by Carol J. Rhodes
If you do not, or cannot remember, then most likely you were not part of the horrific incident which occurred on this date in the Texas City, Texas harbor. At approximately 9:12 AM, the ship SS Grand Camp exploded in an episode which still today is considered the worst industrial accident in US history.
I was eleven years old, and playing dodge ball on the Kruse Elementary School playground. Despite
Pasadena, Texas, being approximately forty miles from Texas City, the ground tremors we students felt
at the moment of the explosion seemed as if we were just down the street.
The French registered SS Grand Camp had only recently been reactivated to carry aluminum nitrate and
bales of sisal twine. Another ship in the harbor, the SS High Flyer, was also destroyed, as it was docked
only about 600 feet from the Grand Camp.
On April 16 at about 8:00 AM, smoke was detected in the hold of the Grand Camp while she was still
moored. As there were no fire extinguishers available, the captain ordered all hatches of the ship to
be sealed and the hold to be filled with steam in an attempt to smother the fire. However, with ammonium nitrate being an oxide neutralizer, the extinguishing properties of the steam may have only contributed to the fire. By about 8:30 AM the steam pressure was so great it blew off all the hatch covers and a huge column of peculiar-colored smoke began billowing out. The smoke and fire quickly attracted numerous onlookers along the shore who had believed they were standing at a safe distance. By 9:12 AM, the ammonium nitrate had reached an explosive level from the combination of heat and pressure. The Grand Camp detonated her entire cargo by an explosion which caused tremendous destruction and damage throughout the area. The blast caused a shockwave to nearly 1,000 buildings on land.
This initial explosion blew 5800 tons of the ship’s steel into the air. All crewmen who had remained
aboard the Grand Camp were killed. Falling bales of burning twine from Grand Camp’s cargo added to the destruction and her anchor was blown miles away. Flying shrapnel resulted in ignition of refinery and chemical tanks all along the bay’s waterfront. Eight miles away in Galveston, half of all the windows were shattered. Scale of the disaster: 405 persons who died were eventually identified, while 63 more were declared deceased but not identified. An additional 113 were declared as missing. Some speculators stated there were hundreds more killed but not counted. More than 5000 people were injured, more than 500 homes were destroyed, leaving more than 2000 homeless. At least 1100 vehicles were damaged or destroyed, with property damage estimated at $1,072,000,000 using 2023 standards. Additionally, destruction and burning of nearby chemical plants, namely Monsanto and Union Carbide, was estimated to be $500 Million.
The chain reaction of fires and explosions aboard other ships and nearby oil storage facilities ultimately
killed an additional 581 people. Firefighters came from towns as far away as 60 to 80 miles, and eventually some even arrived from Los Angeles. My own father, who was employed by Todd Shipyard on the Houston ship channel, dispatched all of his foamite department crew members to assist.
As there were no telephones available, it was over a week before Mother and I learned where he was and
that he was okay.
