The disaster took place at 10:18 AM, July 17, 1944. Wood splintered, explosions, smoke, fire and deeper blasts. Two ships were blown out of the water. The shock was felt as far away as Nevada. Five thousand pounds of explosives gone.
The surviving white officers were given a thirty-day leave to recover. Three hundred black survivors were ordered to continue loading at different depots and 258 refused. Two hundred and eight were given bad conduct discharges and fifty were singled out for court-martial on the charge of mutiny. Thurgood Marshall, later Supreme Court Justice, represented them.
They were convicted and sentenced to 8-15 years hard labor but the sentences were set aside at war's end.
Access to the park, however, is restricted because it is on a military base which was turned over to the Army in 2008 and is now called Military Ocean Terminal-Concord. Visitors must file an application two weeks in advance and undergo security clearance.
There are plans for a visitors and interpretive center and a commemoration is planned for the 66th anniversary of the tragedy.
Let's hope they find a way to make it more accessible as it is a site people should visit.
A Generally Forgotten Event in the War. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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