World War 2 naval veteran from the minesweeper YMS 286 recalls what he saw the day the USS Mt. Hood ammunition ship exploded near Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands chain near New Guinea, November 1944. This is a rare eyewitness account. The ship may have been the victim of a Japanese torpedo or perhaps an accident on board. All persons on the Mt. Hood at the time of the explosion were killed and others killed or injured in nearby ships.
