On the morning of 10 November 1944, while anchored in Seeadler Harbor, "Piedmont" heard two explosions to port. , lying about away, had blown up. No trace of "Mount Hood" remained. Between "Mount Hood" and "Piedmont", was anchored and took terrible punishment from the explosion. Fire and rescue parties were immediately dispatched from "Piedmont" to "Mindanao" and ships alongside her. Though "Piedmont" suffered only superficial damage from the explosion, numerous projectiles and steel fragments flew over Mindanao and landed on "Piedmont's" decks and superstructure, most of them ricocheting off. One man suffered fatal injuries from a direct hit by the base of a shell. One 250 pound aerial bomb penetrated the movie locker on the boat deck while another pierced the forecastle and plowed through a tier of bunks. Fortunately neither bomb exploded and remarkably enough, personnel in both compartments escaped injury.