On 26 July 1957 the Mauna Loa threatened for more than an hour to emulate the famous Hawaiian volcano in more than just a name. With 3500 tons of explosives and a crew of 220 aboard she caught fire about 5 miles off Ambrose Lightship, the entrance to New York Harbor. The fire was contained to the ship's engine room and was extinguished by crew members. It was towed to Gravesend Bay for repairs the following two weeks. Basing estimates on the destruction caused by the explosion of the in 1944, the explosion of the Mauna Loa could have leveled Coney Island and broken all the windows in Manhattan up to 34th Street.