User:Buster40004/Sandbox/Projects/SS Alexander Majors

SS ALEXANDER MAJORS --- The SS Alexander Majors was a 7,176 ton freighter Liberty ship that was built and completed in January 1944 at Permanente Metals Corp., Yard No.1 in Richmond, Calif.

She was built for WSA [War Shipping Administration] and managed by the operator Isthmian Steamship Co. New York, NY. The Alexander Majors loaded with 1,222 tons of trucks, tractor’s, oil, and gas, left Hollandia, New Guinea on October 29, 1944 en route to Dulag Harbor, Leyte in the Philippines on November 4th. The Alexander Majors, with her Master John Michael Griffin, 37 Merchant crewman and twenty-six U.S. Navy Armed Guard as well as 407 U.S. Army troops had a rather uneventful passage.

The Alexander Majors did in fact arrive in good shape at Dulag Harbor....on November 4th, 1944. Once in the harbor she settled down and dropped anchor about 3,500 yards off shore. Throughout the day on the 12th, enemy suicide planes attacked the anchorage. As the sun began setting, ten Japanese planes appeared. One of these aircraft headed for the Alexander Majors.

A blast from the ship’s five-inch gun lifted the plane and altered its course slightly upwards. Well the plane cleared the starboard wing of the bridge ...but it struck the mainmast. This resulted in the plane and the bomb it carried to explode.

This explosion of both the plane and the bomb sent fragments of both to shower the forward portion of the ship. The explosion was so intense that the ship shuttered from bow to stern....in fact it was so bad that it blew off the #2 and #3 hatch covers, igniting fuel stowed on the deck. The flames from all that was connected to the plane, bomb and fuel engulfed the forward deck.....everyone pitched in to knock down the fires....but it was tough because shrapnel damaged one of the forward fire mains, forcing the men to run the fire hoses from the after part of the ship.

Most of the 407 U.S. Army troops had discharged from the ship....only about 13 or so remained behind....so they pitched in to help as well, but the Armed Guards that was manning the forward three-inch and 20-mm guns had to jump overboard due to the flames. The flames eventually spread to the #2 and #3 tween decks. When this happened a Navy LCI fireboat came alongside and brought the fire under control with foam ....in about an hour things had settled down and the fire was put out. The deck cargo and the cargo in the forward holds was a total loss. Unfortunately two of the merchant crew died and sixteen others reported injuries. The Alexander Majors returned to San Francisco for repairs on March 15th, 1945 and after repairs were completed she returned to commercial service.

Following postwar service she entered the James River Reserve Fleet on September 29th 1945 and was sold to the Italian government then withdrawn on May 26th, 1947, and renamed Tritone. In October of 1972 the Tritone was laid up (in Trieste), and in February 1973 she was sold to Shipbreakers, Vado Italy for scrapping.