The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion that occurred on July 17, 1944, at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California, United States. Munitions detonated while being loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for the Pacific Theater of Operations, killing 320 sailors and civilians and injuring 390 others. Most of the dead and injured were enlisted African American sailors. A month later, unsafe conditions inspired hundreds of servicemen to refuse to load munitions, an act known as the Port Chicago Mutiny. Fifty men—called the “Port Chicago 50″—were convicted of mutiny and sentenced to 15 years of prison and hard labor, as well as a dishonorable discharge. Forty-seven of the 50 were released in January 1946; the remaining three served additional months in prison. During and after the trial, questions were raised about the fairness and legality of the court-martial proceedings. Widespread publicity surrounding the case turned it into a cause célèbre among certain Americans; it and other race-related Navy protests of 1944–45 led the Navy to change its practices and initiate the desegregation of its forces beginning in February 1946.
In 1994, the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial was dedicated to the lives lost in the disaster.
On June 11, 2019, A concurrent resolution sponsored by Representative Mark DeSaulnier was agreed upon by the 116th congress. The resolution recognized the victims of the explosion and officially exonerated the 50 men court-martialed by the Navy.
Sources:
The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights Reviews Reviews
The Port Chicago 50 Summary & Study Guide
Memorial for Port Chicago 50 unveiled in Vallejo
Port Chicago 50: kin of segregated black sailors call on Obama for exoneration
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