[85], After the surrender of Japan and the cessation of hostilities, the Navy was no longer able to justify such severe sentences as a warning to other potentially dissident servicemen and labor battalions. The Navy determined that the tonnage contest between divisions was not at fault, although the Judge Advocate warned that "the loading of explosives should never be a matter of competition. The victims' bodies quickly filled the local morgue. A contractor was killed in an accident at the Valero Refinery in Port Arthur, Texas on February 18, 2022. Forty-nine of the 50 "mutineers" were imprisoned in the camp's brig. This number may not encompass the full scope of damage: a further $500 million of oil products burned (equivalent to $4,827,000,000 in 2021). Nearby boxcarswaiting within their revetments to be unloaded at midnightwere bent inward and crumpled by the force of the shock. Protest meetings were held and powerful people in sympathy to the cause were asked to bring pressure to bear. Another ship in the harbor, SS High Flyer, was docked about 600 feet (200 m) away from Grandcamp.
131 Battle Of Port Arthur Stock Photos & High-Res Pictures Chosen to head the seven-man court was Rear Admiral Hugo Wilson Osterhaus, United States Naval Academy, class of 1900. Munitions detonated while being loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for the Pacific Theater of Operations, killing 320 sailors and civilians and injuring 390 others. The Port of Port Arthur is a seaport in Port Arthur, Texas (United States). On June 11, 2019, a concurrent resolution sponsored by U.S. Representative Mark DeSaulnier was introduced in the 116th United States Congress. [64] Delucchi described overhearing men of Division Eight say to his men, "Don't go to work for the white motherfuckers"[65] but, under cross-examination, was unable to identify who said it. [4] It was manufactured in a patented process, mixed with clay, petrolatum, rosin and paraffin wax to avoid moisture caking. [15] The average rate achieved at Port Chicago in the months leading up to July 1944 was 8.2 short tons (7.4t) per hatch per hour; commercial stevedores at Mare Island performed only slightly better at 8.7 short tons (7.9t) per hatch per hour. [77], The defense continued a few more days with testimony from a Navy psychiatrist who verified that the immense explosion would generate fear in each man. Several men refused to give any statement at all. Grandcamp had arrived from Houston, where the port authority did not permit the loading of ammonium nitrate. In March 1945 a Seabee battalion of 1,000 African-American men staged a hunger strike at their base, Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, California, in protest of discriminatory conditions. [33] Nearly $9.9million worth of damage ($164.6million in 2022) was caused to U.S. government property. During loading operations on July 15 the winch at No. 5 hold and fragmentation cluster bombs into No. [20] The ship's chief mate and chief engineer were called to examine the winch but it was never determined whether the brake was made operational. [86] Finally, on January 6, 1946,[87] the Navy announced that 47 of the 50 men were being released. The Navy Secretary said that the men had not been promoted because their time at Port Chicago had been a "trial period", and that they were not given 30-day leaves because he thought it best for men to get quickly back to duty to prevent them from building up mental and emotional barriers. [34] Seismographs at the University of California, Berkeley sensed the two shock waves traveling through the ground, determining the second, larger event to be equivalent to an earthquake measuring 3.4 on the Richter magnitude scale. The 37 congressmen sent a letter to President Bill Clinton and in December 1999, Clinton pardoned Meeks, who died in June 2003. Tobin verified that the men were not aggressive or disrespectful. With fires raging throughout Texas City, first responders from other areas were initially unable to reach the site of the disaster. [101] This effort did not result in a change of status. Fifty mencalled the "Port Chicago 50"were convicted of mutiny and sentenced to 15 years of prison and hard labor, as well as a dishonorable discharge. Among the dead were all five Coast Guard personnel posted aboard the fire barge. ", This page was last edited on 11 July 2023, at 05:59. Products TPC Port Neches Explosions and Fire Share Home | Investigation Details Accident Description Accident: TPC Port Neches Explosions and Fire Location: Location: Port Neches, TX Accident Occured On: 11/27/2019 | Final Report Released On: 12/19/2022 Accident Type: Explosion and Fire [74], October 9, 1944, was another in a string of days consisting of accused men testifying on the witness stand.
