It's a vid, but I post it anyway. I'm a rebel!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e0d_1343951742Some scenes I haven't seen before in there, and you can turn off the dramatic music so it's more bearable.
The title-giving event at 4:44min is the impact of a kamikaze fighter on the USS John Burke, an ammunition carrier. The ship smokes and burns for about 5 seconds, then is disintegrated in a single, extremely violent explosion that caused several other captains of ships in the over 100-ships strong supply convoy for Mindoro to falsely believe the hit of the shockwave to be torpedo hits. All 68 hands were lost that instant.
Back then transporting ammunition was handled like transporting any other cargo: Open cargo bay, stuff it to the brink with all you can squeeze in, close the doors. A single small-caliber stray shot that incites a single round in this bulk can quickly cause violent damage, and this is a perfect example of that.
After the war logistics became more aware that ammunition might be a more dangerous cargo and several changes to ammo transport routine have been introduced that increase safety a lot.
http://wikimapia.org/18433353/Wreck-of-SS-John-BurkeThe more famous blown-up/burning ammo ship in WW2 is the SS Robert Rowan, which was hit and exploded at the shore of Sicily on the first day of Operation Husky. Its hulk burnt for two days as it was unable to submerge fully in the shallow waters.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/SC180476.jpg
