USN
Crater Class Cargo Ship
Crew
206
Crew List
Length
441' 6" | 56' 11" | 27' 7"
Tons
14,250
Armament
1 x 5"/38 gun
2 x 40mm guns
6 x 20mm guns
Wartime Photo
Sunk January 29, 1945 by accidental explosion
Ship History
Built by California Shipbuilding at
Wilmington California. The hull was laid down on March 10, 1943. Launched on April 5, 1943. Commissioned on May 28, 1943. This liberty ship was assigned to Captain Magnus J. Johnson, USCGR was assigned to the ship, and manned by a US Coast Guard crew.
Wartime
History
Late in the evening on January 29, 1945 the
Serpens was anchored off Lunga
Beach off Guadalcanal,
loading depth charges.
While the Commanding Officer and enlisted men were ashore, the Serpens suddenly exploded. 193 Coast Guard crewmen, 56 Army stevedores, and a Public Health Service physician were killed in the explosion. The force of the explosion was so great that it killed a U.S. Army soldier who was ashore. Only two sailors aboard survived the incident. The cause of the explosion was never completely determined. The loss of the USS SERPENS AK-97 was the largest single disaster ever suffered by the United States Coast Guard.
Robert Brock adds:
"A ship anchored off Lunga Point on Guadalcanal
exploded one night and covered the beach area and inland for several meters with
debris. An article was in “Ripleys Believe-it-or not” several years
ago in which it stated that one man survived the blast and was blown through
a porthole. I helped recover bodies the next day. Many of the casualties were
stevedores from Fiji."
Wreckage Today
Ewan Stevenson first identified the in 1994. The bow section still
remains upside down off Lunga Point. Lots of swirling schools of
Big eye Jacks, a great dive.
