[snippy_about_it]

THE USS MOUNT HOOD EXPLOSION - November 10, 1944:

On the morning of November 10, 1944 the USS MOUNT HOOD stood at duty in Steeadler Harbor on Manus Island, which is North East of New Guinea in the South Pacific.

The ship was delivering and receiving ammunition for the 200 ships that lay in the harbor at that moment. Sailors were working in all 5 holds at the time. The ship was full of 13,910 tons of ammunition which included bombs, projectiles, fixed ammunition, rockets mortars and depth charges.

Suddenly there appeared a small explosion near the middle of the ship that was quickly followed by an enormous explosion. The radius of the smoke was 1,000 feet and the smoke quickly rose to a heigth of 7,000 feet.

The explosion caused damage to ships as far away as 2,000 yards and at least 30 of the nearby ships were damaged by the blast and flying ammunition. Major ships that were damaged were the USS ARGONNE, USS YMS-340, USS MINDANAO, USS ALHENA AND USS OBERRENDER.

Nothing remained of the ship. It was later determined that the blast tore a hole in the sea bottom 85 feet deep, 1,000 feet long and 200 feet wide.

382 sailors were killed and 371 injured on all effected ships. Needless to say no one survived aboard the USS MOUNT HOOD.

A court of inquiry later determined that the blast was most likely caused by "rough handling" of the ammunition. At least one witness said he saw a Japanese two-man submarine surface and fire a torpedo into the MOUNT HOOD. However, the court of inquiry never found evidence of that and the Japanese state that none of their submarines were in the area at that time.

[snippy_about_it]

USS Mount Hood enjoyed but a very short life, this 13,910 ton ammunition ship was built in North Carolina at Wilmington, then converted for Naval service at Norfolk Virginia in July 1944. She then transited the Panama Canal in August, loaded with ammunition for the forces fighting in the Pacific. On the morning of the 10th. of November 1944, the ship was moored at the massive forward base of Manus in the Admiralty Islands.

At that stage of the Pacific war, this base was at the crossroads to the world, sitting almost on the equator, both the Leyte and Lingayen landings had staged from here in October and December 1944.

Mount Hood's cargo of explosives suddenly detonated with a massive blast, and the ship was totally destroyed, killing all on board or working the ship at the time. Damage and casualities to both Mount Hood and ships anchored up to 2,000 yards away were massive, 45 dead, 327 missing and another 371 injured.

On the day in question, ammunition was both being received on board and delivered to other ships, all five holds were being worked at the same time. About 3,800 tons of assorted ammunition was onboard, and included:- bombs, projectiles, fixed ammunition rockets, smokeless powder, aerial depth bombs, and nose fuses. Torpex filled depth bombs were being hoisted onboard.

Cause of accident?

Enemy action was ruled at as a cause of this disaster, the most probable reason for the explosion appears to have been rough handling of ammunition being loaded or unloaded, and it seems likely that the accident was caused by the detonation of Torpex filled Depth bombs being loaded into number 4 and 5 holds. Detonation could have been set off with a bomb on its way down to a hold striking a hatch, or the careless dropping of it into a hold.

The explosion.

Eye witness reports indicated that at first a small explosion about the size a small bomb might make was observed, a few seconds later, the main explosion followed, flame and smoke extended for about 100 feet in radius, and quickly rose to 7,000 feet.

Other Ships in Harbour.

The main naval fleets were all absent at the time of this horrific explosion, but some 200 other ships were in harbour, mostly auxiliaries, cargo ships, transports, depot ships and tankers etc.

Report of Midget Submarine.

Carl Hughes on board the Liberty ship William Mc Guffey reported seeing a 2 man Midget Submarine fire a torpedo into Mount Hood, but post war, theJapanese Naval authorities have denied any Midget Submarine operated in the Manus area at the time of this explosion on the 10th. of November in 1944.

Conclusion.

The official inquiry ruled out enemy action as the reason for Mount Hood's destruction, it does seem that careless handling of a torpex filled depth bomb was the real culprit for this terrible accident, destroying a ship only 4 months old with a great loss of life.

