Monday, July 13, 2009

West Loch Disaster-- Part 1

Most people are well aware of what took place at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, but few, including myself, are aware of what transpired May 21, 1944, in what is referred to as Pearl Harbor's second greatest disaster, the West Loch Disaster.

KHNL TV ran a segment on it May 21st. All that remains of it is a rusting ship and about 40 survivors on the 65th anniversary.

One survivor, Harry Horn, recalls that it was a Sunday afternoon and 29 LST (Landing Ship Tank) were in Pearl Harbor's West Loch loading ammunition, vehicles, and fuel for the Saipan invasion.

At 3:08 PM, there was an explosion aboard the LST-353, "We heard the explosion and we felt the explosion as the ship lifted up and banged down! I remember just hearing cut the lines, cut the lines and just get the hell out of here! Get out of here!"

More to Come. --Cooter

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