"Although the massive fire that consumed the ship was initially thought caused by some type of enemy action, an investigation revealed that she was done in by her own design near Vella La Vella on 18 August 1942. On this day, LST-396 was attempting to put 400 drums of AVGAS, 400 drums of diesel, and 100 tons of ammunition ashore to replenish the men fighting their way across the island.

Evidence strongly suggests that the most likely cause of the fire was from some of this fuel leaking onto the tank deck from a defective drum. The escape scuttle for port shaft alley was located on the tank deck. This scuttle was likely open as it was the only means to vent the fumes from shaft alley. This also allowed fuel vapors from the tank deck to accumulate in the port shaft alley through this same escape scuttle. When the two automatically operated, electric-driven fresh water pumps (also located in shaft alley) were turned on; they likely provided the spark that ignited the fuel vapor and set off a chain reaction that the crew could not hope to contain with the damage control assets at hand in this early design of the LST. The captain had no choice but to abandon ship. There were no casualties. Originally outfitted to carry tanks, the follow-on design (LST 542 class) featured design changes that better suited the general-purpose supply role for which these ships were needed. Among the changes were more robust damage control capabilities."
Brian Miller.