[Valin]

Birthdates which occurred on March 12:
1336 Eduard Duke of Gelre (1361-71) husband of Catharina of Bayern
1479 Giuliano de' Medici monarch of Florence
1710 Thomas Augustine Arne English composer (Alfred, Rule Britannia)
1806 Jane Means Appleton Pierce 1st lady-Franklin Pierce (1853-57)
1816 David Stuart Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1868
1818 John Lorimar Worden Captain (Union Navy), died in 1897
1823 William Flank Perry Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1901
1827 John Robert Jones Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1901
1827 William Richard Terry Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1897
1830 William Felix Brantley Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1870
1831 Clement Studebaker automobile pioneer (Studebaker)
1832 Charles Boycott Ireland, estate manager/caused boycotts
1838 William Perkin inventor (1st artificial dye)
1862 Jane Delano US, nurse/teacher/founder (Red Cross)
1881 Daniel Webster Hoan Wisconsin (Mayor-Socialist-Milwaukee)
1881 Kemal Atatürk 1st President of Republic of Turkey
1890 Vaslav Nijinsky Ukrainian/US ballet dancer (Petroesjka)
1896 Jesse "Lone Cat" Fuller San Francisco Blues Great
1910 Tony "Two-Ton" Galento Orange NJ, boxer/actor (On the Waterfront)
1921 Gordon MacRae East Orange NJ, singer/actor (Oklahoma, Carousel)
1922 Jack Kerouac Beat writer (Dharma Bums, On the Road, Mexico Blues)
1923 Walter M Schirra Jr Hackensack NJ, Captain USN/astronaut (Mercury 8, Gemini 6, Apollo 7)
1925 Harry [Maxwell] Harrison UK, sci-fi author (Deathworld Trilogy)
1925 Louison Bobet French cyclist (Tour de France 1953-55)
1927 Mstislav Rostropovich Baku Russia, conductor/cellist (Cello Concerto)
1928 Edward Albee Washington DC, playwright (Virginia Woolfe, Zoo Story)
1931 William "Buckwheat" Thomas actor (Little Rascals)
1932 Andrew Young US ambassador to UN (1977-79)/(Mayor-Democrat-Atlanta)
1936 Lloyd Dobbins Newport News VA, newscaster (NBC News Overnight)
1942 Paul Kantner San Francisco CA, rock singer/guitarist (Jefferson Airplane-White Rabbit, Somebody To Love)
1942 Salvatore "the Bull" Gravano mobster (testified against Gotti)
1946 Liza Minnelli Hollywood CA, singer/actress (Sterile Cuckoo, Cabaret)
1948 James Taylor Boston MA, vocalist/guitarist (Sweet Baby James)
1948 Kent Conrad (Senator-D-ND)
1949 Bill Payne Waco TX, rock keyboardist (Little Feat-Time Loves a Hero)
1950 Jon Provost actor (Timmy-Lassie)
1957 Marlon D Jackson Gary IN, singer (Jackson 5-Maybe Tomorrow)
1960 Courtney B Vance Detroit MI, actor (Hamburger Hill)
1962 Darryl Strawberry Los Angeles CA, right fielder (New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees)
1963 John Andretti race car driver

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Deaths which occurred on March 12:
0417 Innocent I Italian Pope (401-417), dies
0604 Gregory I the Great Pope (590-604), dies at 64
1209 Djamal al-din Abu Mohammed Iljas Nizami Persian poet, dies
1507 Cesare Borgia cardinal/soldier/politician, killed in battle at 31
1628 John Bull thought to have composed British national anthem (God Save The King), dies
1834 Karl W Feuerbach mathematician (circle of Feuerbach), dies at 33
1888 Henry Bergh founder (ASPCA), dies at 76
1914 George Westinghouse US engineer (Westinghouse Electric), dies at 67
1925 Sun Yat-Sen Chinese revolutionary president, dies at 58
1945 Anne Frank diarist (Diary of Anne Frank), killed in Belsen Camp
1955 Charlie "Bird" Parker US jazz saxophonist, dies in New York NY at 34
1973 Frankie "Fordham Flash" Frisch baseball player, dies at 74
1978 John Cazale actor (Dog Day Afternoon, Deer Hunter), dies at 41
1985 Eugene Ormandy [Blau] Hungarian/US conductor, dies at 85
1993 June Valli singer (Crying in the Chapel), dies of cancer at 62

