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USS BUSH (DD 529)

Slow Tow To Mindoro Images

The images that follow were filmed the morning December 28, 1944 as the USS BUSH helped to escort a number of transports and supply ships bound for Mindoro Island in The Philippines. The supply ships were slow and filled with ammunition, fuel and other materials.

All images were shot on 16MM newsreel film from the decks of the USS BUSH, by the ship's Medical Officer, Lt. George Johnson. During the three day trip, the convoy found itself under intense attack by Japanese kamikazes and other aircraft.

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Slow Tow - Dec. 28, 1944 Shortly after 10AM, a ship in the convoy is hit. Thought to be the S.S. JOHN BURKE.

Slow Tow - Dec. 28, 1944 Another ship is about to be hit by a Japanese suicide plane, most likely the S.S. WILLIAM SHARON.
BURKE explodes - Dec. 28, 1944 The cameraman, Lt. George Johnson, swings his camera towards a stricken ship loaded with ammunition.
BURKE explodes - Dec. 28, 1944 His movie camera captures a tremendous explosion.

BURKE explodes - Dec. 28, 1944 The S.S. JOHN BURKE, a liberty ship, disappears.
BURKE explodes - Dec. 28, 1944 All personnel aboard the JOHN BURKE are lost.
BURKE explodes - Dec. 28, 1944 The size of the blast is readily apparent when contrasted to the ships in the foreground.

BURKE explodes - Dec. 28, 1944 Inside the Combat Information Center on BUSH, former Executive Officer Tony Lilly recalled, "The shock was so fierce that I (in CIC) thought we had been hit."

EDITORS NOTE: CIC is the Combat Information Center.

BURKE explodes - Dec. 28, 1944 Convoy ships find themselves caught in the blast smoke.

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