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The Bombay explosion (or Bombay docks explosion) occurred on 14 April 1944, in the Victoria Dock of Bombay,
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
(now
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, India) when the British freighter SS ''Fort Stikine'', carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, timber, oil, gold, and ammunition including around 1,400 tons of explosives with an additional 240 tons of torpedos and weapons, caught fire and was destroyed in two giant blasts, scattering debris, sinking surrounding ships and setting fire to the area, killing around 800 to 1,300 people. Some 80,000 people were made homeless and 71 firemen lost their lives in the aftermath.


Vessel, the voyage and cargo

The was a 7,142 gross register ton freighter built in 1942 in
Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cavalr ...
, British Columbia, under a lend-lease agreement, and was named after
Fort Stikine Fort Stikine was a fur trade post and fortification in what is now the Alaska Panhandle, at the site of the present-day of Wrangell, Alaska. Originally built as the Redoubt San Dionisio or Redoubt Saint Dionysius (russian: Форт or , r ''Fo ...
, a former outpost of the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
located at what is now
Wrangell, Alaska The City and Borough of Wrangell ( tli, Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw, russian: Врангель) is a borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,127, down from 2,369 in 2010. Incorporated as a Unified Home Rule Bor ...
. Sailing from
Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
on 24 February, via
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
,
Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...
and
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
, she arrived at Bombay on 12 April 1944. Her cargo included 1,395 tons of explosives including 238 tons of sensitive "A"
explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
,
torpedoes A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
, mines, shells, and
munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...
. She also carried
Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...
fighter aircraft, raw
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
bales, barrels of
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
,
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
, scrap
iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
and approximately £890,000 of
gold bullion A gold bar, also called gold bullion or gold ingot, is a quantity of refined metallic gold of any shape that is made by a bar producer meeting standard conditions of manufacture, labeling, and record keeping. Larger gold bars that are produced ...
in bars in 31 crates. The 87,000 bales of cotton and lubricating oil were loaded at Karachi and the ship's captain, Alexander James Naismith, recorded his protest about such a "mixture" of cargo. The transportation of cotton through the sea route was inevitable for the merchants, as transporting cotton by rail from Punjab and Sindh to Bombay was banned at that time.
Ennis, John John Ennis may refer to: * John Ennis (actor) (born 1964), American actor and comic *John Ennis (baseball) (born 1979), American former Major League Baseball right-handed relief pitcher *John Wellington Ennis (born 1973), American filmmaker, activi ...
.p.25
Naismith, who lost his life in the explosion, described the cargo as "just about everything that will either burn or blow up." The vessel was still awaiting unloading on 12 April, after forty-eight hours of berthing.


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, nor were they able to find the source due to the dense smoke. The water was boiling all over the ship, due to heat generated by the fire. 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 away. This and a later second explosion were powerful enough to be recorded by seismographs at the
Colaba Observatory Colaba Observatory, also known as the Bombay Observatory, was an astronomical, timekeeping, geomagnetic and meteorological observatory located on the Island of Colaba, Mumbai (Bombay), India. History The Colaba Observatory was built in 1826 by t ...
in the city. Sensors recorded that the earth trembled at
Shimla Shimla (; ; also known as Simla, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Himachal Pradesh, the official name until 1972) is the capital and the largest city of the States and union territories of India, northern Indian state of Himachal Prade ...
, a city over 1,700 km away. The shower of burning material set fire to slums in the area. Around were set ablaze in an arc around the ship. Eleven neighbouring vessels had been sunk or were sinking, and the emergency personnel at the site suffered heavy losses. Attempts to fight the fire were dealt a further blow when the second explosion from the ship swept the area at 16:34. Burning cotton bales fell from the sky on docked ships, the dock yard, and slum areas outside the harbour. The sound of explosions was heard as far as away. Some of the most developed and economically important parts of Bombay were wiped out by the blast and resulting fire.


News

The details of the explosions and losses were first reported to the outside world by Radio Saigon, a Japanese-controlled radio which gave a detailed report of the incident on 15 April 1944. British-Indian wartime censorship permitted news reporters to send the reports only in the second week of May 1944. ''Time Magazine'' published the story as late as 22 May 1944 and still it was news to the outside world. A movie depicting the explosions and aftermath, made by Indian cinematographer Sudhish Ghatak, was confiscated by military officers although parts of it were shown to the public as a newsreel at a later date.


Loss

The total number of lives lost in the explosion is estimated at more than 800, some estimates put the figure around 1,300. More than 500 civilians lost their lives, many of them residing in adjoining slum areas, but as it was wartime, information about the full extent of the damage was partially censored. The results of the explosion are summarised as follows: * Two hundred thirty-one people killed were attached to various dock services including fire brigade and dock employees. * Of the above figure, 66 were firemen * More than 500 civilians were killed * Some estimates put total deaths up to 1,300 * More than 2,500 were injured, including civilians * Thirteen ships were lost and some other ships heavily or partially damaged * Out of above, three Royal Indian Navy ships lost * Thirty-one wooden crates, each containing four gold bars, each gold bar weighing 800 Troy ounces or almost 25 kg. (almost all since recovered) * More than 50,000 tonnes of shipping destroyed and another 50,000 tonnes of shipping damaged * Loss of more than 50,000 tonnes of food grains, including rice, which gave rise to black marketing of food grains afterwards.


