November 10, 1944: The USS Mount Hood Explosion

November 10, 1944: The ammunition ship USS Mount Hood (AE-11) disintegrates from the accidental detonation of 3,800 tons of cargo in the Seeadler Harbor fleet anchorage at Manus Island, Papua New Guinea.

Named for Mount Hood, the highest point in the State of Oregon, the ship had been launched on November 28, 1943, from the Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia. Befitting her name, she was sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II.

On November 10, 1944, the ship was docked at Seeadler Harbor -- yes, I know, it looks weird, but that's how it's spelled -- in Papua New Guinea, then controlled by Australia. At 8:30 AM, a party consisting of 17 men left the ship and headed for shore, to collect the ship's mail. At 08:55, while this party was walking on the beach, the explosion occurred.

Even at a distance of 4,600 yards (about 2.6 miles) from the ship, the force of the explosion knocked the men from their feet. Scrambling back into their boat, they headed back to the ship, only to turn around again shortly thereafter as, according to one sailor's account, "There was nothing but debris all around..."

In addition to the Mount Hood, 22 small boats were destroyed, 36 nearby ships were damaged, 432 men were killed, and 371 more were injured.

Papua New Guinea was granted independence by Australia in 1949. It remains a parliamentary democracy, part of the British Commonwealth.

In 1971, a new ammunition ship was launched by the U.S. Navy, with the name USS Mount Hood, serving until 1999.

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November 10, 1944 was a Friday. Songwriter Tim Rice was born.

Baseball season was over. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. And while the NHL season was underway, no games were scheduled for this day.

There were 2 college football games played. North Carolina State beat the University of Miami, 28-7 at Burdine Stadium, later renamed the Orange Bowl, in Miami.

And, with The War -- as my grandmother, who lived through it, always said, "Capital T, Capital W" -- was in progress, many college football teams played teams from military bases. The team from Naval Air Station Atlantic City beat Villanova University, 25-6 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. NAS Atlantic City, in Egg Harbor Township across Brigantine Bay from the island on which Atlantic City sits, was handed over to the New Jersey Air National Guard in 1958, and was converted into Atlantic City International Airport in 1983.