SS John Burke

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SS John Burke on 10 May 1944, north west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
History
United States
NameJohn Burke
NamesakeJohn Burke
OwnerWar Shipping Administration
OperatorNorthland Transportation Company of Seattle
Builder
Portland, OR
Laid down20 November 1942[1]
Launched15 December 1942[1]
Acquired23 December 1942[1]
FateLost 28 December 1944 off Negros island, and Siquijor island due to Kamikaze strike
General characteristics
TypeLiberty ship
Displacement14,245 long tons (14,474 t)[2]
Length422 ft 10 in (128.88 m)[2]
Beam57 ft 0 in (17.37 m)[2]
Draft27 ft 10 in (8.48 m)[2]
Depth of hold34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)[2]
PropulsionTwo oil-fired boilers, triple-expansion steam engine, single screw, 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)[2]
Speed11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)[2]
Complement40 crew, 28 Armed Guard, 68 total
Armament2 × 3 in (76 mm), 8 × 20 mm guns[3]

SS John Burke (

fitting-out, Burke was delivered to the US Maritime Commission on December 23,[4] just 33 days after construction began. The War Shipping Administration then placed Burke under management of the Northland Transportation Company.[1]

On December 28, 1944, while transporting ammunition to Mindoro, Philippines, Burke was hit by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft, and disintegrated in a tremendous explosion with the loss of all hands.[5][6] John Burke was one of three Liberty Ships[7] and one of forty-seven ships sunk by kamikaze attack during World War II.[8]

Construction and design

A color-coded diagram of compartments on a ship
A color-coded diagram of compartments on a Liberty ship, from the starboard side, bow to the right
  Machinery spaces
  Command and control
  Liquid stores
  Dry cargo
  Engine room
  Misc
  Dry stores
  Habitation

John Burke was powered by two oil-fired boilers and a single 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)

40 millimetres (1.57 in), 20 millimetres (0.79 in) and/or .5 inches (12.70 mm) caliber
guns.

The ship's steering was by a contrabalanced rudder (black, at left in the picture), with its associated steering gear located in a compartment (green in the picture) above the rudder and below the aft structure. Steam-powered generators provided electric power for radios, navigation equipment, refrigeration compressors, pumps, lighting, and degaussing. An evaporator produced fresh water for the boilers and for the crew. Large hatches above the cargo holds allowed steam winches and booms rigged to three centerline masts to quickly load or unload cargo.[10]

History

Liberty ships were an expedient solution to a pressing problem, and it was never intended that they last more than five years.[11] It is remarkable that two (SS John W. Brown and SS Jeremiah O'Brien) have not only survived seventy plus years of service, but that they are in 'like-new' condition, and are open to the public as museums. The British needed a way to replace the ships lost to German U-boats, but did not have the resources to build them.[2] In 1939, they asked the United States to help solve the problem, bringing a ship design that they wanted built. The design was modified to fit American production methods, and five new shipyards were built to give the shipbuilding industry capacity. These ships were called Ocean ships with each ship's name starting with Ocean.[2]

The United States needed more ships as war approached. The 'Ocean' design was revised and simplified to allow mass production. This new design was the basis for the Liberty ship.[2] On December 7, 1941 Japan attacked the military bases at Hawaii, Guam, and a few days later, the Philippines. Liberty ships carried weapons, ammunition, food, tools, hardware, vehicles, and other things for the war effort. They could also be equipped to carry a large number[12] of troops by rigging bunks in the holds similar to those used by the armed guard.[13] Liberty ships began taking troops and materials wherever they were needed, crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.[2] Like other Liberty Ships, John Burke transported war materials between the United States and the rear areas of the Pacific War, often calling at Pearl Harbor, Australia, Guadalcanal, Hollandia and Manaus.

On what would be her final trip in late 1944, Burke departed

Seattle, Washington for Guam, where she spent several days loading munitions for the invasion force on the island of Mindoro.[14] Burke then departed with the 100-ship "Uncle Plus 13" convoy, bound for Leyte in the Philippines. The convoy arrived at Leyte the night of December 27.[15]

Japanese forces were alerted to the convoy's arrival shortly before daybreak on December 28. A flight of six Japanese kamikaze fighter/bombers was sent up from Cebu Island shortly after dawn.[15] If the convoy was destroyed, the U.S. forces on Mindoro would be cut off from their supply line.

