The three
soldiers in this image were supposed to work the night of the Port Chicago
explosion, but had asked for a transfer so that they could spend time
with their wives. Their night off was the night of the explosion, which
killed many of their fellow sailors.
The Port Chicago
Naval Munitions base, located where the Sacramento River flows into San
Francisco Bay, was used during the World War II to load munitions onto
ships headed to the Pacific Ocean. Three shifts of 125 men worked 24 hours
a day. Because of the segregated nature of the U.S. Navy, all munitions
loaders were black, while the officers supervising them were white. The
conditions were very dangerous. The loaders received no training and no
safety equipment. In fact, the white officers often wagered to see which
crew could load the munitions fastest, adding to the hazard.
On the evening of July 17, 1944, two ships were at the Port Chicago docks.
The SS E.A. Bryan was almost full of munitions, while crews were preparing
to load the SS Quinalt Victory for her maiden voyage. Due to unknown causes,
at approximately 10:20 p.m. there was a small explosion. This ignited
a second, massive, catastrophic explosion. Every man working on the loading
dock and on the two ships was killed. The photograph shows the destruction
caused by the explosion in the Port Chicago area. In all, 320 sailors
lost their lives and an additional 390 were injured. Black sailors accounted
for 202 of those killed and 233 of those injured. This represented 15
percent of all African American casualties during
World War II.
The tragedy caused shock and grief among all the Port Chicago survivors.
The Navy granted customary 30-day survivor's leave to the white officers,
but no special considerations were given to black sailors. In fact, just
weeks later, on August 9th, the African American men were ordered onto
the loading pier of a nearby munitions loading facility at Mare Island
Naval base, to continue loading munitions with no new training and only
minimal safety improvements. Of 328 men, 258 initially refused. They said
they were willing to do any job but load munitions. The sailors were told
that if they refused to go back to work, they would be court-martialed
for mutiny during wartime, a charge that potentially carried the death
penalty. About 200 agreed to go back to work, but instead were sentenced
to time in the brig. The remaining 50 men faced a court-martial for mutiny.
The trial of the 50 African American sailors was presided over by seven
senior white Naval officers, six serving as jury and one as judge. The
trial was observed by Thurgood Marshall, later a Supreme Court Justice,
on behalf of the NAACP, and he commented on the racist nature of the proceedings.
After 32 days of testimony, the jury needed less than two hours to convict
all 50 men, and they were sentenced to between eight and 15 years in prison.
After the end of the war, all were released from prison and later dishonorably
discharged with felony court-martial convictions.
The Port Chicago incident was part of a series of events that changed
American society in general and American policy specifically. President
Harry S. Truman ordered the end to all segregation in the U.S. military
in 1948, partly because of the racist nature of the Port Chicago trial.
Despite these changes, the mutiny convictions remained. As time went on,
there was growing support to review the Port Chicago case and make things
right. In 1992, Congress, led by Representative George Miller-whose district
included the area of Port Chicago-created a monument at the site of the
explosion. In 1999, just before Christmas, President Clinton pardoned
Freddie Meeks, one of only three convicted men known to be alive at the
time. As of 2003, there has been no pardon for any other sailor.
Standards:
11.7 Students analyze America's participation in World War II.
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