Badger State

Badger State probe called in Seattle, The Tacoma News Tribune. January 1, 1970, p. B-3 Navy abandons salvage try on flaming powder keg vessel, The Tacoma News Tribune. January 2, 1970 p. 5. Ammo ship being sent down, The Tacoma News Tribune. January 5, 1970, p. 4. Skipper tells of ammo ship tragedy at sea, The Tacoma News Tribune. January 15, 1970, p. A- 15. Sailor tells of poor ammo ship loading, The Tacoma News Tribune. January 21, 1970, p. B-4. Heroics on sinking ship reported, The Tacoma News Tribune. January 23, 1970, p. 3.

Citation: Tacoma Public Library

Badger State (steamer)

Only one marine disaster involving loss of life was recorded among the offshore merchant vessels plying the North Pacific in 1969. This was the tragic loss of the States Marines Lines' Badger State (ex-Starlight and Florence Luckenbach), a 459-foot C-2 cargo steamship built in 1944. The Badger State, commanded by Capt. Charles Wilson and carrying 5,336 tons of bombs, was bound from the Naval Ammunition Depot at Bangor, Washington, for Da Nang, South Vietnam when it was caught in a furious December storm some 1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii. Heavy seas swept the vessel for 11 days, with 500-pound, 750-pound and 2,000-pound bombs breaking loose and careening about the holds. The bombs splintered wood sheathing and punched holes in the vessel's hull, generating heat and sparks. On the day after Christmas, with the ship rolling as much as 50 degrees, a 2,000-pound bomb broke loose, tearing a hole 12 feet long and eight feet high in the hull below the waterline. The abandon-ship signal was sounded and a lifeboat w

Citation: Tacoma Public Library