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1967 ADRIAN JOSEPH D.---RIVER EDGE NJ.
1967 CLARK JOHN W.---COLUMBIA MO.
[02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 GOODRICH EDWIN R.---OLEAN NY.
[REMAINS RETURNED 08/14/85]
1968 GRIFFITH JOHN GARY---KANSAS CITY MO.
1968 KOLLMANN GLENN E.---DALY CITY CA.
1968 ROGERS EDWARD F.---ROSLINDALE MA.
1969 ROBINSON FLOYD H.---BURLINGTON KS.
1970 SCULL GARY B.---CEDAR RAPIDS IA.
1971 JEFFS CLIVE G.---SALT LAKE CITY UT.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0417 St Innocent I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0604 St Gregory I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1000 Odo of Lagery elected as Pope Urban II, replacing Victor III
1054 Pope Leo IX escapes captivity & returns to Rome
1144 Gherardo Caccianemici elected Pope Lucius II, succeeding Callistus II
1350 Orvieto city says it will behead & burn Jewish-Christian couples
1365 University of Vienna founded
1496 Jews are expelled from Syria
1587 English parliament leader Peter Wentworth confined in London Tower
1609 Bermuda becomes an English colony
1619 Dutch settlement on Java changes name to Batavia
1622 Ignatius of Loyola declared a saint
1664 New Jersey becomes a British colony
1689 Former English King James II lands in Ireland
1737 Galileo's body moved to Church of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy
1755 1st steam engine in America installed, to pump water from a mine
1773 Jeanne Baptiste Pointe de Sable found settlement now known as Chicago
1789 US Post Office established
1799 Austria declares war on France
1848 2nd republic established in France
1849 1st gold seekers arrive in Nicaragua en route to California
1850 1st US $20 gold piece issued
1860 Congress accepts Pre-emption Bill; free land in West for colonists
1865 Affair near Lone Jack MO
1867 Last French troops leave Mexico
1868 Congress abolishes manufacturer's tax
1868 Great Britain annexes Basutoland in Africa
1877 Great Britain annexes Walvis Bay at Cape colony
1884 Mississippi establishes 1st US state college for women
1888 2nd day of the Great blizzard of '88 in northeast US (400 die)
1894 Pittsburgh issues free season tickets for ladies on Tuesday & Friday
1900 President Steyn of Orange-Free state flees from Bloemfontein
1901 Ground is broken for Boston's 1st American League ballpark (Huntington Ave Grounds)
1903 New York Highlanders (Yankees) approved as members of American League
1904 Andrew Carnegie establishes Carnegie Hero Fund
1912 Captain Albert Berry performs 1st parachute jump from an airplane
1912 Girl Guides (Girl Scouts) founded in Savannah, by Juliette Gordon Low
1916 French airship sinks British submarine D3
1917 Russian Dumas sets up Provisional Committee; workers set up Soviets
1917 Stalin, Kamenev & Muranov arrive in St Petersburg
1925 British government of Baldwin refuses to ratify Geneva agreement
1926 Denmark begins unilateral disarmament
1930 Mohandas Gandhi begins 200 mile (321 km) march protesting British salt tax
1933 FDR conducts his 1st "fireside chat"
1934 Josip Broz (Tito) freed from jail
1935 England establishes 30 MPH speed limit for towns & villages
1938 Nazi Germany invades Austria (Anschluss)
1939 Pope Pius XII crowned in Vatican ceremonies
1940 Finland surrenders to Russia during WWII, giving up Karelische Isthmus
1945 30 Amsterdammers executed by Nazi occupiers
1945 Italy's Communist Party (CPI) calls for armed uprising in Italy
1945 New York is 1st to prohibit discrimination by race & creed in employment
1945 The British Empire celebrates its 1st British Empire Day
1945 USSR returns Transylvania to Romania
1947 President Truman introduces Truman-doctrine to fight communism
1948 -5ºF lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in March
1950 Pope Pius XII encyclical "On combating atheistic propaganda"
1951 Communist troops driven out of Seoul
1956 Dow Jones closes above 500 for 1st time (500.24)
1957 German Democratic Republic accepts 22 Russian divisions
1958 British Empire Day is renamed "Commonwealth Day"
1959 US House joins Senate approving Hawaii statehood
1963 Bob Dylan cancels "Ed Sullivan Show" television appearance
1964 Jimmy Hoffa sentenced to 8 years
1964 Malcolm X resigns from Nation of Islam
1964 WKAB TV channel 32 in Montgomery AL (ABC) begins broadcasting
1966 Bobby Hull's 51st goal of season, sets record
1967 Austria's Reinhold Bachler ski jumps 505 feet
1967 Indonesian congress deprives President Sukarno of authority
1968 Mauritius gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1969 Paul McCartney marries Linda Louise Eastman in London
1970 US lowers voting age from 21 to 18
1971 Syrian premier Hafez Assad "elected" President
1971 Turkish Government of Demirel forced to resign by Army
1972 NHL great Gordie Howe retires after 26 seasons
1974 Bundy victim Donna Manson disappears, Evergreen SC, Olympia WA
1975 Vietcong conquer Ban me Thuot South Vietnam
1976 South African troops leave Angola
1977 Chile President Pinochet bans Christian-Democratic Party
1977 Egypt's Anwar Sadat pledges to regain Arab territory from Israel
1978 Eric Heiden skates world record 1000 meter (1:14.99)
1980 Jury finds John Wayne Gacy guilty of murdering 33 in Chicago
1981 Walter R T Witschey installs world's largest sundial, Richmond VA
1984 British ice dancing team, Torvill & Dean, become 1st skaters to receive 9 perfect 6.0s in world championships
1984 National Union of Mine Workers in England begin a 51 week strike
1985 Larry Bird scores Boston Celtic record 60 points
1986 210.25 million shares traded in New York Stock Exchange
1986 Giotto encounters Comet Halley
1986 Susan Butcher wins 1,158 mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
1987 "Les Miserables" opens at Broadway/Imperial NYC for 4000+ performances
1990 Los Angeles Raiders announce they were returning to Oakland
1993 317 killed by bomb attacks in Bombay
1993 Inkhata leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi begins 2½ week speech
1994 Church of England ordains 1st 33 women priests

