August 9, 1944 – 258 African American Sailors in Port Chicago, California Refuse to Load a Munitions Ship Following an Explosion That Killed 320 Men; Accused of Mutiny

As the online National WWII Museum recounts, the disparate treatment of African Americans during World War II era has been well-documented. During the war, the Back press and civil rights leaders pressured the Roosevelt administration for serious action to address discrimination. 

At the U.S. naval magazine at Port Chicago, California, Black soldiers who had been trained for combat roles were instead relegated to loading munitions aboard ships under the supervision of white officers. Not only was a premium was placed on speed and efficiency; the white officers would conduct “races” among teams of loaders with little regard for safety. Moreover, the Black soldiers were not adequately trained for munitions work; they were not even given gloves to handle the bombs or highly volatile incendiaries fitted with detonators.

On July 17, 1944, two massive explosions went off in Port Chicago, killing 320 instantly. The Navy Military History site reports that the blasts equaled an estimated 5,000 tons of TNT or an earthquake of 3.4 magnitude on the Richter scale. In addition to the 320 individuals killed in the blasts, another 390 were injured. African Americans constituted nearly 75 percent of the 320 fatalities and 60 percent of the 390 hurt. It was the worst home front disaster of World War II. In the ensuing days, the men stationed at Port Chicago who survived the disaster were transferred to Mare Island Ammunition Depot in nearby Vallejo.

A view of the wreckage at Port Chicago on July 18, 1944. (Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial photo)

After an investigation, a court of inquiry cleared the white officers of any culpability or liability and stated it could not confirm the exact cause of the explosion. It implied that the African American ammunition handlers must have had something to do with it.

By the second week of August, officers at Mare Island asked the survivors to begin loading ammunition into the munitions ship San Gay. On August 9, 1944, this day in history, nearly 330 men refused to carry out their duties without further training and improved safety conditions. After stern warnings and threats that they would be charged with mutiny, the number of those refusing to resume loading decreased to 50.

The 208 men who returned to duty received summary courts-martial for refusal to obey orders and were sentenced to forfeiture of three months’ pay. The remaining men, “The Port Chicago 50,” were charged with disobedience of a lawful order and mutiny.

Carsten Fries, writing for the Navy, reported that on September 14, their general court-martial opened. On 24 October, the court found the all 50 men guilty of conspiracy to commit mutiny, and they received sentences ranging from eight to 15 years of confinement and dishonorable discharges.

The Navy defense team sits in front of the fifty accused stevedores during the trial on Treasure Island in 1944.

(Decades after the trial, per historian Steve Sheinkin, the defense attorney revealed that he had overhead Rear Admiral Hugh Osterhaus of the court say, while the trial was still in progress, “We’re going to find them guilty.”) All fifty sentences were identical: fifteen years of hard labor in prison, and a dishonorable discharge from the Navy. A few of the younger sailors had some years knocked off of the sentences.

Future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, at the time the NAACP chief counsel, had attended many of the court’s sessions and appealed the conviction with the Navy judge advocate general. The appeal proved unsucessful, but Marshall didn’t give up, writing directly to the Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal, arguing about the absurdity of the court’s proceedings and findings. Behind the scenes, Navy lawyers agreed with Marshall.

Thurgood Marshall as a young NAACP lawyer

Forrestal directed the Navy to review the case. The review recommended a retrial, this time disregarding previously allowed hearsay evidence. The court’s board reconvened, but reaffirmed the original sentences. However, pressure from several quarters, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, prompted Forrestal to have the convicted sailors released from confinement in January 1946. The men were dispersed among various ships deployed in the Pacific, performing menial duties until receiving general discharges under honorable conditions. Into the 1990s, they and their descendants repeatedly appealed to Congress and the Navy to have their names and records cleared. Recognition finally occurred: On July 17, 1994, the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial was dedicated to those lost in the disaster. Freddie Meeks, at the time thought to be the last-surviving known member of the “Port Chicago 50,” received a Presidential pardon in December 1999. However, complete exoneration of all 50 sailors has not occurred to date.