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Jerry Pillarelli | profile | all galleries >> Travel and Nature; Sites by State >> US Travel; by Trip, by State >> California >> Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial – California tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial – California

Images of Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial – Northern California, taken in May 2019.

Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial preserves the memory of 320 men who were killed in an explosion that ripped apart two ships and the pier where they were docked in the largest stateside disaster of the Second World War.

On the night of July 17, 1944 the Liberty ship SS E.A. Bryan and the new SS Quinault Victory, both ammunitions ships, were being loaded with explosive cargo; 4,600 tons of bombs, depth charges, powder and small-caliber ammunition had been secured on the Bryan and another 429 tons were on the pier waiting to be loaded when an explosion ripped through one of the ships followed closely by the detonation of the pier and the second ship. The majority of the men killed that night, 202, were African American enlisted men working on the dock as munitions loaders (in the racially segregated military all cargo loaders were African Americans).

In the aftermath of the tragedy 258 black soldiers from the same unit that the victims were attached to, including 50 men who were survivors of the blast, refused to return to loading ammunition because of safety concerns. Eventually, after being threatened with death by firing squad for mutiny during war, 208 relented and returned to work. The remaining 50 men were jailed and tried for ‘mass mutiny’ in the largest trial of its kind in naval history. Defended by NAACP attorney and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the men were found guilty and sent to prison. Shortly thereafter, in January 1946 the men were granted clemency as public outcry over the trial and its revelations were publicized.

This disaster brought to light shortcomings in safety practices at munitions facilities as well as the injustice of racial segregation in the military. As a result the military overhauled its munitions handling processes and began desegregating its units culminating in President Harry S. Truman calling for the armed forces to be fully desegregated in 1948.
The US Army’s Military Ocean Terminal Concord, home of Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
The US Army’s Military Ocean Terminal Concord, home of Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial 		National Park Service sign for Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
National Park Service sign for Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Flag flying over what remains of the 1,200-foot pier in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Flag flying over what remains of the 1,200-foot pier in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Replica 16 inch munitions in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Replica 16 inch munitions in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Pylons from the destroyed pier in Suisun Bay in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Pylons from the destroyed pier in Suisun Bay in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Suisun Bay framed by remaining pylons in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Suisun Bay framed by remaining pylons in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Remains of the 1,200-foot pier in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Remains of the 1,200-foot pier in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Plating from one of the ships destroyed in the explosion in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Plating from one of the ships destroyed in the explosion in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Weathered pylons in Suisun Bay in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Weathered pylons in Suisun Bay in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Revetted railroad sidings with earthen berms in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Revetted railroad sidings with earthen berms in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Railcar in a magazine munitions siding in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Railcar in a magazine munitions siding in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Earthen berm siding used to unload munitions in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Earthen berm siding used to unload munitions in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Reinforced magazine doors from the inside of a boxcar in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Reinforced magazine doors from the inside of a boxcar in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Boxcars in a fortified revetted siding in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Boxcars in a fortified revetted siding in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 View of a magazine munitions unloading siding in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
View of a magazine munitions unloading siding in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
US Navy boxcars on a siding in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
US Navy boxcars on a siding in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Earthen berm protecting a railroad siding in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Earthen berm protecting a railroad siding in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Flower in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Flower in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Railroad switch in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Railroad switch in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial		 Pre-explosion site of the town of Port Chicago in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
Pre-explosion site of the town of Port Chicago in Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial

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Tom Walker 10-Jun-2019 12:31
Interesting story, something American history I didn't know and summarily not particularly proud of, other than that justice was eventually served - something that doesn't always happen in some other political systems.
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