USS Chehalis (AOG-48) - Disaster in Samoa

Disaster in Samoa

At 01:23 (Samoan time) on 7 October 1949, as Chehalis lay alongside the navy dock at Tutuila, American Samoa, one of her gasoline tanks exploded, killing six of her 75-man crew. The ship burst into flames, capsized, and sank in 45 feet of water. She later slid off the ledge, atop of which she had originally sunk, into 150 feet of water. She was stricken from the Naval Register on 27 October 1949. Her salvaged hulk was later sold to the government of American Samoa in a contract entered into on 21 October 1955.

Chehalis was carrying a cargo of ammunition and petroleum when it sank. After evidence of significant leakage of fuel from the wrecked ship, environmental risk assessments indicated that that the remaining fuel aboard needed be removed. The fuel was removed by April 2010, but no steps were taken to remove the ammunition aboard the wreck as it was not considered to be necessary.