The Bombay Explosion (or Bombay Docks Explosion) occurred on April 14, 1944, in the Victoria Dock of Bombay (now Mumbai) when SS Fort Stikine carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, gold, ammunition including around 1,400 tons of explosive caught fire and was destroyed in two giant blasts, scattering debris, sinking surrounding ships and killing around 800 people. April 14 is the 104th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (105th in leap years). ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mumbai (IPA: ), formerly known as Bombay (IPA: ), is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and is the most populous Indian city. ...

The SS Fort Stikine was a freighter built in 1942 in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, under a lend-lease agreement; she displaced 7,142 grt. Sailing from Birkenhead on February 24 via Gibraltar, Port Said and Karachi, she arrived at Bombay on April 12. She carried explosives, munitions and other war material, including Spitfires; an odd load of other cargo such as raw cotton bales, oil barrels, timber and scrap iron; and gold bullion in 12.73 kg bars valued at £1–2 million. One officer described the cargo as "just about everything that will either burn or blow up". The vessel berthed and was still awaiting unloading on April 14. Prince Rupert is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. ... Location within the British Isles. ... February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Port Said (postcard around 1915) Port Said (Arabic بور سعيد, transliterated ) is a northeastern Egyptian city near the Suez Canal, with an approx. ... The Karachi Port Trust Building Karachi (کراچي) is the largest city of Pakistan and the capital of the province of Sindh. ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Munition is often defined as a synonyn for ammunition. ... The Supermarine Spitfire was a single seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II. The Spitfires elliptical wings gave it a very distinctive look; their thin cross-section gave it speed; the brilliant design of Chief Designer R.J. Mitchell and his successors... Cotton is a soft fiber that grows around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to the tropical and subtropical regions of both the Old World and the New World. ... Oil is a generic term for organic liquids that are not miscible with water. ... Timber Timber is a term used to describe clusters of trees. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metal Group, Period, Block 8 (VIIIB), 4, d Density, Hardness 7874 kg/m3, 4. ... General Name, Symbol, Number Gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11 (IB), 6 , d Density, Hardness 19300 kg/m3, 2. ...

In the mid-afternoon around 14.00, the crew were alerted to a fire onboard. Burning somewhere in the No. 2 hold, the crew, dockside fire teams and fireboats were unable to extinguish the conflagration, despite pumping over 900 tons of water into the ship, or find the source due to the dense smoke. At 15.50 the order to abandon ship was given, and sixteen minutes later there was a great explosion, cutting the ship in two and breaking windows over 12 km away. At the docks, around two square miles were ablaze in a 800-metre arc around the ship, eleven neighbouring vessels were sunk or sinking, and the emergency personnel at the site suffered heavy losses. Attempts to fight the fire were dealt a further blow when a second explosion from the ship swept the area at 16.34. Away from the docks, people suspected a surprise Japanese attack and many fled the city. It took three days to bring the fire under control, and later 8,000 men toiled for seven months to remove around 500,000 tons of debris and bring the docks back into action.

The official death toll was 740, including 476 military personnel, with around 1,800 people injured; unofficial tallies run much higher. In total, twenty-seven other vessels were sunk or damaged in both Victoria dock and the neighbouring Prince's Dock.

See also

• list of disasters
• Bombay bombings (1993)