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Letters
Identity of vessel quite near the remains of the Mt. Hood, Manus Island? July 29, 2010 My name's Ron Knight and I regularly dive the Mt Hood site. I have found another large vessel quite near the remains of the Hood. I was born and brought up in Manus and am the son of a RAN CPO signals. Can you help me ID the ship? Rgds Ron
Nice to hear from you, especially as your Dad was a member of the RAN. The Mount Hood explosion was an absolute disaster, probably caused by lax handling of some of the explosives she carried on board. During WW2 serving in the RAN heavy cruiser Shropshire we often called in at Manus, after the Leyte landings in October 1944 when the Kamakaze's first made their appearance and Australia was hit, our Captain sent our Gunnery Officer ashore there to seek some extra Bofor AA guns for the ship. He took two cases of Scotch with him and managed to extract 13 40MM Bofors out of the Americans. We fitted them on top of turrets and all around the upper deck. Later during the landings in Lingayen Gulf in January of 1945, Australia, but 200 yards away from us collected another 5 Kamakaze aircraft on board, but with our extra AA armament thanks to those at Manus, served us well, and we escaped the fate of Australia. Although I have searched the web diligently, I am unable to turn up anything about another wrecked ship near the resting place of Mount Hood, when you dive the site there obviously is no name on this ship's stern. Sorry I cannot assist you. Best reards, |
