Compilations by Ewa Historian John Bond
Long Forgotten Ammunition Ships USS Mount Hood, USS Serpens Explosions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Mount_Hood_(AE-11)
No human remains were recovered of the 350 men aboard Mount Hood or small boats loading alongside at the time of the explosion. The concussion and metal fragments hurled from the ship caused casualties and damage to other ships and small craft within 2,000 yards (6000 feet.)
Examined evidence relating to the disaster was unable to ascertain the exact cause
USS Mount Hood (AE-11) was the lead ship of her class of ammunition ships for the United States Navy in World War II. She was the first ship named after Mount Hood, a volcano in the Cascade Range in Oregon. On 10 November 1944, shortly after 18 men had departed for shore leave, the rest of the crew were killed when the ship exploded in Seeadler Harbor at Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. The ship was obliterated while also sinking or severely damaging 22 smaller craft nearby.
Mount Hood, anchored in about 35 ft (11 m) of water,[1] had exploded with an estimated 3,800 long tons (3,900 t) of ordnance material on board. The initial explosion caused flame and smoke to shoot up from amidships to more than masthead height. Within seconds, the bulk of her cargo detonated with a more intense explosion. Mushrooming smoke rose to 7,000 ft (2,100 m), obscuring the ship and the surrounding area for a radius of approximately 500 yd (460 m). Mount Hood's former position was revealed by a trench in the ocean floor 1,000 ft (300 m) long, 200 ft (61 m) wide, and 30–40 ft (9–12 m) deep.[1] The largest remaining piece of the hull was found in the trench and measured no bigger than 16 by 10 ft (5 by 3 m). No other remains of Mount Hood were found except fragments of metal which had struck other ships in the harbor and a few tattered pages of a signal notebook found floating in the water several hundred yards away. No human remains were recovered of the 350 men aboard Mount Hood or small boats loading alongside at the time of the explosion.
The concussion and metal fragments hurled from the ship caused casualties and damage to other ships and small craft within 2,000 yd (6000 feet ). The repair ship Mindanao, which was broadside-on to the blast, was the most seriously damaged. All personnel topside on Mindanao were killed outright, and dozens of men were killed or wounded below decks as numerous heavy fragments from Mount Hood penetrated the side plating. Eighty-two of Mindanao's crew died.[1] 22 small boats and landing craft were sunk, destroyed, or damaged beyond repair, while damage to other vessels required more than 100,000 man-hours to repair; a further 371 sailors from ships in the harbor were injured.
A board convened to examine evidence relating to the disaster was unable to ascertain the exact cause. After only a little over four months' service, Mount Hood was struck from the Naval Register on 11 December 1944.
Largest US Coast Guard Disaster Ship Explosion Disaster,
29 January 1945
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Serpens_(AK-97)
196 crewmen, 57 Army stevedores and a soldier ashore was killed by shrapnel. The cause of the explosion could not be established but was likely due to the loading process.
Late in December 1944, the Liberty ship commenced loading at Wellington, finished it at Auckland, and returned to the Solomons in mid-January 1945. Late in the evening on 29 January 1945, Serpens was anchored off Lunga Beach.[3] The commanding officer and seven others, one officer and six enlisted men, were ashore. The remaining crewmen were loading depth charges into her holds when Serpens exploded.
After the explosion, only the bow of the ship was visible. The rest had disintegrated, and the bow sank soon afterward. One hundred ninety-six Coast Guard crewmen, 57 Army stevedores, and a Public Health Service physician, Dr. Harry M. Levin, were killed in the explosion, and a soldier ashore was killed by shrapnel. Only two of those on board, Seaman (SN) 1/c Kelsie K. Kemp and SN 1/c George S. Kennedy, who had been in the boatswain's locker, survived.
An eyewitness to the disaster stated: "As we headed our personnel boat shoreward the sound and concussion of the explosion suddenly reached us, and, as we turned, we witnessed the awe-inspiring death drama unfold before us. As the report of screeching shells filled the air and the flash of tracers continued, the water splashed throughout the harbor as the shells hit. We headed our boat in the direction of the smoke and as we came into closer view of what had once been a ship, the water was filled only with floating debris, dead fish, torn life jackets, lumber and other unidentifiable objects. The smell of death, and fire, and gasoline, and oil was evident and nauseating. This was sudden death, and horror, unwanted and unasked for, but complete."
Lieutenant Commander Stinson reported: "I felt and saw two flashes after which only the bow of the ship was visible. The rest had disintegrated and the bow sank soon afterwards." The two survivors, SN 1/c Kemp and SN 1/c Kennedy, according to Stinson, ". . .showed a lot of savvy by grabbing a couple of water lights that we kept stowed in the [boatswain's] locker. They used them to attract attention when they climbed out onto the floating portion of the bow." Both men were injured but were rescued by a base commander in the area.
At first report the incident was attributed to enemy action but a court of inquiry later determined that the cause of the explosion could not be established from the remaining evidence and by 1949, the Navy noted that the loss was not due to enemy action but due to an "accident intrinsic to the loading process."
Other Huge Explosions Largely Forgotten Today
Black Tom
The New York harbor explosion was heard as far away as Maryland and Connecticut
Early in the morning of July 30, 1916, German agents, probably assisted by Irish nationalists, blew up a munitions dump at the Black Tom railroad yard and the adjoining warehouses in New York harbor. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Black Tom was serving as a major munitions depot. German agents who were determined to prevent American munitions shippers from supplying its English enemy during the First World War. Never mind that the U.S. was officially neutral in the conflict at this point. A million people, maybe five millions, were awakened by the explosion that shook the houses along the marshy New Jersey shores, rattled the skyscrapers on the rock foundation of Manhattan, threw people from their beds miles away and sent terror broadcast.