10 Largest Oil Refineries in United States | Houston Refinery Explosion The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed that decision (346 U.S. 15, June 8, 1953), in a 4-to-3 opinion, noting that the district court had no jurisdiction under the federal statute to find the government liable for "negligent planning decisions" which were properly delegated to various departments and agencies. [46], The Government announced on August 23, 1951, that it had settled the last in a series of lawsuits relating to the disaster, when it awarded Mrs. Sirvat Arsenian of Fresno, California, $9,700 for the death of her 26-year-old son, a merchant marine crewman killed in the blast. Her crew stayed aboard for an hour before the smoke of the burning oil in the harbor forced them to leave. On the witness stand, Small himself denied saying any such thing, though he would admit to it decades later in interviews. TPC Group 's Port Arthur Refinery, a chemical processing facility, was opened in 1944 by Neches Butane Products Co. [10] On November 27, 2019, two explosions occurred at the plant injuring at least eight people, three of them plant workers who were treated in hospital. Valero Refinery Fire Started in Coker Feed Tank Lieutenant Tobin (no relation to Commander Joseph R. Tobin) related that 87 of his men initially refused to work but that number was reduced to 22 after Admiral Wright talked about the firing squad. In 2006, a local newspaper article highlighted the precarious position of the disused chapel within the grounds of the Concord Naval Weapons Station, a chapel that had been previously dedicated to the memory of those fallen in the explosion.
Port of Port Arthur - Wikipedia Category:Album of the Japan-China War 1 - Wikimedia Commons Defending the accused men were six Navy lawyers, one as leader of the team and one attorney for every 10 men. 1 winch brakes were found stuck in the "off" position, meaning that the winch could be operated freely, but lacked critical stopping capability if steam pressure was interrupted. [7] Grandcamp detonated, causing utter destruction within 2,000 feet and extreme damage throughout the port. [18] No enlisted man stationed at Port Chicago had ever received formal training in the handling and loading of explosives into ships. "[27] Immediately afterward, an explosion occurred on the pier and a fire started. Port Arthur massacre may refer to: Port Arthur massacre (China), an 1894 event in which Japanese troops killed several thousand Chinese in the Liaodong Peninsula. Others spoke freely, thinking that the officer was their defense counsel. Lieutenant Ernest Delucchi, Commander of Division Four at Port Chicago, testified that he personally ordered only four of the 50 defendants to load munitions. The prosecution team was led by Lieutenant Commander James F. Coakley who had recently served as deputy chief prosecutor in Alameda County under district attorney Earl Warren. [89] In all, the Navy granted clemency to about 1,700 imprisoned men at this time. The men were in a state of shock; all were nervous. The latter remains were placed in a memorial cemetery in the north part of Texas City near Moses Lake. Official casualty estimates came to a total of 567, including all the crewmen who remained aboard Grandcamp. [50], The Navy would not countenance such conduct, especially in time of war. On 23 January 2010, an oil tanker and barge collided in the channel leading to Port Arthur, spilling up to 450,000 gallons of oil into the seaway. "[15] This was the first that the newspaper reporters had heard of speed and tonnage competition between divisions at Port Chicago, and each reporter filed a story featuring this revelation to be published the next day. August 2017 - An explosion rocks Marathon Texas City refinery. Wright sent an incident report of this mutiny to Washington, D.C., telling his superior officers that the men's "refusal to perform the required work arises from a mass fear arising out of the Port Chicago explosion. Coakley's last rebuttal witness testified on October 19, and the whole court took October 20 off to allow both sides to prepare closing arguments. . All but one member of the 28-man Texas City volunteer fire department were killed in the initial explosion on the docks while fighting the shipboard fire. Divisions Two and Four were split by the decisions of their men: Small and 43 others chose to form a group unwilling to obey every order. ", U.S. Navy Historical Page. Falling bales of burning twine from Grandcamp's cargo added to the damage, and her anchor was hurled across the city.
