Port Chicago disaster

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Port Chicago Disaster

Damage at the Port Chicago Pier after the 17 July 1944 explosion
Date July 17, 1944
Location Port Chicago Naval Magazine, Port Chicago, California
Result 320 killed
400 injured

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.

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[edit] 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.

[edit] Port Chicago Naval Magazine

The Port Chicago Naval Magazine was built in 1941 and 1942, shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack at the beginning of World War II. Located just outside Pittsburg, California, Port Chicago was an ammunition storage facility where ships were equipped. 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.

All the enlisted men at Port Chicago were African-Americans. Their commanding officers were white.

[edit] The Port Chicago 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.

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.

Another view of the damage at Port Chicago
Another view of the damage at Port Chicago

The 320 sailors on duty were killed instantly and 390 others were injured, many seriously. 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. Naval personnel worked quickly to contain the fires and to prevent other explosions from occurring. The nearby town was evacuated.

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. The final Naval inquiry claimed it was impossible to determine the cause of the explosion.

[edit] The Port Chicago 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 ordered to resume the dangerous task of ammunition loading. 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. Despite the clear questions about unsafe working conditions at the facility and the unequal treatment of African-American enlistees compared to their white commanding officers, the case went to court-martial.

[edit] The Port Chicago 50

Two hundred and eight sailors were convicted in summary courts-martial, and received bad conduct discharges. The remaining 50 men, known today as The Port Chicago 50, were found guilty of mutiny in a subsequent court martial, and were sentenced to dishonorable discharges and prison sentences of 8 and 15 years of hard labor.

Future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall sued the Navy on behalf of the 50 sailors. Although he was unable to get the convictions overturned, Marshall succeeded in winning clemency for the 50 sailors, but not until after the war in 1946.

Freddie Meeks, one of the few remaining survivors of the 50 court-martialed sailors, petitioned for a Presidential pardon after a Congressional effort to have the convictions overturned was unsuccessful. In 1999, President Bill Clinton issued a pardon for Meeks.

[edit] Port Chicago today

Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial

The site of the Port Chicago Naval Magazine is a national memorial, dedicated to the lives lost in the explosion and crediting the aftermath of the disaster as the first step toward "racial justice and equality" in the United States.

[edit] Incident in popular culture

The disaster was featured in a JAG episode titled "Port Chicago" that aired in April 2002.

The story of the Port Chicago 50 was the subject of the 1999 Emmy-nominated TV film Mutiny written by James S. Henerson, directed by Kevin Hooks with Morgan Freeman as one of three executive producers.

Five of the survivors of the disaster (including Meeks) were featured on the radio show This American Life, in the episode "The Job That Takes Over Your Life", which originally aired 9/27/96.

[edit] See also

[edit] References and/or further reading

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Coordinates: 38°03′27″N, 122°01′47″W