The untold story of the men who died on the USS Saturn at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in World War II

[Tony]

PORTSMOUTH
Waverly Sykes ran up the gangway into the billowing smoke at Pier 5.

“Chief, there are men trapped in that hold!” workmen on the deck of the USS Saturn shouted.

The Norfolk Navy Yard fire chief could hear the cries of the men below as fire hoses were laid on the deck. He grabbed one and descended the ladder behind his assistant chief, battling flames on his way down into the smoke and fume-filled atmosphere of the ship’s third hold.

The firefighters knocked down flames overhead and on the bulkhead. A pile of cork about 6 feet high was on fire on the ship’s starboard side. The flames there seemed more stubborn than the rest. They doused them with water and kicked the pile over with their boots until the flames were snuffed out. https://pilotonline.com/news/local/history/article_4541519c-4e61-11e9-a4c7-d7edeeff2f07.html