1944 – June 11, Torpedo warheads explode, Naval Ammunition Depot, Oahu, HI      –      10

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-3-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–10  Long Beach Independent CA. “Pearl Harbor Blast Kills 27; 100 Missing…” 6-15-1944, 1[1]

–10  Moran. Explosive Accident Summary: [WW] II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, 1992, p.129

–10  Morning Herald, Hagerstown MD. “Many Lose Lives in Hawaii Blast.” 6-15-1944, p. 1.[2]

–10  Schmitt, Robert C.  Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, p. 70.

Narrative Information

Schmitt: “…[An] explosion shook the Naval Ammunition Depot on June 11, 1944, killing 10 men who were transferring ammunition.”[3]  (Schmitt, Robert C.  Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, p. 70.)

Newspaper

June 14, Associated Press: “Washington. June 14 (AP) – The Navy announced tonight that… a magazine at the ammunition depot at Oahu Island exploded last Sunday killing three men. Seven others are missing as a result of this accident….

“In the explosion, last Sunday, the Pacific Fleet headquarters said, several torpedo warheads being transferred from a truck to a platform were detonated.  Damage was caused in the general magazine area and minor damage done to power lines and railroad tracks. Names or the men killed and the seven missing are being withheld pending notification of next of kin.”  (Morning Herald, Hagerstown MD.  “Many Lose Lives in Hawaii Blast.” 6-15-1944, p. 1.)

Sources

Long Beach Independent, CA. “Pearl Harbor Blast Kills 27; 100 Missing, 380 Hurt.” 6-15-1944, p. 1, col. 1. Accessed 10-4-2012: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=45326991

Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992. Accessed 4-19-2013: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA507027

Morning Herald, Hagerstown MD. “Many Lose Lives in Hawaii Blast.” 6-15-1944, p. 1. Accessed 9-21-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=111965292

Schmitt, Robert C. Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, 86 pages. Accessed 9-20-2012 at: Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii – eVols – University of Hawaii. Accessed at: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fevols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu%2Fbitstream%2Fhandle%2F10524%2F150%2FJL03074.pdf%3Fsequence%3D2&ei=UPSvVK2bLoO4yQTO74L4DA&usg=AFQjCNHER9A57xAr6d0m9mJcnsc4F2Z8Gg&bvm=bv.83339334,d.aWw

[1] Three dead and “seven are missing…”

[2] States that three men were known dead and “Seven others are missing…”

[3] Cites: Honolulu Advertiser, June 15, 1944, p. 1; Gwenfread Allen, Hawaii‘s War Years 1941-1945 (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1950), p. 122.