Remembering the West Loch Disaster By RWSDGM Alphonso Braggs, 33°
On May 21, 2019, the African American Diversity Cultural Center of Hawaii hosted the Ninth Annual Celebration of Life and Service in honor of the men who lost their lives at West Loch in May 1944. The memorial was held at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl with John Figuerres, Captain, U.S. Navy (Retired) serving as master of ceremonies. Welcoming remarks and salutations were delivered by Mr. David Smith, West Loch historian and Grandmaster Howard L. Covington, Sr., Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Hawaii.
The West Loch Disaster is considered by many to be one of the most forgotten events in Pacific military history. In May of 1944, at the US Pacific Fleet Base, West Loch Pearl Harbor, in preparation for Operation Forager, more than two dozen Landing Ship Tanks were tightly clustered while their hulls and decks were being filled with ammunition, supplies, and materiel.
On the afternoon of May 21, 1944 at 15:08, while Army Ordnance troops loaded mortar ammunition, an explosion emanated from LST-353 moored at Tare 8, sending a large fireball into the sky, followed by two more minutes later, which sprayed hot splinters into the highly flammable aviation drums on LST-480 and LST-39 nearby. Flaming gasoline and exploding ammunition soon began to take a frightful toll of the Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines for more than 24 hours severely limiting firefighting efforts by nearby ships and craft.
The personnel and material loss was catastrophe, resulting in approximately 163 lives lost, nearly 400 men injured, six Landing Ship Tanks (LST-39, LST-43, LST-69, LST-179, LST-353, and LST-480) destroyed, three Landing Craft Tanks (LCT-961, 963 and 983) lost, 17 Tracked Landing Vehicles lost, eight 155 mm guns destroyed, 11 wooden buildings destroyed, and several vehicles blown on their side. The incident, together with the Port Chicago disaster two months later, led to changes in the Department of the Navy weapons handling practices.
Today only the rusted hull of the partially beached LST-480 wreck remains as evidence of the disaster. In April 1995, the first memorial of the disaster was unveiled, a table-sized plaque on the shore of the loch. At the behest of Congress, inscriptions on the gravestones of unidentified victims in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific were amended from “unknown”, to “Unknown, West Loch Disaster, May 21, 1944.” The Navy commemorated the anniversary of the disaster on May 21, 2009. The memorial was held not only to honor the men who lost their lives but also to educate the public on the importance of learning American history. The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Hawaii is proud to join the growing number of organizations committed to perpetuating the legacy of these courageous men.
