Please see the following memorial for additional information and/or family links:
BURIAL: Forest Hill Cemetery, Napoleon, Henry County, Ohio, USA - MEMORIAL ID125148688
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USS Serpens (AK-97) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the United States Navy for service in World War II. Serpens was crewed by United States Coast Guard personnel and was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.
Late in the evening on 29 January 1945, Serpens was anchored off Lunga Beach. The commanding officer and seven others, one officer and six enlisted men, were ashore. The remaining crewmen were loading depth charges into her holds when Serpens exploded. After the explosion, only the bow of the ship was visible. The rest had disintegrated, and the bow sank soon afterward. One hundred ninety-six Coast Guard crewmen, 57 Army stevedores, and a Public Health Service physician, were killed in the explosion, and a soldier ashore was killed by shrapnel. Only two crewmen survived.
The loss of Serpens remains the largest single disaster ever suffered by the Coast Guard to date. 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.
Please see the following memorial for additional information and/or family links:
BURIAL: Forest Hill Cemetery, Napoleon, Henry County, Ohio, USA - MEMORIAL ID125148688
***********************************************************************************************
USS Serpens (AK-97) was a Crater-class cargo ship commissioned by the United States Navy for service in World War II. Serpens was crewed by United States Coast Guard personnel and was responsible for delivering troops, goods and equipment to locations in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.
Late in the evening on 29 January 1945, Serpens was anchored off Lunga Beach. The commanding officer and seven others, one officer and six enlisted men, were ashore. The remaining crewmen were loading depth charges into her holds when Serpens exploded. After the explosion, only the bow of the ship was visible. The rest had disintegrated, and the bow sank soon afterward. One hundred ninety-six Coast Guard crewmen, 57 Army stevedores, and a Public Health Service physician, were killed in the explosion, and a soldier ashore was killed by shrapnel. Only two crewmen survived.
The loss of Serpens remains the largest single disaster ever suffered by the Coast Guard to date. 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.
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SK1 - U S COAST GUARD
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