USS Serpens (AK-97)

USS Serpens (AK-97) moored pierside (date and location unknown)
History
United States
Name	Benjamin N. Cardozo Serpens
Namesake	Benjamin N. Cardozo The constellation Serpens
Owner
Operator
Ordered	as a MCE hull 739[1]
Builder	California Shipbuilding Corporation, Terminal Island, Los Angeles, California
Yard number	164[1]
Way number	9[1]
Laid down	10 March 1943
Launched	5 April 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. H.P. Needham
Acquired	19 April 1943
Commissioned	28 May 1943
Renamed	Serpens, 19 April 1943
Stricken	10 March 1945
Identification	Hull symbol: AK-97 Code letters: NJGY
Honors and awards	battle star
Fate	Destroyed by explosion, 29 January 1945
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Crater-class cargo ship
Type	Type EC2-S-C1
Displacement	4,023 long tons (4,088 t) (standard) 14,550 long tons (14,780 t) (full load)
Length	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam	56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft	28 ft 4 in (8.64 m)
Installed power	2 × Combustion Engineering header-type boilers, 220psi 450° 2,500 shp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion	1 × General Machine Corp. vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine 1 × shaft
Speed	12.5 kn (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Capacity	7,800 t (7,700 long tons) DWT 444,206 cu ft (12,578.5 m3) (non-refrigerated)
Complement	19 officers 188 enlisted
Armament	1 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose (DP) gun 1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber DP gun 2 × 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors anti-aircraft (AA) gun mounts 6 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannon AA gun mounts

USS Serpens (AK-97) was a

Construction

Serpens was laid down on 10 March 1943, under a

For the next four months, Serpens delivered consignments to bases in the New Hebrides and the Solomons, returning to New Zealand to reload only once. In July, she was at Purvis Bay for the installation of SF-1 radar. She then resumed operations and, through October, carried general cargo and rolling stock between ports and anchorages in the Solomons. In mid-November, she loaded repairable vehicles from the Russells and from Guadalcanal and sailed for New Zealand where, after offloading, three of her holds were converted for ammunition stowage.^[3]

Destruction, 29 January 1945

Late in December 1944, the Liberty ship commenced loading at Wellington, finished it at

An eyewitness to the disaster stated: "As we headed our personnel boat shoreward the sound and concussion of the explosion suddenly reached us, and, as we turned, we witnessed the awe-inspiring death drama unfold before us. As the report of screeching shells filled the air and the flash of tracers continued, the water splashed throughout the harbor as the shells hit. We headed our boat in the direction of the smoke and as we came into closer view of what had once been a ship, the water was filled only with floating debris, dead fish, torn life jackets, lumber and other unidentifiable objects. The smell of death, and fire, and gasoline, and oil was evident and nauseating. This was sudden death, and horror, unwanted and unasked for, but complete."[4]

Lieutenant Commander Stinson reported: "I felt and saw two flashes after which only the bow of the ship was visible. The rest had disintegrated and the bow sank soon afterwards." The two survivors, SN 1/c Kemp and SN 1/c Kennedy, according to Stinson, ". . .showed a lot of savvy by grabbing a couple of water lights that we kept stowed in the [boatswain's] locker. They used them to attract attention when they climbed out onto the floating portion of the bow." Both men were injured but were rescued by a base commander in the area.^[4]

At first report the incident was attributed to enemy action but a court of inquiry later determined that the cause of the explosion could not be established from the remaining evidence and by 1949, the Navy noted that the loss was not due to enemy action but due to an "accident intrinsic to the loading process." The loss of Serpens remains the largest single disaster ever suffered by the Coast Guard. The dead were initially buried at the Army, Navy and Marine Corps Cemetery at Guadalcanal. Their remains were later exhumed and taken to Arlington National Cemetery where they were interred on 15 June 1949. A large monument in their honor was erected over the grave site and dedicated on 16 November 1950.^[4]

As of 2019, there is an active effort to reexamine the sinking to see if it was caused by a Japanese submarine.^[5]

The wreck is located at: 9°24′37″S 160°0′40″E / 9.41028°S 160.01111°E / -9.41028; 160.01111^[6]

Awards

Serpens earned one

• West Loch disaster
• USS Mount Hood (AE-11)
• Port Chicago disaster
• List of accidents and incidents involving transport or storage of ammunition

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

• The Long Blue Line Disrupted: USS Serpens (AK-97) and the Largest Loss of Life in US Coast Guard History (co-authors Douglas E. Campbell and Robert G. Breen); ISBN 978-0-359-87305-0
• Atkinson, Rick (2007). Where Valor Rests. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic.
  ISBN 978-1-4262-0089-2
  .
• "BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO". United States Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
• "USS Serpens AK-97". Pacific Wrecks. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Serpens (AK-97).

• Photo gallery of USS Serpens at NavSource Naval History
• USS Serpens Photo Gallery
• Roll of Honor