USS Mount Hood (AE-11)
_off_the_Norfolk_Naval_Shipyard_on_16_July_1944_(19-N-70330).jpg) USS Mount Hood (AE-11) near the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, July 16, 1944 |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Type | Ammunition transport ship |
| Shipyard |
North Carolina Shipbuilding |
| Keel laying | September 28, 1943 |
| Launch | November 28, 1943 |
| delivery | January 28, 1944 |
| Namesake | Mount Hood |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | July 1, 1944 |
| Removed from ship register | December 11, 1944 |
| Whereabouts | exploded on November 10, 1944 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
13,910 ts |
| length |
140 m |
| width |
19.2 m |
| Draft |
8.6 m |
| crew |
267 |
| drive |
Geared turbine, 6000 WPS |
| speed |
16 kn |
| Armament |
|
| capacity |
7700 tons |
The USS Mount Hood (AE-11) was an ammunition transport ship of the United States Navy and the lead ship of the Mount Hood- class . The Mount Hood , which was put into service with the US Navy on July 1, 1944, exploded on November 10, 1944 in Seeadler Harbor on Manus , completely destroying the ship and killing the entire crew on board. There were also deaths and injuries on surrounding ships and in some cases severe damage from the pressure wave of the explosion and debris flying around.
history
Construction and commissioning
The Mount Hood was laid down on September 28, 1943 under the name Marco Polo at the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company as a C2-S-AJ1 ship of the United States Maritime Commission , hull number 1356. On November 10, she was named the first ship in the US Navy after the Mount Hood volcano in the Cascade Range , after the ship was christened by Mrs. A. J. Reynolds, the freighter was launched on November 28, 1943. After the takeover by the US Navy on January 28, 1944, the Mount Hood was converted into an ammunition transporter at Norfolk Shipbuilding and Dry Dock and in the Norfolk Navy Yard and put into service on July 1, 1944 under the command of Commander Harold A. Turner.
After a shortened equipment phase and first test drives in the Chesapeake Bay , the Mount Hood was assigned to the US Atlantic fleet on August 5th . She ran to Norfolk , Virginia , where ammunition for the Pacific was taken on board. On August 21, the Mount Hood Norfolk left as part of Task Group 29.6, crossed the Panama Canal on August 27 and then continued its journey alone towards the Admiralty Islands , where it arrived on September 22.
explosion
_explodes_at_Seeadler_Harbor_on_10_November_1944.jpg)
On the morning of November 10, 1944, Mount Hood lay in Seeadler Harbor in about 11 meters deep water and ammunition was reloaded from board the ship onto nine landing craft and a barge that lay alongside Mount Hood . At around 8:55 a.m., the first explosion occurred on board the ammunition transport ship. Flames and smoke shot amidships up to the height of the main mast, before within seconds in a second, much larger explosion, the entire load of Mount Hood - about 3800 tons of ammunition and explosives - blew up. A cloud of smoke rose over 2000 meters high, from which debris rained down. At the point where the Mount Hood had anchored, there was only a 300 meter long, 60 meter wide and 10 to 12 meter deep crater in the sea floor. Only fragments of the ship were found, the largest of which measured 5 by 3 meters and lay at the bottom of the explosion crater. No remains were found of the 350-man crew of Mount Hood and the vehicles lying alongside. The only survivors of Mount Hood were an officer and five crew members who left the ship shortly before the explosion.
Ships within a radius of almost 2,000 meters from Mount Hood were damaged by debris flying around and the pressure wave. The repair ship Mindanao , which was only 300 meters away with its broadside to Mount Hood, was most devastated . 82 crew members died on the Mindanao and 371 seafarers were injured in the entire port area. In addition to the Mindanao , 35 ships were partially damaged, including the escort aircraft carriers Petrof Bay and Saginaw Bay , as well as 13 other landing craft and small craft sunk.
An investigative commission set up by the US Navy was unable to find the cause of the severe explosion, but some eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a single, low-flying Japanese plane that attacked Mount Hood . The Mount Hood was removed from the Navy's shipping registers on December 11, 1944.
Web links
- History of Mount Hood in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)
- Pictures of the explosion and effects at the Naval Historical Center
Footnotes
- ↑ a b c d Chester A. Gile: The Mount Hood Explosion. In: Proceedings. United States Naval Institute, February 1963. pp. 89-90.
- ↑ The USS Mount Hood (AE-11) Explosion: The Official Investigation and Eyewitness Accounts by Survivors ( September 11, 2011 memento in the Internet Archive ), USS Rainier Reunion Association; Status: February 26, 2010
Coordinates: 2 ° 1 ′ 42 ″ S , 147 ° 21 ′ 17 ″ E