The US Naval Institute Blog has a story about a deadly accident that occurred at Pearl Harbor on this date in 1944 while the fleet was preparing for the invasion of Saipan. In one of the pictures you will see a 180-foot WLB helping to deal with the aftermath. There is more information about the disaster here.

Coast Guard-manned LST 69 was one of the six LST vessels sunk; CG-manned LST 205 was heavily damaged and missed the invasion.

This and the Port Chicago disaster two months later led to stronger Coast Guard oversight of explosive loading.