Bombay Explosion (1944)

Bombay Explosion (1944)

Infobox News event


caption=Smoke billowing out of the site
date=14 April 1944
time=16:15 IST (10:45 UTC)
place=Victoria Dock, Mumbai, India
casualties1=800 dead
casualties2=3,000 injured

The Bombay Explosion (or Bombay Docks Explosion) occurred on April 14, 1944, in the Victoria Dock of Bombay (now Mumbai) when the SS "Fort Stikine" carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, gold, ammunition including around 1,400 tons of explosive caught fire and was destroyed in two giant blasts, scattering debris, sinking surrounding ships and killing around 800 people.

The vessel, the voyage and cargo

The SS "Fort Stikine" was a 7142 gross ton freighter built in 1942 in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, under a lend-lease agreement.

Sailing from Birkenhead on February 24 via Gibraltar, Port Said and Karachi, she arrived at Bombay on April 12.

The ship carried
* explosives
* munitions
* Spitfires
* raw cotton bales
* oil barrels
* timber
* scrap iron
* gold bullion in 12.73 kg bars valued at £1–2 million.

One officer described the cargo as "just about everything that will either burn or blow up". The vessel berthed and was still awaiting unloading on April 14.

Incident

In the mid-afternoon around 14.00, the crew were alerted to a fire onboard. Burning somewhere in the No. 2 hold, the crew, dockside fire teams and fireboats were unable to extinguish the conflagration, despite pumping over 900 tons of water into the ship, or find the source due to the dense smoke.

At 15.50 the order to abandon ship was given, and sixteen minutes later there was a great explosion, cutting the ship in two and breaking windows over 12 km away. The two explosions were powerful enough to be recorded by seismographs at the Colaba Observatory in the city. Around two square miles were ablaze in an 800-metre arc around the ship, eleven neighbouring vessels were sunk or sinking, and the emergency personnel at the site suffered heavy losses. Attempts to fight the fire were dealt a further blow when a second explosion from the ship swept the area at 16.34.

It was that time of World War II when Japan was advancing fast and had almost reached Burma. An attack on India was highly expected any time. Away from the docks, people suspected a Japanese attack and many fled the city.

Aftermath

It took three days to bring the fire under control, and later 8,000 men toiled for seven months to remove around 500,000 tons of debris and bring the docks back into action. The official death toll was 740, including 476 military personnel, with around 1,800 people injured; unofficial tallies run much higher. In total, twenty-seven other vessels were sunk or damaged in both Victoria dock and the neighbouring Prince's Dock.

Many families lost all their belongings and were left with just the clothes on their back. The government took full responsibility for the disaster and monetary compensation was paid to citizens who made a claim for loss or damage to property.

During normal dredging operations carried out periodically to maintain the depth of the docking bays one or two gold bars were found intact sporadically as late as the 1970s and returned to the British government. Once in every few years, gold bricks are recovered from Mumbai harbour, reminding everyone of the great tragedy, even after six decades of the incident. Mumbai Fire Brigade's headquarters at Byculla has a memorial built in the memory of numerous fire fighters who died during this explosion. Fire Safety Week is observed all over Maharashtra from 14 April to 21 April in memory of Fire fighters who died in this explosion

ee

Mumbai Fire Brigade

External links

* [http://members.tripod.com/~merchantships/fortcrevierepilogue.html The Great Bombay Explosion by John Ennis]
* [http://www.portchicago.org/lastwave/chapters/LastWave_Ch7.pdf Ship Explosions: SS Fort Stikine, Page 7-10]
* [http://www.holysmoke.org/great-bombay.htm The Great Bombay Explosion] By Lawrence Wilson
* [http://www.merchantnavyofficers.com/bomEx.html#memorial Bombay Harbour Explosion]
* [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000727/edit.htm#5 The day it rained gold]
* [http://members.tripod.com/~merchantships/fortcreviershipslost.html Ships lost in the Bombay Explosion]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Bombay Blasts — may refer to several events in history:* Bombay Explosion (1944) the 1944 accident involving the freighter SS Fort Stikine * 1993 Mumbai bombings the 1993 terrorist attack * 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings the 2006 bombings …   Wikipedia

  • Explosion — For other meanings of explosion , explode and similar, see Explosion (disambiguation). Detonation of explosives …   Wikipedia

  • Halifax Explosion — Infobox civilian attack title=Halifax Explosion caption=View of the mushroom cloud roughly 15 20 seconds after the blast, taken 21 km (13 miles) away from the Northwest Arm of Halifax Harbour. location=Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada target= date=6… …   Wikipedia

  • Explosión — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Boom: abreviatura científica del botánico Boudewijn Karel Boom 1903 1980 Simulación de explosión con gasolina, durante un espectáculo aéreo Una explosión es la liberación de energía en un intervalo temporal ínfimo.… …   Wikipedia Español

  • 1944 — Portal Geschichte | Portal Biografien | Aktuelle Ereignisse | Jahreskalender ◄ | 19. Jahrhundert | 20. Jahrhundert | 21. Jahrhundert   ◄ | 1910er | 1920er | 1930er | 1940er | 1950er | 1960er | 1970er | ► ◄◄ | ◄ | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 |… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Byculla — or Bhaykhala is a neighbourhood in South Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Central Railway line.LocationByculla is neighboured by * Nagpada and Mumbai Central on the West, * Agripada, Jacob… …   Wikipedia

  • Mumbai Fire Brigade — Motto:  शौर्यम्, आत्मसँयमम्, त्यागः Śauryaṃ, Ātmasaṃyamam, Tyāgaḥ (Sanskrit: Valour, Abnegation, Sacrifice ) Established 1 April 1887{{origins can be tra …   Wikipedia

  • April 14 — Events*43 BC Battle of Forum Gallorum: Mark Antony, besieging Julius Caesar s assassin Decimus Junius Brutus in Mutina, defeats the forces of the consul Pansa, who is killed. *69 Vitellius, commander of the Rhine armies, defeats Emperor Otho in… …   Wikipedia

  • History of firefighting — The history of organized firefighting dates back at least to Ancient Egypt, where hand operated pumps may have been employed to extinguish fires. RomeThe first Roman fire brigade was a group of slaves who were hired by an aedile Marcus Egnatius… …   Wikipedia

  • Liste der größten nicht-atomaren Explosionen, die durch Menschenhand verursacht wurden — Diese Liste ist eine Aufstellung der größten nicht atomaren Explosionen, die durch Menschenhand verursacht wurden. Hierbei handelt es sich im Wesentlichen um Unfälle, kriegsbezogene Ereignisse, Zweck Sprengungen (z.B. von Hindernissen) sowie… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”