Suburban relief activities

According to Mr.D.N. Wandrekar, a senior journalist in
The Bombay Chronicle ''The Bombay Chronicle'' was an English-language newspaper, published from Mumbai (then Bombay), started in 1910 by Sir Pherozeshah Mehta (1845-1915), a prominent lawyer, who later became the president of the Indian National Congress in 1890, a ...
newspaper dated 20 April 1944 stated that Mumbaikars are always known for their good heart which is why around five days after the incident massive relief activities were shifted to the suburbs owing to the neutralization of South Mumbai from the damages caused. Soon after the calamity people from the affected areas began pouring into the suburbs. About six thousand persons from the Mandvi area mostly middle class went to Ghatkopar. The workers and others from
Ghatkopar Ghatkopar (Pronunciation: ʱaːʈkopəɾ is a suburb in eastern Mumbai. The area is served by the railway station on the Central Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway and the metro station on Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro. History Ghatkopar in ...
got the three schools opened for their accommodation and private households also provided accommodation to these unfortunate families. There was a rush of laborers from the dock areas who wanted to get out of Bombay on foot by the Agra Road.
Ghatkopar Ghatkopar (Pronunciation: ʱaːʈkopəɾ is a suburb in eastern Mumbai. The area is served by the railway station on the Central Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway and the metro station on Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro. History Ghatkopar in ...
workers opened a kitchen for them at the Hindu Sabha Hall. The kitchen served food for about a thousand persons twice daily. The Ghatkopar kitchen was still running when
Vile Parle Vile Parle (, also known as Parle, pronounced "Parle" or "Parla"), is a neighbourhood and also the name of the railway station in the Western suburb of Mumbai. Vile Parle has a significantly strong base of Marathi and Gujarati population. It se ...
's Irla residents started running a second center for about 500 persons, where food and lodging were provided for the refugees. A third kitchen was opened at Khotwadi and Narli Agripada in Santacruz where about 300 people were being served. In Khar, arrangements had been made to give rations to about a hundred persons who have found accommodation in Kherwadiand Old Khar village.
Khar Danda , pushpin_map = India Mumbai , pushpin_label_position = right , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in Mumbai, India , coordinates = {{coord, 19.07, N, 72.82, E, display=inline,title , subd ...
a fishermen's village had made arrangements for about a hundred people's accommodation and food. Many families on the
Salsette Island Salsette Island is an island in Konkan division of the state of Maharashtra on India's west coast. Administratively known as Greater Mumbai, the city district of Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban District, Mira Bhayander and a portion of Thane lie withi ...
, also known as Mumbai Suburb opened doors to the needy. The rich have come forward with big donations and youths, male and female organized into Volunteer Corps have been doing all the labor for these different centers.


Salvage

As part of the salvage operation,
sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...
Ken Jackson,
RNVR The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Ro ...
was seconded to the Indian government to establish the pumping operation. He and
chief petty officer A chief petty officer (CPO) is a senior non-commissioned officer in many navies and coast guards. Canada "Chief petty officer" refers to two ranks in the Royal Canadian Navy. A chief petty officer 2nd class (CPO2) (''premier maître de deuxi ...
Charles Brazier arrived in Bombay on 7 May 1944. Over a period of three months, many ships were salvaged. The de-watering operation took three months to complete, after which Jackson and Brazier returned to their base in Colombo. Jackson remained in the Far East for another two years, conducting further salvage work. For their efforts with the pumping operation, both men were rewarded: Brazier was awarded the MBE, and Jackson received an accelerated promotion. An Australian minesweeper, HMAS ''Gawler'', landed working parties on 21 June 1944, to assist in the restoration of the port.


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 inquiry into the explosion identified the cotton bales as probably being the seat of the fire. It was critical of several errors: * storing the cotton below the munitions, * not displaying the red flag (B flag) required to indicate a "dangerous cargo on board", * delaying unloading the explosives, * not using steam injectors to contain the fire, and * a delay in alerting the local fire brigade.''The Times'', Tuesday, 12 September 1944; pg. 3; Issue 49956; col E Many families lost all their belongings and were left with just the clothes on their backs. Thousands became destitute. It was estimated that about 6,000 firms were affected and 50,000 lost their jobs. 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 periodical dredging operations to maintain the depth of the docking bays, many intact gold bars have been found, some as late as February 2011, and returned to the government. A live shell weighing 45 kg (100 lb) was also found in October 2011. The
Mumbai Fire Brigade The Mumbai Fire Brigade is the fire department, fire brigade serving the city of Mumbai, India. It is responsible for the provision of fire protection as well as responding to building collapses, drownings, gas leakage, oil spillage, road and r ...
's headquarters at
Byculla Byculla (ISO: Bhāykhaḷā; pronunciation: ʱaːjkʰəɭaː is an area of South Mumbai. Location Byculla is neighboured by Nagpada and Mumbai Central and Mahalaxmi on the west; Agripada, Jacob Circle on the north-west: Chinchpokli to the nor ...
has a memorial to the fire fighters who died. National Fire Safety Week is observed across India from 14 to 21 April, in memory of the 66 firemen who died in this explosion.


Ships lost or severely damaged

Apart from ''Fort Stikine'', the following vessels were sunk or severely damaged.


See also

*
List of accidents and incidents involving transport or storage of ammunition Accidents and incidents involving transport or storage of ammunition include: * 1634 Valletta explosion, Malta * An Ottoman ammunition dump inside the Parthenon was ignited by Venetian bombardment in 1687 * 1806 Birgu polverista explosion, Malta * ...
*
List of the largest artificial non-nuclear explosions There have been many extremely large explosions, accidental and intentional, caused by modern high explosives, boiling liquid expanding vapour explosions (BLEVEs), older explosives such as gunpowder, volatile petroleum-based fuels such as gasol ...
*
Halifax Explosion On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the waters of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastating the Richmond ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

*


External links


The First and Last Voyage of the Fort Crevier


{{authority control Explosions in 1944 Explosions in India Ship fires Non-combat military accidents 1944 in British India 1944 in India History of Mumbai 20th century in Mumbai Disasters in Maharashtra Maritime incidents in April 1944 British Empire in World War II April 1944 events 1944 disasters in India