Damage at the Port Chicago Pier after the 17 July 1944 explosion

The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly explosion that took place on July 17, 1944 at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California, in the United States. Ammunition being loaded aboard cargo vessels bound for the war in the Pacific exploded, killing 320 sailors and civilians, and injuring more than 400 others. Most of the dead and injured were African American recruits, and the continuing unsafe conditions even after the disaster resulted in a number of servicemen refusing to work, known as the Port Chicago Mutiny, a month later. These men have come to be known as The Port Chicago 50. Download high resolution version (740x620, 159 KB)http://www. ... Download high resolution version (740x620, 159 KB)http://www. ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial at the Concord Naval Weapons Station near Concord, California recognizes the critcal role Port Chicago played in World War II by serving as the main facility for the Pacific Theater. ... Port Chicago was a town on the southern banks of Suisun Bay, in Contra Costa County, California. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A map of the Pacific Theater. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Port Chicago disaster. ...

Background

The town of Port Chicago, California, was located on Suisun Bay in the estuary of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, connected to the Pacific Ocean via San Francisco Bay. This was the site of a U. S. Navy munitions depot which was later renamed the Concord Naval Weapons Station. Bombs, shells, mines, and other explosive ordnance devices were, transferred from railcars to ships, whence they would be moved to locations in the Pacific Theatre. San Pablo bay with Suisun Bay at upper right Suisun Bay (pronounced sue-soon) is a shallow tidal estuary located in central California of The United States of America. ... The Sacramento River is the longest river in the U.S. state of California. ... The San Joaquin River, 330 miles (530 km) long, is the second-longest river in California, United States. ... San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and the Golden Gate San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean. ... USN redirects here. ... Concord is a city located in Contra Costa County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 121,780. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Combatants China (from 1937) United States (1941) U.K. (1941) Australia (from 1941) Free France (1941) Netherlands (1941) New Zealand (1941) Canada (1941) Soviet Union (1945) Japan (from 1937)  Germany (1941) Thailand (from 1942) Manchukuo Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Franklin D. Roosevelt Winston Churchill John Curtin Fumimaro Konoe Hideki Tojo...

Disaster

On July 17, 1944, a merchant ship docked at Port Chicago, the SS Quinault Victory, was being prepared to take on cargo. Another merchant ship, the SS E.A. Bryan, was across the platform from it, in the process of being loaded with almost 5,000 tons of high explosives, bombs, depth charges, and ammunition. On the pier were sixteen rail cars with over 450 more tons of explosives. is the 198th day of the year (199th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Depth Charge used by U.S. Navy later in World War II The depth charge is the oldest anti-submarine weapon. ...

At 10:18 p.m., an explosion occurred on the pier and a fire started. Six seconds later, a more powerful explosion took place as the entire contents of the SS E.A. Bryan simultaneously detonated, destroying the pier and much of the surrounding town and area with an explosive force felt as far as Boulder City, Nevada, about 500 miles (800 km) away. Chunks of metal and wood were flung thousands of feet into the air, and windows in the surrounding towns were shattered, causing many additional injuries. Boulder City is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States. ...

Another view of the damage at Port Chicago

The 320 sailors on duty were killed instantly and 390 others were injured, many seriously. Naval personnel worked quickly to contain the fires and to prevent other explosions from occurring. The nearby town was evacuated. Download high resolution version (740x620, 141 KB)http://www. ... Download high resolution version (740x620, 141 KB)http://www. ...

The "mutiny"

After the fires had been contained, the gruesome task of cleaning up remained—body parts and corpses littered the bay and port. Less than a month later, these same sailors involved in the cleanup of their colleagues were themselves asked to resume the dangerous task of ammunition loading.

Of the deaths from the explosion, 202 were African Americans, and the accident accounted for 15 percent of all African American casualties in World War II. On August 9, 1944 (three weeks after the disaster), 258 out of the 320 African-American sailors in the ordnance battalion refused to load any ammunition, in what was later branded the Port Chicago mutiny. It was seen as underscoring the tense race relations in the armed forces at the time. African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... is the 221st day of the year (222nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... For other uses, see Race (disambiguation). ...

Two hundred and eight sailors were convicted in summary courts-martial, and received bad conduct discharges. The remaining 50, known today as The Port Chicago 50, were found guilty of mutiny in a subsequent court martial, and were sentenced to 8 and 15 years of hard labor, although they eventually received clemency in 1946. In 1999, President Bill Clinton granted a pardon to Freddie Meeks, one of the few remaining survivors of the 50 court-martialed sailors. A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Port Chicago disaster. ... Mutiny is the act of conspiring to disobey an order that a group of similarly-situated individuals (typically members of the military; or the crew of any ship, even if they are civilians) is legally obliged to obey. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

The cause of the explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine was never determined, although it was attributed to some sort of mistake in the loading of the torpedoes and other ordnance into the ship, which was notoriously difficult work, especially under rushed conditions.

Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial

Image File history File links Port-Chicago-memorial. ... Image File history File links Port-Chicago-memorial. ... Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial at the Concord Naval Weapons Station near Concord, California recognizes the critcal role Port Chicago played in World War II by serving as the main facility for the Pacific Theater. ...

Incident in popular culture

The disaster was featured in a JAG episode titled "Port Chicago" that aired in April 2002. JAG (the American Military acronym for Judge Advocate General) is a popular American adventure and drama television show, that was produced by Belisarius Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television. ... This is a list of episodes from all ten seasons of the television series JAG along with the original airdate, locations and relevant themes & issues. ...

See also

• Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
• The Port Chicago 50
• Halifax Explosion
• Texas City Disaster
• List of disasters

Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial at the Concord Naval Weapons Station near Concord, California recognizes the critcal role Port Chicago played in World War II by serving as the main facility for the Pacific Theater. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Port Chicago disaster. ... On Thursday, December 6, 1917, the City of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, that had accidentally collided with a Norwegian ship in The Narrows section of the Halifax harbour. ... The Texas City Disaster of April 16, 1947, started with the mid-morning fire and detonation of approximately 17,000,000 pounds (8,500 tons) of ammonium nitrate on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp in the port at Texas City, Texas, killing 581 people. ... A disaster is a natural or man-made event that negatively affects life, property, livelihood or industry, often resulting in permanent changes to human societies, ecosystems and environment. ...

References and/or further reading

Books

• Allen, Robert L. (1989 (reissue 1993)). The Port Chicago Mutiny. Berkeley, CA, USA: Heyday Books. ISBN 1-59714-028-7. 

External links

• U.S. Navy version of the incident
• U.S. Maritime Service Veterans memorial page
• The Last Wave from Port Chicago - Peter Vogel's nuclear bomb theory
  • interview with Peter Vogel by David Emory
• Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Monument - National Park Service site
• The Port Chicago Disaster: A Resource for Students and Teachers
• Rotten Library

Coordinates: 38°03′27″N, 122°01′47″W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...