This Day in History - April 16, 1947 - the Texas City disaster occurred. (I'm leaving the story below - a bit of a read, but there was no way I could even begin to summarize the disaster.)
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Texas City Disaster
April 16, 1947
The French ship SS Grandcamp, loaded with 2,200 tons ammonium nitrate, catches fire and explodes in a Texas City, Texas port, leading to a chain of fires and explosions, including a chemical plant, killing over 500 people and virtually destroying the town. All but one member of the 28-man Texas City volunteer fire department were killed in the disaster.
It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of history's largest non-nuclear explosions.
A fire was discovered on the Grandcamp about 8:00 a.m. Attempts to put out the fire were unsuccessful and she exploded at 9:12 a.m. The blast produced a 15-foot (4.5 m) wave and leveled nearly 1,000 buildings. The ship's 2-short-ton (1.8-metric-ton) anchor was hurled 1.62 miles (2.61 km). The explosion also ignited the 961 short tons (872 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate and 1,800 short tons (1,600 metric tons) of sulfur in the cargo ship SS High Flyer docked about 600 feet (200 m) away. The High Flyer exploded about 15 hours after the initial explosion.
