Texas City Disaster

1947 Texas City Disaster

When we think of industrial accidents, the Texas City Disaster is still considered the worst industrial accident in America's history.

Texas City, home of one of the largest petrochemical complexes in the United States, was almost wiped from existence on the morning of April 16, 1947. The losses from this industrial disaster were extraordinary. There was 581 killed, 3,500 to 5,000 injured and billions of dollars in damage. There has not been a documented American industrial accident of this magnitude since. [1]

Texas City was a seaport and included a large industrial complex of warehouses, chemical plants, and refineries. During World War II, the port had been a shipping point for munitions and other products, and had been under military control.

Eighteen months after the war ended, the port was again under civilian control, and its operation was more relaxed than it had been during the war years. The military "No Smoking" signs were still in place but were often ignored. [2]

On this disastrous morning three ships were at the docks. The S.S. Grandcamp a French transport ship loaded with war recovery aid; sisal twine, peanuts, machinery, cotton, and small-arms ammunition, was being loaded with 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer in 100-pound paper bags. The SS High Flyer was in the next berth; it had been loaded with1,000 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and 2,000 tons of sulfur, both in 100-pound paper bags, and was undergoing repairs. The SS Wilson B. Keene, whose cargo was flour was parked across from the SS High Flyer. Ship and dock crews did not seem to be aware of the combustible, reactive, and explosive properties of the cargo of the ships.

At 8 am 16 April 1947, a longshoreman smelled smoke coming out of hold No. 4 of the S.S. Grandcamp. Workers moved several bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and found flames between the cargo and the hull. Attempts to extinguish the fire with drinking water and soda acid fire extinguishers ended in vain. While the flame got worse crewmembers started hauling boxes of ammunition out of hold No. 5. A hose line was called for to distinguish the fire in hold No. 4, but the ship's captain interfered because he did not want water to ruin the cargo. Instead, the Captain ordered the men to close the hatch to No.4 hold, cover the cargo with a wet, heavy tarpaulin and activate the ship's steam smothering system in an attempt to suffocate the flames. What the captain and the crewmembers did not know was that the steam they introduced actually combined with decomposing fertilizer to create combustible gas.

The S.S. Grandcamp exploded at 9:12 am. At first, the ammonium nitrate in hold No. 4 exploded which lifted the 7176-ton ship 20 feet into the air. Seconds later, the heat from this explosion detonated the fertilizer in hold No. 2. The two explosions were heard even 150 miles away and killed all the firefighters on the scene and most of the spectators. More damage was done when the water in the bay that had been compressed by the shockwave from the two explosions returned in the form a tidal wave twenty feet high.

The shock wave from the blast completely destroyed several dockside warehouses and the homes within a mile from the