Los Angeles Times: Army Ammo Ship Catches Fire in N.C.

http://latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-ammunition-ship-fire0714jul14.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnation%2Dheadlines

Army Ammo Ship Catches Fire in N.C.
By Associated Press

July 14 2001

SOUTHPORT, N.C. -- An ammunition ship caught fire Saturday at a military
terminal on the Cape Fear River.

About 40 people were on deck when the fire started in the engine room, an Army
spokeswoman said. It was not immediately known if there any casualties.

The vessel at the Sunny Point Military Ocean Terminal was loaded with
ammunition, an Army news release said. The type of ship was not specified.

The fire had been contained by about 9 p.m. Whether any ammunition exploded was
not immediately known.

Sunny Point is a Department of Defense terminal equipped to handle ammunition,
explosives and other dangerous cargo for shipment overseas.

Copyright 2001 Associated Press

Maybe the Army Of ONE should let the Navy Of Many handle their little ammo ships and boatsy woatsys. Stick to the woods soldier.

Exactly!

If I joined the Army of One am I the only member of my unit? If I went infantry I think I'd like to be in the 146785th Sherman Light Infantry. Nah, actually, make that mechanized, so I don't have to walk anywhere.

You know what is funny or maybe not so funny since that thing had over a million pounds of explosives on board.  Myself and the other half were walking on the Cape Fear yesterday.  I noticed some black smoke coming from a cargo ship across the river.  It was kinda far and it was muggy here so I did not realize the smoke was not coming from the stacks.  I did notice it was much blacker smoke than normal from one of the ships.  The local fire department and police did not alert the public to the danger. I was across the river from it but, I saw large numbers of small boats running up and down the river at the time.  This could have been catastrophic.

Sorry about that.  It was dark and we couldn't read the lettering on the boxes in the hold and so someone had the big idea of lighting their zippo...

Ah to have gotten the salvage rights if she sank
[0j]

Well there goes all that wolf ammo they shipped in! [:D]

CNN.com - Search called off in Carolina ammo ship fire - July 15, 2001

Search called off in Carolina ammo ship fire

July 15, 2001 Posted: 4:38 PM EDT (2038 GMT)

The Edward Carter burns Saturday in Southport, North Carolina  

SOUTHPORT, North Carolina (CNN) -- The U.S. Coast Guard called off the
search Sunday for a missing civilian crew member who apparently jumped
from a ship laden with military ammunition that caught fire Saturday.
The man, Horace Beasily, 44, is missing and presumed dead, said Petty
Officer Bill Barry, a spokesman with the Coast Guard's Atlantic Area
Public Command in Portsmouth, Virginia. Beasily, of Gretna, Virginia, was
a deck engine utility man, Barry said.
The fire killed Paul Powell, 36, an assistant engineer on board the Edward
Carter, a 939-foot container ship that was carrying 5 million pounds of
military ammunition. Powell was from St. Petersburg, Florida.
Both men were civilians, not with the Coast Guard, Barry said.
The fire, which broke out in the engine room, was contained Sunday, the
Coast Guard said.

A fire truck enters the Military Ocean Terminal at Sunny Point  
Representatives of the Marine Safety Office in Wilmington, North Carolina,
have begun an investigation, the Coast Guard said.
The ship was docked at Sunny Point Military Ocean Terminal on the Cape
Fear River in North Carolina. The home port of the Edward Carter is
Norfolk, Virginia.
The ship was loading ammunition from another ship when the fire broke out.
About 2,300 20-foot containers of ammunition were on board, according to
The Associated Press.
Sunny Point handles worldwide shipment of Department of Defense
ammunition, explosives and other dangerous cargo. It is the only DOD
terminal equipped to handle containerized ammunition.

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