USS Kearsarge, scheduled to depart for the Mediterranean Sea on June 1, 1948, was anchored off Naval Station, Norfolk in anticipation of an early morning departure.

Sailors and Marines returning to the ship the night of May 31 encountered heavy seas caused by high winds. A boat carrying over 90 men to the ship was swamped and sunk.

Thirty dedicated USS Kearsarge Sailors and Marines drowned in the waters within sight of their ship and the Naval Station, never to sail again.

This plaque is dedicated in their memory by C. Lloyd Johnson

Marker can be reached from the intersection of Brooke Avenue and Harbour Street, on the left when traveling west.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources: