Monday, July 17, 1944. The Port Chicago Disaster

The Port Chicago (California) Disaster occured.

The Port Chicago Disaster: 320 American Lives Forever Remembered

Port Chicago – The Explosion

Navy History Matters

Port Chicago – The most solemn memorial you’ll never visit

From the Corps of Engineer's item above:

On July 17, 1944, at 10:18 p.m., 320 sailors and civilians were killed instantly when the ship they were loading with bombs and munitions suddenly exploded. The incredibly powerful explosion destroyed two ships. Only small fragments remained of the ship being loaded, another nearby that was filled with flammable fuel was tossed more than 500 yards from the pier and rendered into scrap. The simultaneous explosion of all the munitions and fuel produced a massive fireball that lit the night sky and threw white-hot debris nearly 12,000 feet in the air. Windows on homes and businesses shattered throughout the Bay Area, reportedly as far away as San Francisco 30 miles to the west.

More than 200 of those killed that night were enlisted African American soldiers who were loading the ships, working for a military that was, at the time, racially segregated. The explosion and following events led to the largest Naval mutiny in U.S. history. More than 250 anxiety-ridden soldiers, many still in shock, refused to continue to load ammunition since no changes or improvements to operating procedures were made. Adding insult to injury, the black soldiers were not allowed the same post-incident “survivors’ leave” that the white officers they worked for received.

Threatened with a court martial unless they returned to loading ammunition, most of the black soldiers reluctantly went back to work, but 50 soldiers refused.  According to accounts in The Port Chicago Disaster, many of the sailors were still in shock, troubled by the memory of the horrible explosion.

“Everybody was scared,” one survivor recalled. “If somebody dropped a box or slammed a door ... Everybody was still nervous.”

The 50 black soldiers who refused to return were consequently put on trial and found guilty of organized mutiny. All of the men were dishonorably discharged and handed sentences ranging from eight to 15 years in jail. However, when the war ended just two months later, the harsh sentences were reduced to 17 months.

Led by attorney Thurgood Marshall, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) relentlessly pushed to have the verdict for the Port Chicago 50 overturned.

The British prevailed in the Second Battle of Odon.

An RAF Spitfire of the RCAF piloted by Charley Fox strafed a random German command car that turned out to be carrying Erwin Rommel.  Rommel was wounded and taken out of commission for a while.  His driver was killed. Kluge takes temporary command.

Fox was a humble man and upon being identified as the pilot in later years expressed regret for the killing, as he accepted the stories that Rommel was planning to participate in the July 20 plot.  He worked in a shoe factory after the war and died in an automobile accident, ironically, in 2008.

The U.S. Army penetrates the perimeter of Saint-Lô

Napalm was used for the first time in an Army Air Force raid conducted by P-38s on on a fuel depot at Coutances, near  Saint-Lô.

The Royal Navy attempted a raid on the Tipitz in Norway but it was unsuccessful.

The Finns prevailed in the Battles of Vuosalmi and Nietjärvi.

57,600 German prisoners of war captured by the Red Army were marched through Moscow.

Japanese Admiral Nomura replaced Shmada as Minister of the Navy.

The U-347 and U-361 were sunk by the RAF.  The I-166 was sunk in the Strati of Malacca by the Royal Navy.

The British government announced a plan for the mass construction of housing following the war.

Franklin Roosevelt announced he would leave the choice of his running mate to the Democratic Convention.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 16, 1944. Polish claims and a great escape.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, Army, Artillery, Battle of Saint-Lô, Bretton Woods, British Army, Italy, Operation Dragoon, Operation Overlord, Polish Government in Exile, Prisoners of War, Red Army, World War Two

Saturday, July 15, 1944. A second von Stauffenberg attempt.

Claus von Stauffenberg attempted an assassination attempt on Hitler for the second time, this time at the Wolf's Lair, but Hitler left the meeting that was targeted early and von Stauffenberg hurriedly recovered the bomb.

After this attempt, the only criteria on going forward with the plan was that Hitler be present.

The Second Battle of Odon began with a British offensive in their sector of Normandy.

The French took Poggibonsi in Italy.

The Battle of Nietjärvi began with a Red Army attack on Finnish positions.

The SAS raid on Symi ended in an Allied victory, achieving more than it had set out to do, including the wasteful deployment of German resources. 

Japanese troops commenced atrocities on Guam, killing 16 out of 30 people of the village of Merizo.   They herded them into a cave and threw in hand grenades.

Task Force 74 bombarded Japanese positions near Aitape, New Guinea.

The U-319 was sunk by a B-24 of the RAF in the North Sea.

Joseph Sadi-Lecointe, 53, famous French aviator, died from the after effects of Gestapo torture while he was held by the Germans.

Chinese soldiers march to front crossing treacherous Salween River by means of temporary suspension bridge, July 15, 1944.

Actor Jan Michael Vincent was born in Denver, the son of a serviceman.

Last edition:

Friday, July 14, 1944. Bastille Day.

Labels: 1940s, 1944, actors and actresses, Bastille Day, Disaster, Druze, Franklin Roosevelt, Holidays, Red Army, the spoken word, The written word, Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. Navy, World War Two