History Spotlight, 4/16

The worst industrial accident in US history, the Texas City Disaster, takes place on this day in 1947 when two ships laden with ammonium nitrate detonated, killing at least 581 people.

Ammonium nitrate is quite useful in replenishing depleted soils as it provides a nitrogen boost. It is also, under the right conditions, highly explosive. You may recall that was what Tim McVeigh used in the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building back in 1995. In case of Texas City, the ship Grandcamp was full of ammonium nitrate, ammunition, and bales of sisal hemp, all bound for Europe's post war rebuilding process. The ammonium nitrate was stored at a temperature that caused a chemical reaction to take place and dock workers reported that the paper sacks were warm to the touch.

At about 8:10 AM on April 16th, a fire was reported in the hold of the Grandcamp. Theories differ as to what started the fire. Given the temperature in the hold, it is possible that it was a case of spontaneous combustion. This being in the middle of one of the periodic Red Scares, the government immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was sabotage. Another possibility is that a discarded cigarette landed into one of the bales of hemp. The ammunition started cooking off, and people reported the sound of gunfire from within the hold. Upon being notified of the fire, the captain followed standard procedure and flooded the hold with steam. Steam was considered better than liquid water as it did less damage to the cargo. Unfortunately, when dealing with the extremely heat sensitive ammonium nitrate, it was exactly the wrong thing to do. The steam accelerated the chemical reaction that was already going on.

Meanwhile, a crowd of spectators had gathered on shore. who felt that they were at a safe distance. At 9:12 am the ammonium nitrate detonated. A 15-foot tall wave rushed ashore over 100 miles of the Texas coastline and almost 1,000 buildings were leveled, including many chemical refineries which didn't help matters any. The Grandcamp's two ton anchor was hurled over a mile away and buried itself in a 10 foot crater. The huge bales of now-burning hemp rained down upon the city, starting more fires. People in Galveston, 10 miles away were forced to their knees by the shock wave. In Houston, 40 miles away, windows were shattered. The shock wave was felt as far away as Louisiana, 250 miles away.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the explosion set the nearby ship, the High Flyer, on fire. It was loaded with - guess what - ammonium nitrate. Crews worked desperately to free the ship from other wreckage to tow it out to sea but, as the entire 28 member Texas City Fire Department had been vaporized when the Grandcamp went up, there weren't nearly enough skilled workers to deal with it. 15 hours after the explosion of the Grandcamp, the High Flyer followed suit.

The total death toll came out to 581 people, but that's just a guess, as many of the victims were never found. There were 5,000 people injured and 500 homes destroyed. The total estimated damage was $100 million