Naval Battle Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images The tremendous blast produced a 15ft (4.6m) shockwave, levelling nearly 1,000 buildings on land. The report stated that the cause of the explosion could not be determined, but implied that a mistake made by the enlisted men in the handling of the ordnance was most likely at root. [22] Handling of larger munitions, such as bombs and shells, involved using levers and crowbars from boxcars, in which they were packed tightly with dunnagelifting the heavy, grease-coated cylinders,[17] rolling them along the wooden pier, packing them into nets, lifting them by winch and boom, lowering the bundle into the hold, then dropping individual munitions by hand a short distance into place. The history of Vladivostok can be divided into the history of the land on which Vladivostok is now located and the history of the city itself. Sandra Evers-Manly, 1998. They interviewed mutiny convict Joe Small, his defense lawyer Gerald Veltmann, as well as Percy Robinson, a seaman who returned to loading ammunition after the first work-stoppage, and Robert Routh, Jr., a seaman who was blinded in the blast. .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}380327N 1220147W / 38.05750N 122.02972W / 38.05750; -122.02972. Matthew's book, Half American - The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad covers this incident in detail. The massive explosion at about 1 a.m. Nov. 27, 2019, damaged nearby homes and . The men described how they were initially trained for action on ships and were disappointed when they were not assigned to ocean-going ships. News coverage highlights of groundbreaking ceremony at the Shell/Motiva Port Arthur Refinery in Port Arthur, Texas. [10], At NSGL, the enlisted African Americans who tested in the top 30 to 40% were selected for non-labor battalion assignments. Following Morehouse, Lieutenant James E. Tobin, Commander of Division Two, took the stand. [1] Historian Hugh Stephens later identified human error as the cause, and cites numerous reasons as to why a minor fire became such a severe incident. [62] Coakley opposed with a brief stating that, under military law, a persistent refusal to work by two or more mensomething that might be called a "strike" among civilianswas sufficient proof of a conspiracy to override superior military authority and was equivalent to mutiny. [3][4][5] In 1994, the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial was dedicated to the lives lost in the disaster. [16] The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) responded to word of unsafe practices by offering to bring in experienced men to train the battalion but Navy leadership declined the offer,[17] fearing higher costs, slower pace, and possible sabotage from civilian longshoremen.
MC-26_TOPOFF,_Vladimir_Putin,_another_Texas_Terror_Triangle_Explosion Explosion at laboratory near Nederland Saturday leaves three AmSpec employees injured Three people were injured and an investigation is underway following an explosion near Nederland Saturday.. [49], Divisions Two, Four and Eightreinforced with replacement sailors fresh from training at NSGLwere taken to Mare Island Navy Yard, where there was an ammunition depot and loading piers. Veltmann objected to this hearsay but was overruled after Coakley explained it was evidence toward conspiracy. One firefighter, Fred Dowdy, who had not responded to the initial call, coordinated other firefighters arriving from communities up to 60 miles (100km) away. [63], The trial started on September 14 with each of the 50 men pleading "not guilty". [25][26], The Liberty ship SS E. A. Bryan docked at the inboard, landward side of Port Chicago's single 1,500ft (460m) pier at 8:15a.m. on July 13, 1944.
Port Neches, Texas - Wikipedia Two of the men taken to the brig had never before loaded ammunitionthey were permanently assigned as cooks because of physical conditions making them unsuited to loading. "[98] In September 1999, the petition by Meeks was bolstered by 37 members of Congress including George Miller, the U.S. representative for the district containing the disaster site. [11], Within days of the disaster, major companies that had lost facilities in the explosions announced plans to rebuild in Texas City and in some cases to expand their operations. Coakley was challenged by Veltmann when he attempted to bring the men's signed statements in as evidence but the court allowed the statements to be used to refresh the men's memories of their answers to interrogation. The steel frame of High Flyer had been heated until glowing, and these chunks rained down upon Texas City setting mass fires. BEAUMONT At 11:43 a.m. Friday, Beaumont Police responded to Academy (7130 Eastex) in reference to two males who were in the store hiding ammunition and extended magazines, trying to steal them . Fig. Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 Naval battle of Port Arthur.Explosion on board the Russian warship 'Tsarevich', flagship of Admiral Witheft . [17] The E. A. Bryan was completely destroyed and the Quinault Victory was blown out of the water, torn into sections and thrown in several directions; the stern landed upside down in the water 500ft (150m) away. The fuel, taken aboard at Shell Oil Company's Martinez refinery mid-day on July 17, would normally be sluiced to other fuel tanks in the following 24hours. [57] After returning from active duty, they each received bad conduct discharges, which meant the loss of virtually all veterans' benefits. The website will post information for and about City services, programs and events. Coakley stated that conspiratorial talk among the men about refusing to work and trying to get out of loading ammunition was the root of their August 9 mass refusal. Veltmann stressed that much of the testimony was hearsay and failed to establish a conspiracy or a mutiny. [21], The enlisted men were leery of working with deadly explosives but were told by officers that the larger munitions were not active and could not explodethat they would be armed with their fuzes upon arrival at the combat theater. [30] The Quinault Victory contained a partial load of fuel oil, some of which was of a type that released flammable fumes as it sat, or upon agitation. Nine Navy officers and 29 armed guards watched over the procedure. Chapter 26 TOPOFF, Vladimir Putin, and Yet Another Highly Coincidental " Texas Terror Triangle" Explosion As we moved into October 2007, we faced "TOPOFF," the largest civil defense exercise in American history with 20,000 participants. [107], In 1990, Will Robinson and Ken Swartz produced the documentary Port Chicago MutinyA National Tragedy, about the explosion and trial. The pier, along with its boxcars, locomotive, rails, cargo, and men, was blasted into pieces. Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 Naval battle of Port Arthur.Explosion on board the Russian warship 'Tsarevich', flagship of Admiral Witheft . For the 2005 oil refinery fire, see, Largest artificial non-nuclear explosions, "Fertilizer explosion kills 581 in Texas", "Hundreds killed, thousands injured in Texas City disaster of 1947", "The First Explosion 1947 Texas City Disaster", "Fertilizer explosion kills 581 in Texas Apr 16, 1947 HISTORY.com", "FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions", "Public Law 378 Chapter 864 69 Stat. [11] Officers at Port Chicago considered the enlisted men unreliable, emotional, and lacking the capacity to understand or remember orders or instructions. OpenCongress.org. Frequently Asked Questions. A steady application of grease quieted it through the night until its main bearing could be replaced the next morning on July 16. (1965), Congress acted to provide some compensation after the courts refused to do so. Port Chicago Naval Magazine Explosion, 1944, A Chronology of African American Military Service. At 10a.m. that same day,[27] seamen from the ordnance battalion began loading the ship with munitions. Originally named SS Benjamin R. Curtis in Los Angeles in 1942, the ship served in the Pacific theatre and was mothballed in Philadelphia after World War II.
Port Arthur Explosion 2006 - Process Safety Integrity The town of Port Chicago was located on Suisun Bay in the estuary of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. Eleanor Roosevelt sent Secretary Forrestal a copy of NAACP's "Mutiny" pamphlet in April 1945, asking him to take special care in this case. History. Burning wreckage ignited everything within miles, including dozens of oil and chemical tanks. CREATIVE. The cleanup detail from Division Two dug into the wreckage of the pier and began tearing out the damaged portions. The Navy found that racial inequities were responsible for the sailors' ammunition-loading assignments but that no prejudice occurred at the courts-martial. Associated Press, "Final Suit Settled For 1944 Explosion", PortChicagoMutiny.com. The rest were split into smaller groups and shipped out to various places in the Pacific Theater. My aim is to responsibility in the workplace. Architect Joseph Allen Hoover and City Engineer James McWhorter designed the fountain built by Texas City's Public Works Department."[14]. [39] Most of the uninjured sailors volunteered to help clean up and rebuild the base; Division Two was separated into a group that would stay and clean up and a group that would be moved out. 2019 Port Neches Plant & Refinery Explosion. [48] This was the start of the Port Chicago Mutiny. Fires resulting from the cataclysmic events were still burning a week after the disaster, and the process of body recovery took nearly a month. [36] African-American casualties totaled 202 dead and 233 injured, which accounted for 15% of all African-American casualties during World War II. According to Melvin Belli in his book Ready for the Plaintiff! ". The ammonium nitrate aboard the two ships, and fertilizer in an adjacent warehouse, were intended for export to farmers in Europe. The contractor was involved with the construction of the Diamond Green Diesel 3 plant. The longshoremen were then ordered to leave. September 2017 - Fire at Port Arthur refinery releases 1+ million pounds of potentially toxic emissions.
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