 1945.
caption: 1,149 men died when HMT Rohna was sunk by a Luftwaffe glide bomb while sailing with convoy KMF 26.
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