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

British Commonwealth : Commonwealth Day (formerly British Empire Day)
Gabon : Renovation Day (National Day)
Lesotho : Moshoeshoe's Day
Libya : King's Birthday
Mauritius : Independence Day (1968)
Venezuala : Flag Day
World : Girl Scouts Day (1912)
World : World Culture Day (non Leap year)
Memphis TN : Cotton Carnival (held for 5 days)(Tuesday)
New Mexico : Arbor Day (Friday)
US : Women's Get-Away Weekend Begins
US : Aardvark Week (Day 6)
National Pothole Month

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Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of Ss Peters Gorgonius & Dorothheus
Christian : Feast of St Alphege of Winchester
Christian : Feast of St Bernard of Capua
Christian : Feast of St Maximilian of Theveste
Christian : Feast of St Paul Aurelian of Leon
Christian : Feast of St Seraphina/Fina & St Theophanes the Chronicler
Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican : Commemoration of St Gregory I the Great, pope (590-604)

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Religious History
1607 Birth of Paul Gerhardt, German clergyman and hymnwriter. He lost four of his five children in childhood, yet also composed over 130 hymns, including "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded." (Gerhardt's music marks the transition in Lutheran hymnody from confessional and high_church hymns to hymns of devotional piety.)
1622 Gregory XV canonized Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits; Philip Neri, Italian co_founder of a medical religious order; Teresa of Avila, a Spanish Carmelite nun; and Francis Xavier, the Jesuit "Apostle of Eastern Asia."
1710 Birth of Thomas A. Arne, considered one of the outstanding English composers of the 18th century. Today, Arne is best remembered for his hymn tune ARLINGTON, to which we commonly sing, "Am I a Soldier of the Cross?"
1826 Birth of Robert Lowery, American Baptist clergyman and hymnwriter. He is chiefly remembered today for writing and composing the hymns "Christ Arose," "Nothing But the Blood of Jesus," "We're Marching to Zion," "All the Way My Savior Leads Me" and "I Need Thee Every Hour."
1904 Raphael Hawaweeny was ordained Eastern Orthodox bishop of Brooklyn, NY, at St. Nicholas Church. As a vicar under the Holy Synod of the Church of Russia, Hawaweeny thus became the first Russian Orthodox bishop ordained in America.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"Things could be worse. Suppose your errors were counted and published every day, like those of a baseball player."

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Word of the day...
glacket (glk't)
(n.) The noisy ball inside a spray-paint can.

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New State Slogans...
Maryland: If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It

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Amazing Fact # 567,991...
The Union ironclad, Monitor, was the first U.S. ship to have a flush toilet.