Huge non-nuclear explosion in Kamikaze attack on USS John Burke

At about 0815 hours, the first kamikaze appeared on the American ships' radar, and orders were given for the convoy to begin evasive maneuvering.[18] Through holes in the clouds, the Japanese pilots sighted the American force as it steamed south of Cebu and Bohol Islands. The Japanese aircraft were three A6M Zero fighters of the 201st Air Group, which had taken off from Cebu at 0950 were led by Lt. Masami Hoshino (星野政己) and each carried a 250 kg bomb.[19] Diving through anti-aircraft fire and despite damage to his aircraft, the Japanese pilot crashed between Burke's #2 and #3 cargo holds.[15]

A brief flash of fire was visible and for several seconds, only smoke could be seen billowing from her hold. A few seconds later, a huge pillar of fire shot out of Burke's cargo hold, followed by an immense cloud of white smoke[18] before an enormous blast wave and fireball erupted as her cargo of munitions detonated, instantly destroying the ship and killing her crew of 40 merchant marine sailors and 28[5] or 29[20] armed guards. For several seconds, Burke was not visible under a mushroom cloud of smoke, fire and explosions. Several ships nearby were damaged by the force of the blast and flying debris.[18] The shockwave rocked the entire convoy with ships reporting that they had been torpedoed. A United States Army Freight and Supply (FS) ship just aft of Burke was severely damaged by the blast, sinking before it could be identified.[3] As the cloud of smoke cleared, nearby ships closed on Burke's former position to search for survivors but Burke, and all aboard her, were lost.