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I never got a real explanation of why he was there, he was also at the Bikini Atoll bomb tests “Operation Crossroads”. He was in the Navy at the time, and had a lot of technical training. I suspect he was involved in measuring and recording the effects of the bombs. It was likely all Top Secret stuff, and he was of the generation that unless told otherwise the secrets were carried to the grave. I only discovered he was at Operation Crossroads after he passed away, and found some of his Navy records.

My grandfather didn't talk about his experiences in WWII that much either. Although the "secrets" they were supposed to keep became public only a few years after, he never really told us about any of it until late in life. I've learned more online than from him. And it's not like it was actual top secret stuff, I believe it was the US being embarrassed more than anything. My grandfather was one of the 819 survivors on the HMT Rohna.

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HMT Rohna was a British India Steam Navigation Company passenger and cargo liner that was built on Tyneside in 1926 as SS Rohna and requisitioned as a troop ship in 1940. ("HMT" stands for His Majesty's Transport.) Rohna was sunk in the Mediterranean in November 1943 by a Henschel Hs 293 guided glide bomb launched by a Luftwaffe aircraft. More than 1,100 people were killed, most of whom were US troops.

At 1230 hrs on 25 November 1943, Rohna and four other troop ships left Oran in French Algeria.[1] At sea three hours later they joined Convoy KMF 26 which was passing on its way from Britain to Alexandria.[3][9]

About 1630 hrs the next day off Bougie the convoy was attacked by 14 Luftwaffe Heinkel He 177A heavy bombers escorted by Junkers Ju 88 aircraft, followed by between six and nine torpedo bombers. At the time the convoy had a limited air escort of four land-based Free French Air Force Spitfires. Later in the course of the attack they were relieved by RAF Spitfires.[3]

Henschel Hs 293 radio-guided glide bomb
The He 177As carried Henschel Hs 293 radio-guided, rocket-boosted glide bombs, almost 30 of which they launched at the convoy. The convoy's combined anti-aircraft fire seems to have impeded most of the attackers' attempts to guide their glide bombs onto their targets. Rohna's DEMS gunners contributed with her machine guns, Oerlikon autocannons and about 20 rounds from her 12-pounder gun. The convoy shot down at least two aircraft and damaged several others.[3]

Rohna was the only casualty. About 1715 or 1725 hrs a He 177A piloted by Hans Dochtermann released a glide bomb that hit Rohna on her port side, at the after end of her engine room and Number Six troop deck. Men poured on deck, many of them badly wounded.[3]

Of the 1,138 men who were killed, 1,015 were US personnel. The attack is the largest loss of US troops at sea due to enemy action in a single incident. A further 35 US troops of the 2,000 originally embarked, later died from their wounds. As well as the troops, five of Rohna's officers and 117 of her 195 crew were killed, along with one of her 12 DEMS gunners and one hospital orderly. USS Pioneer rescued 606 survivors.[10]

Details of the loss were revealed slowly over time. By February 1944 the US Government had acknowledged that more than 1,000 soldiers had been lost in the sinking of an unnamed troopship in European waters, but it hinted that a submarine was responsible. By June 1945 the US Government had released accurate casualty figures, the ship had been identified as Rohna, and the cause of the sinking had been identified as German bombers, but did not mention that a guided bomb was used. The use of an "aerial glider bomb" was first reported publicly on 14 November 1945 in an account of the battle in the Salt Lake City Tribune. On 9 March 1947 the Chicago Tribune published a complete account of the attack, including the use of a "radio-controlled [sic] glider bomb." In 1948 a history of British India Line in the Second World War was published, stating "the missile was one of the new glider bombs guided by wireless".[11] The US Government officially released the remaining details of the incident, specifically that a radio-controlled glide bomb had been used, in 1967 after the passing of the Freedom of Information Act.

A couple of details he told us was that there was a group of guys below deck playing cards. Once the air raid started he went below to tell them to get moving, but they didn't listen. And that's where the guided missile hit. Also, when he swam up to one of the few, full life boats and tried to climb in, one of the occupants punched him in the face and wouldn't let him in. He was in that water for 2 days before he was rescued, and he received the Purple Heart.

Wikipedia Link