Qualla: SS John Burke https://qualla.com/ss-john-burke en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/g/ss-john-burke-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: SS John Burke https://qualla.com/ss-john-burke SS John Burke: Introduction https://qualla.com/ss-john-burke/ Photo credit Canadian Forces, Public domain. For several seconds after the impact, the SS John Burke simply disappeared. Where a 441-foot Liberty ship loaded with ammunition had been steaming moments before, there was now a mushroom cloud of smoke, fire, and debris rising from the strait between Negros, Siquijor, and Mindanao. Ships nearby were damaged by the blast and flying wreckage. When the cloud cleared, the John Burke was gone -- broken apart so completely that its fragments now lie 1,500 feet below the surface. Every person aboard died. The ship had existed for just over two years, built as one of 2,710 mass-produced Liberty ships meant to last five years at most. It lasted twenty-five months.

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Image: Canadian Forces | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/g/ss-john-burke-wp/w9xg-ss-john-burke-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full SS John Burke: Built for Speed, Not for Posterity https://qualla.com/ss-john-burke/ Photo credit Canadian Forces, Public domain. The John Burke was launched from Kaiser Shipbuilding Company's Oregon Shipbuilding yard in Portland, Oregon, her keel laid on November 20, 1942. She was named for John Burke, the 10th Governor of North Dakota, who had served from 1907 to 1913. Like her 2,709 sister ships, she was...

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Image: Canadian Forces | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/g/ss-john-burke-wp/w9xg-ss-john-burke-built-for-speed-not-for-posterity.mp3 0:06 2 full SS John Burke: Uncle Plus Thirteen https://qualla.com/ss-john-burke/ Photo credit Canadian Forces, Public domain. In late December 1944, the John Burke joined the 100-ship convoy designated "Uncle Plus 13," bound for Leyte in the Philippines to deliver supplies for the ongoing campaign to liberate the islands. The convoy arrived at Leyte on the night of December 27. Japanese forces learned o...

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Image: Canadian Forces | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/g/ss-john-burke-wp/w9xg-ss-john-burke-uncle-plus-thirteen.mp3 0:06 3 full SS John Burke: Eighty-One Seconds https://qualla.com/ss-john-burke/ Photo credit Canadian Forces, Public domain. At about 08:15, the first kamikaze appeared on radar, and the convoy began evasive maneuvers. Through breaks in the cloud cover, Japanese pilots spotted the American ships steaming south of Cebu and Bohol. Three A6M Zero fighters from the 201st Air Group, led by Lieutenant Masami...

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Image: Canadian Forces | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/g/ss-john-burke-wp/w9xg-ss-john-burke-eighty-one-seconds.mp3 0:06 4 full SS John Burke: Fifteen Hundred Feet Down https://qualla.com/ss-john-burke/ Photo credit Canadian Forces, Public domain. The kamikaze attack that destroyed the John Burke that morning was only the beginning. Over the next two days, Japanese aircraft continued to attack the convoy, sinking more ships and killing hundreds. The surviving vessels reached their destination at 06:48 on December 30, deliv...

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Image: Canadian Forces | Public domain

]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/g/ss-john-burke-wp/w9xg-ss-john-burke-fifteen-hundred-feet-down.mp3 0:06 5 full