That morning Burke and the other ships in the Mindoro-bound TG 77.11 (under the command of Captain George F. Mentz[16]) were at general quarters shortly after receiving the dawn weather report that reported that air cover would not launch until the poor weather cleared. The crews began their wait for the inevitable arrival of Japanese aircraft.

Destruction

At about 0815 hours, the first kamikaze appeared on the American ships'

A6M Zero fighters of the 201st Air Group, which had taken off from Cebu at 0950 were led by Lt. Masami Hoshino (星野政己) and each carried a 250 kg bomb.[18] Diving through anti-aircraft fire and despite damage to his aircraft, the Japanese pilot crashed between Burke's #2 and #3 cargo holds.[14]

A brief flash of fire was visible and for several seconds, only smoke could be seen billowing from her hold. A few seconds later, a huge pillar of fire shot out of Burke's cargo hold, followed by an immense cloud of white smoke

merchant marine sailors and 28[19] or 29[20] armed guards. For several seconds, Burke was not visible under a mushroom cloud of smoke, fire and explosions. Several ships nearby were damaged by the force of the blast and flying debris.[17] The shockwave rocked the entire convoy with ships reporting that they had been torpedoed. A US Army "FS" type ship just aft of Burke was severely damaged by the blast, sinking before it could be identified.[3]
As the cloud of smoke cleared, nearby ships closed on Burke's former position to search for survivors but Burke, and all aboard her, were lost.

The Combat Air Patrol arrived at 1213 after the weather cleared, providing air cover for the next three hours.[21]

The Japanese attack that morning was the beginning of a two-day series of attacks on the convoy, sinking several more ships and costing hundreds of lives. The force reached its destination at 0648 December 30 with materials for the Mindoro invasion.[22]

Today, SS John Burke's fragments lie 1,500 feet (457 m) below the surface, in the vicinity of 9°1′11″N 123°26′50″E / 9.01972°N 123.44722°E / 9.01972; 123.44722,

Negros, Siquijor Islands and Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte, Mindanao, Philippines.[15]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ a b c d "US Maritime Commission".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Liberty cargo ship briefing" (PDF). ww2ships.com. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  3. ^ a b Rieley pp 152, 153
  4. ^ a b c d "Oregon Shipbuilding". Archived from the original on 2014-07-14.
  5. ^ Cressman, pp 597-599
  6. ^ "Eyewitness account".
  7. ^ "William S. Ladd, 10 Dec 1944; John Burke, 28 Dec 1944; Lewis L. Dyche, 5 Jan 1945". Archived from the original on 2 July 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
  8. ^ "47 Ships Sunk by Kamikaze Aircraft". Archived from the original on 2010-07-02. Retrieved 2012-10-28.
  9. ^ "Liberty ship engineroom". www.liberty-ship.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-19.
  10. ^ "Hoist, masts and rigging". Archived from the original on 2016-03-19.
  11. ^ "Liberty ship facts (6th paragraph)". National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2005-03-08. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  12. ^ "Liberty Ship design and construction".
  13. ^ "Virtual tour of a Liberty ship's hold". Archived from the original on 2012-06-19.
  14. ^ a b Browning, p 470
  15. ^ a b c "Wreck of SS John Burke". wikimapia.org.
  16. ^ "Captain Mentz' Navy Cross".
  17. ^ a b c "USS Bush (DD 529)'s deck log for Thursday 28 December 1944 8-12 watch".
  18. ^ Model Art No.458 Kamikaze Tokubetsu Kogeki-Tai pp 160
  19. ^ "Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1944". usmm.org.
  20. ^ "Merchant sailors and armed guard losses".
  21. ^ "USS Bush (DD 529)'s deck log for Thursday 28 December 1944 12-16 watch".
  22. ^ "USS Bush (DD 529)'s deck log for Saturday 30 December 1944 4-8 watch".
  23. ^ Location on Google Maps
Bibliography

Liberty Ship Resources

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