Wreck of USS Serpens (AK-97)

Solomon Islands / Guadalcanal / Honiara /
 Second World War 1939-1945, military, place with historical importance, shipwreck, United States Coast Guard
USS Serpens was a Crater Class Cargo ship in service with the US Navy during World War Two, laid down in 1943 as the Liberty Ship SS Benjamin N. Cardozo and taken over by the US Navy upon her completion. Renamed USS Serpens, she put to sea in June 1943 with a crew made entirely of US Coast Guard sailors, and plied the South Pacific making supply runs between Australia, New Zealand and numerous US & Allied bases across the island chains.

January 29th, 1945 found the Serpens anchored here off Lunga Beach at what was then the rear area base of Guadalcanal, an important weapons and supply base for US and Allied forces now pushing the Japanese further and further North toward their home islands. After daybreak, a contingent of 57 US Army stevedores came aboard and the crew of 198 began to load a cargo of depth charges from lighters alongside the ship. Around midday as her Captain and seven other crew left the ship to head ashore as loading operations neared their half-way point, a massive explosion ripped through the Serpens and completely obliterated the ship, leaving only the forward-most portion of her bow intact. Only two of the 253 men aboard the ship at the time of the explosion survived, and most of the dead were never seen again. The bow of the Serpens sank shortly after the explosion at this location on January 29th, 1945.

The explosion on the USS Serpens remains the largest single-day loss of life for US Coast Guard servicemen to date, and the largest loss of US Coast Guard personnel in the Second World War. A mass grave for the remains of the crew and the Army stevedores aboard was formally dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery in 1950.

uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Serpens.asp
uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Serpens_Photos.asp
uscg.mil/history/webcutters/Serpens_Casualties.asp
www.navsource.org/archives/09/13/130097.htm
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Serpens_(AK-97)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   9°24'37"S   160°0'40"E

Comments

  • Added another photo, oddly enough, anchored in Purvis Bay, Florida Island.
This article was last modified 11 years ago