Bombay Explosion (1944)
Bombay Explosion (1944)
Smoke billowing out of the site
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Date |
14 April 1944 |
Time |
16:15 IST (10:45 UTC) |
Location |
Victoria Dock, Bombay, British India |
Casualties |
800 dead |
3,000 injured |
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The Bombay Explosion (or Bombay Docks Explosion) occurred on 14 April 1944, in the Victoria Dock of Bombay (now Mumbai) when the SS Fort Stikine carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, gold, and 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.
The vessel, the voyage and cargo
The SS Fort Stikine was a 7142 gross ton freighter built in 1942 in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, under a lend-lease agreement, and was named for Fort Stikine, a former outpost of the Hudson's Bay Company located at what is now Wrangell, Alaska.
Sailing from Birkenhead on 24 February via Gibraltar, Port Said and Karachi, she arrived at Bombay on 12 April.
The ship carried
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 14 April.
Incident
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. The two explosions were powerful enough to be recorded by seismographs at the Colaba Observatory in the city. Around two square miles were ablaze in an 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.
Aftermath
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.
Many families lost all their belongings and were left with just the clothes on their back. The government took full responsibility for the disaster and monetary compensation was paid to citizens who made a claim for loss or damage to property.
During normal dredging operations carried out periodically to maintain the depth of the docking bays one or two gold bars were found intact sporadically as late as 2011 and returned to the British government. Mumbai Fire Brigade's headquarters at Byculla has a memorial built in the memory of numerous fire fighters who died. Fire Safety Week is observed all over Maharashtra from 14 April to 21 April in memory of firemen who died in this explosion.
See also
External links
Fort ships
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Canadian type |
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North Sands type |
Fort A La Corne · Fort Abitibi · Fort Acton · Fort Aklavik · Fort Albany · Fort Alexandria · Fort Anne · Fort Ash · Fort Assiniboine · Fort Athabaska · Fort Augustus · Fort Babine · Fort Battle River · Fort Beauharnois · Fort Beausejour · Fort Bedford · Fort Bell · Fort Bellingham · Fort Bourbon · Fort Brandon · Fort Brule · Fort Brunswick · Fort Buckingham · Fort Buffalo · Fort Cadotte · Fort Camosun · Fort Capot River · Fort Caribou · Fort Carillon · Fort Carlton · Fort Cataraqui · Fort Cedar Lake · Fort Cevier · Fort Chambly · Fort Charmisay · Fort Chesterfield · Fort Chilcontin · · Fort Chimo Fort Chipewyan · Fort Churcill · Fort Concord · Fort Confidence · Fort Connolly · Fort Coulonge · Fort Covington · Fort Crown Point · Fort Cumberland · Fort Dauphin · Fort Dease Lake · Fort Douglas · Fort Drew · Fort Ellice · Fort Enterprise · Fort Erie · Fort Esperance · Fort Fairford · Fort Fidler · Fort Finlay · Fort Fitzgerald · Fort Fork · Fort Franklin · Fort Fraser · Fort Frederick · Fort Frobisher · Fort Frontenac · Fort Gasperean · Fort George · Fort Gibraltar · Fort Glenlyon · Fort Glenora · Fort Gloucester · Fort Good Hope · Fort Grahame · Fort Grant · Fort Grouard · Fort Halkett · Fort Henley · Fort Howe · Fort Hudson's Hope · Fort Jasper · Fort Jemseg · Fort Kootenay · Fort Lac La Rouge · Fort La Cloche · Fort Lajoie · Fort La Maune · Fort La Montee · Fort Langley · Fort La Prairie · Fort La Reine · Fort La Tour · Fort La Traite · Fort Lawrence · Fort Lennox · Fort Liard · Fort Livingstone · Fort Longueuil · Fort Louisbourg · Fort Mattagami · Fort Maurepas · Fort McLeod · Fort McLoughlin · Fort McMurray · Fort McPherson · Fort Medutic · Fort Michipicoten · Fort Mingan · Fort Missanabie · Fort Moose · Fort Mumford · Fort Musquarro · Fort Nakasley · Fort Nashwaak · Fort Nipigon · Fort Norfolk · Fort Norman · Fort Nottingham · Fort Paskoyac · Fort Pelly · Fort Pembina · Fort Pic · Fort Pine · Fort Pitt · Fort Poplar · Fort Qu'Apelle · Fort Rae · Fort Rampart · Fort Reliance · Fort Remy · Fort Richelieu · Fort Romaine · Fort Rouille · Fort Rupert · Fort St Francois · Fort St James · Fort St Joseph · Fort St Paul · Fort St Regis · Fort Stager · Fort St Antoine · Fort St Croix · Fort Steele · Fort Stikine (explosion) · Fort St Nicholas · Fort Sturgeon · Fort Tadoussac · Fort Thompson · Fort Ticonderoga · Fort Tremblant · Fort Turtle · Fort Vercheres · Fort Vermillion · Fort Ville Marie · Fort Walsh · Fort Wedderbourne · Fort Wellington · Fort Wrigley · Fort Yale
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Victory type |
Fort Alabama · Fort Aspin · Fort Astoria · Fort Beaver Lake · Fort Biloxi · Fort Boise · Fort Brisebois · Fort Clatsop · Fort Columbia · Fort Colville · Fort Constantine · Fort Conti · Fort Crevecoeur · Fort Daer · Fort Dearborn · Fort Dunvegan · Fort Edmonton · Fort Grand Rapids · Fort Green Lake · Fort Hall · Fort Harrison · Fort Highfield · Fort Island · Fort Kaskasia · Fort Kilmar · Fort Kullyspell · Fort La Baye · Fort La Have · Fort Machault · Fort Mackinac · Fort Maisonneuve · Fort Marin · Fort Massac · Fort McDonnell · Fort Miami · Fort Orleans · Fort Panmure · Fort Perrot · Fort Providence · Fort Prudhomme · Fort Saskidac · Fort Saleesh · Fort Senneville · Fort Simpson · Fort Slave · Fort Souris · Fort St Ignace · Fort Toulouse · Fort Venango · Fort Wallace · Fort Wrangell · Fort Yukon
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