The noise of the explosion was heard as far away as Maryland and Connecticut. Pieces of metal damaged the skirt of the Statue of Liberty (it is because of this explosion that the Lady's torch has been closed off to visitors. It was a stunning event, in both magnitude and consequence. Sabotage became a national issue. Congress immediately passed the Espionage Act, which outlawed a variety of crimes associated with German agents. The site is now Liberty State Park, where tourist boats depart to visit the Statue of Liberty.
Halifax
The explosion destroyed 3,000 dwellings, killed more than 1,600 people and injured 9,000. Most of the dead were children
On the morning of Dec. 6, 1917, a tremendous blast ripped through the sleepy town of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The explosion destroyed 3,000 dwellings, killed more than 1,600 people and injured 9,000. Most of the dead were children. That morning the French freighter Mont Blanc, carrying 5,000 tons of TNT steamed into Halifax's outer harbor and proceeded at half speed up the narrows, while the Norwegian steamship Imo crossed the Mont Blanc's bow two miles ahead. As the two ships approached, there was great confusion regarding which ship had the right of way. The Imo reversed engines, but being in ballast, swung so that the bow pointed directly at the Mont Blanc. A collision was now inevitable. The Mont Blanc's captain attempted to minimize the potential of his cargo exploding by maneuvering his ship so that the forward hold, containing no TNT, would be struck.
1969 Near Hawaii - The ammunition cargo ship sank with the loss of 5336 long tons of munitions
Eventually, the fire spread and more munitions exploded. The ship sank on 5 January 1970. In this incident, there were only fourteen survivors out of the crew of forty men.
On 26 December 1969 the Vietnam-bound ammunition ship SS Badger State, carrying 8,900 bombs and rockets equal to 2,000 tons of TNT. Soon after departure, the ship’s steering system began leaking hydraulic fluid, compromising the operation of the rudder. Heavy weather in the North Pacific rocked the ship, causing her to roll repeatedly more than 50 degrees.
During the storm, some of the dunnage securing the cargo broke loose and bomb pallets came apart. Because of the heavy seas, the crewmen were unable to restrain the bombs from rolling around in the hole of the ship. Finally, one of the bombs exploded. It blew a hole in the starboard side of the ship and started a fire, then was rocked by explosions and abandoned by her crew in rough seas 1,500 miles northeast of Hawaii. The next day 14 crewmen were picked up by a Greek ship, the Khian Star, and a US Air Force HC-130 rescue plane dropped life rafts and dye marker at the site. Rescue planes and ships found no sign of the 26 missing men, some of whom were last seen clinging to life rafts in 20 foot seas.
The ammunition cargo ship sank with the loss of 5336 long tons of munitions destined for Vietnam. The ship was fully loaded, mostly, with MK-82 (500 lbs), M117 (750 lbs), and MK-84 (2000 lbs) bombs. These bombs were loaded, respectively, with H-6 (TNT/RDX/aluminum/wax), Tritonal (TNT/aluminum), or Minol 2 (TNT/ammonium nitrate/aluminum) explosive compositions.
When it became obvious that the fires could not be controlled, the Captain ordered that the vessel abandoned and lifeboats were launched. As one of the lifeboats drifted in the water near the starboard side of the ship, a 2000-pound bomb fell out of the hole that had been blown open by the bomb explosion. It capsized the lifeboat and threw the men into the water.
Eventually, the fire spread and more munitions exploded. The ship sank on 5 January 1970. In this incident, there were only fourteen survivors out of the crew of forty men. The cost of the ship and the cargo lost was in millions of dollars.
US government investigators who inquired into the explosion on the SS Badger State criticized the procedure used to stow bombs on board. Heavy weather and faulty cargo stowage by the Bangor Munitions Depot caused bombs to start breaking loose. The crew fought for 9 days to steady the cargo and several times changed the course in attempts to find calm seas. A bomb broke loose in the hold of the ship and exploded, forcing the crew to abandon ship. The Navy abandoned plans to salvage the deserted and burning ship. On 01 January 1970, and the vessel sank.
Those Badger State mariners were likely not comforted when they remembered advice published in the May 1968 issue of Sealift, the official publication of MSTS:
Ordnance experts and others knowledgeable about such matters as unarmed bombs, will be quick to reassure the laymen that there is little to fear from a bomb or projectile as long as there is no detonator attached. But, despite all the evidence that it is virtually impossible to explode one, that an unarmed 1,000-pound bomb is about as lethal as 1,000 pounds of cabbage, it is nevertheless nerve-racking to be riding a ship with even one such bomb adrift in a cargo hold.
The 1944 Port Chicago Explosion Disaster Was Caused By The Ship Loading Process
Loaders, who had no training, were constantly encouraged to increase their speed and quotas.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/port-chicago-disaster
On the evening of July 17, the SS Quinault Victory and SS E.A. Bryan, two merchant ships, were being loaded. The holds were being packed with 4,600 tons of explosives–bombs, depth charges and ammunition. Another 400 tons of explosives were nearby on rail cars. Approximately 320 workers were on or near the pier when, at 10:18 p.m., a series of massive explosions over several seconds destroyed everything and everyone in the vicinity. The blasts were felt as far away as Nevada and the resulting damage extended as far as San Francisco. Every building in Port Chicago was damaged and people were literally knocked off their feet. Smoke and fire extended nearly two miles into the air. The pilot of a plane flying at 9,000 feet in the area claimed that metal chunks from the explosion flew past him.
