The Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial is a memorial dedicated in 1994 recognizing the dead of the

Port Chicago disaster The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion of the ship SS ''E. A. Bryan'' that occurred on July 17, 1944, at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California, United States. Munitions detonated while being loaded ont ...

, and the critical role played by

Port Chicago, California Port Chicago was a town on the southern banks of Suisun Bay, in Contra Costa County, California. It was located east-northeast of Martinez, at an elevation of 13 feet (4 m). It is best known as the site of a devastating explosion at its Naval M ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in serving as the main facility for the Pacific Theater of Operations. The

national memorial National memorial or National Memorial may refer to: * National Memorial (Thailand) * National memorial (United States) *National Martyrs' Memorial, in Bangladesh * National Memorial of the Republic of Belarus See also *Memorial (disambiguation) ...

is located at the

Concord Naval Weapons Station Concord Naval Weapons Station was a military base established in 1942 north of the city of Concord, California at the shore of the Sacramento River where it widens into Suisun Bay. The station functioned as a World War II armament storage depot ...

near

Concord, California Concord ( ) is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 129,295 in 2019 making it the eighth largest city in the San Francisco Ba ...

, in the United States. The 1944

occurred at the naval

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

and resulted in the largest domestic loss of life during World War II. 320 sailors and civilians were instantly killed on July 17, 1944, when the ships they were loading with ammunition and bombs exploded. The majority of the deaths were

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

sailors working for the

racially segregated Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Internati ...

military. The explosion and its aftermath led to the largest Naval

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

in US history, and it and the subsequent

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

became major catalysts for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

desegregate Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

following the war.

History

The

, administered by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, was authorized by on October 28, 1992. The memorial was dedicated in 1994 and is located on the grounds of the

Military Ocean Terminal Military Ocean Terminals are operated by the U.S. Army Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) for distribution of surface cargo from storage and repair depots to military forward based units. Current facilities * Military Ocean Terminal ...

Concord (MOTCO), formerly the Tidal Area of the

. The memorial is only open to the public through reserved guided tours. On October 28, 2009, the Memorial became an official unit of the National Park System.

Plans

The Port Chicago Committee is working toward expanding the current memorial to encompass of the former Port Chicago waterfront. The memorial site could include some of the railroad revetments and old boxcars from the 1940s period, as well as the existing memorial chapel, with stained-glass windows depicting the World War II operations.

References

* ''The National Parks: Index 2001–2003''. Washington:

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

. * ''Press Release''
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial Becomes 392nd Unit of National Park System

External links

* Official NPS website
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial

Port Chicago Committee
{{authority control African-American history in the San Francisco Bay Area Buildings and structures in Concord, California National Memorials of the United States United States Navy World War II memorials in the United States Protected areas established in 1992 National Park Service areas in California Labor monuments and memorials Monuments and memorials in California Protected areas of Contra Costa County, California Military in the San Francisco Bay Area Tourist attractions in Contra Costa County, California Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in California 1992 establishments in California