His ship was a freighter carrying drums of high-octane gasoline, one of two American ships, in a small British convoy to Malta. Orders were to "get through at all costs". Heavily escorted, the convoy moved into the Mediterranean, and before noon of that day the enemy's attack began. From then on the entire convoy was under constant attack from Axis planes and submarines. Assigned the command of an antiaircraft gun mounted on the bridge, Larsen contributed to the successful defense of his ship for three days. At 4:00 A.M. on the morning of the fourth day, torpedo boats succeeded in breaking through and two attacked from opposite sides. Sneaking in close under cover of the darkness one opened point-blank fire with four .50 caliber machine guns, sweeping the bridge. The other fired a torpedo into the opposite side of the freighter. The explosion of the torpedo ignited the gasoline cargo and the American ship was engulfed in flames. Reluctantly orders were given to abandon her. Two hours later, the survivors were picked up by a British destroyer, which then proceeded to take in tow a tanker [SS Ohio] that had been bombed and could not maneuver. After five hours constant dive-bombing, the tanker was hit again--her crew abandoned her--and the destroyer was forced to cut her loose. But the cargo she carried was most important to the defense of Malta, and it had to get through. The rescue destroyer and another destroyer steamed in--lashed themselves on either side of the stricken tanker--and dragged her along in a determined attempt to get her to port. The tanker's decks and superstructure had been almost completely wrecked by the incessant bombardment. But Larsen's anxiety to get into the fight caused him to take inventory of her armament. He found an anti-aircraft gun mounted abaft the stack which needed only minor repairs to put it into action. The young cadet of his own ship, a British gunner's mate, and three of his men volunteered help him. Though the ships were then constantly under attack, they boarded her, repaired the gun and manned it, with Larsen taking the trainer's position and the gunner's mate and the cadet alternating as pointers. The shackled ships, inching along and making a perfect target, were assailed by concentrated enemy air-power. All that day wave after wave of German and Italian bombers dived at them and were beaten off by a heavy barrage. Bombs straddled them, scoring near misses, but no direct hits were made until noon the next day, when the tanker finally received a bomb down her stack which blew out the bottom of her engine room. Though she continued to settle until her decks were awash, they fought her through until dusk that day brought them under the protection of the hard fighting air force out of Malta. The magnificent courage of this young third officer constitutes a degree of heroism which will be an enduring inspiration to seamen of the United States Merchant Marine everywhere.
For the President Admiral Emory Scott Land
Larsen, 28 years old, was from Newark, NJ
Bergen Evening Record(New Jersey)Sept.8,1994
