SS John Burke

During WWII 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 of troops by rigging bunks in the holds similar to those used by the armed guard. Liberty ships began taking troops and materials wherever they were needed, crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 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.
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.
On the morning of December 28, 1944, Burke and the other ships in the Mindoro-bound convoy 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.
At about 0815 hours, the first kamikaze appeared on the American ships' radar, and orders were given for the convoy to begin evasive maneuvering. Through holes in the clouds, the Japanese pilots sighted the American force as it steamed south of Cebu and Bohol Islands. The Japanese aircraft were three A6M Zero fighters of the 201st Air Group, which had taken off from Cebu at 0950 were led by Lt. Masami Hoshino and each carried a 250 kg bomb. At approximately 1020 hours, diving through anti-aircraft fire and despite damage to his aircraft, a Japanese kamikaze, chose the ammunition ship SS John Burke as his target and crashed between Burke's #2 and #3 cargo holds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJcDVbH5q3k

 
A brief flash of fire was visible to most of the ships in the convoy, 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. Within seconds all eyes were drawn to Burke where an enormous fireball erupted as her entire cargo of munitions detonated, instantly destroying the ship and killing her crew of 40 merchant marine sailors and 28 or 29 armed guards. For several seconds, Burke was not visible under an enormous mushroom cloud of smoke, fire and explosions. Several ships nearby were damaged by the force of the blast and flying fragments. The shock wave rocked the entire convoy, and several ships reported 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. As the cloud of smoke cleared, nearby ships closed on Burke's former position to search for survivors. It was soon clear that Burke, and all 68 men aboard her, were gone.
It's one of the most powerful manmade non-nuclear explosions in history.
John Burke was one of three Liberty Ships and one of forty-seven ships sunk by kamikaze attack during World War II.