USS Brownson (DD-518) exploding off Cape Gloucester on 26 December 1943 (80-G-240245)

The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Brownson (DD-518) exploding off Cape Gloucester, New Britain, on 26 December 1943. At approximately 14:42 hrs, Brownson was hit by two bombs from a Japanese dive bomber while screening the landings on Cape Gloucester. The bombs struck to starboard of the centerline, near the number two stack. A tremendous explosion followed, and the entire structure above the main deck as well as the deck plating, was gone. The ship listed 10 to 15 degrees to starboard, and settled rapidly amidships with the bow and stern canted upward. Brownson suffered the loss of 108 of her crew.