1947 Texas City Disaster 

My grandfather was there when it happened. He had just left the docks, where he was working as a longshoreman, and was on his way home when the Grandcamp blew. He told me he just turned around and went back to help. He always claimed there was something fishy going around that ship, he helped load some of the cargo and they were not allowed to go to certain areas by men who didn't look like crew or longshoremen. He also said that these same men were smoking on the ship when the smoking lamp was not lit as they were loading the fertilizer and got belligerent when called on it and told the men to just move along and mind their own business. My grandfather knew what would happen if the fertilizer caught fire as he ran a small family farm when he wasn't working on the docks. This video brought back a lot of memories of him. Thanks, History Guy!

As a farmer & previously a fireman I can tell you exactly what happened here. The fertilizer was decomposing; BUT I can tell you that the fire started in the cotton bales. If the cotton was rolled too tight & was exposed to water it WILL spontaneously combust & there isn't enough water in the city to put it out. The same issue exists with hay when it's baled before it can properly dry. As for the second ship, let's just say that sulfur & ammonium nitrate do not play well together (especially if the ammonium nitrate is on fire). Water is a reeeeeally bad thing to add to this type of chemical reaction.

Interesting. I was seven years old, living in Texas City at that time. My father was one of the volunteer firemen that was killed in the explosion, he is in one of the photos show in this film. Every year a memorial is held in Texas City on April 16th and many of the survivors are present.

My Mother was 9 months pregnant looking out her kitchen window washing dishes in Pasadena, Texas about 25 miles away when the ship exploded. As she watched the smoke column rise the whole house vibrated & the window panes chattered. Five days later I was born.

We actually studied the Texas City explosion in the U.S. Air Force. I was a member of the Disaster Response Force and this particular disaster was one of the main reasons it was formed.

“Don’t use water or it’ll ruin the cargo.” And then the cargo exploded … which exploded the ship … which exploded the dock … which exploded the city. Priorities, folks. Priorities.

Dad was in a boat in Cameron Parish, LA, and they felt the concussion, the small boat suddenly rocked in the water. Unbelievable chain of events of stupidity and laxity cost more than 500 lives and countless other casualties.

My dad was sent by his employer to assess the damage to company property shortly after the disaster, he always said no words could describe the destruction he saw.

It continues to astonish me the sheer number of viewers with connections, both direct and indirect, to many of the "forgotten" events featured here. This is an unique online community in so many ways.

My childhood home was just over 11 miles from where the ships exploded. When Grandcamp blew up it shattered every window in the house facing Texas City and crack others in the back.

My grandfather was working at the Monsanto plant at that time but called in sick that morning. He went to the site to help look for survivors a couple days later. None of his immediate co-workers survived and several were never found. He said it was gruesome beyond belief.

This disaster reminds me a lot of the ship explosions in Halifax Nova Scotia in 1917.

In 1978 I worked with a man who lived through the Texas City disaster. In 1947 Dick was residing in Texas City after having survived two years of combat in the Pacific as an infantryman. He told me he as was watching the blaze from over a mile away when the ship exploded. His military instinct took over and he jumped flat onto the dirt. A man standing near him did not and was decapitated by flying debris. A similar disaster, but on a smaller scale, took place in my mother's hometown of Richmond, IN, in 1968, killing 41 people and destroying or damaging 20 buildings. We had visited this tranquil community of 44,000 residents only a year prior. Ever since the tragedy the population of Richmond has steadily declined and now numbers fewer than 36,000. It can happen anywhere, anytime . . . on a sunny day, on a sunny street.

I was born in Galveston and we moved to Texas City in 1955/56 where I lived for the next 23 years. In 1976 I worked with a man at Union Carbide who was constructing Union Carbide in 1946 during the disaster. He stated that when the Grand Camp blew they all ran for the gate and a laborer passed them pushing a wheel barrow. Union Carbide is about three miles to the west of Monsanto where the Grand Camp was moored... Needless to say I knew and meet a lot of people that survived that terrible event with lots of stories...I also saw some of the projectiles including that anchor that were blown far distances from the explosion, it was hard to believe something that size and weight could be hurled that distance...

My paternal grandmother was a head nurse in Galveston when this happened. She immediately rounded up her nurses and drove to Texas City, they became local heroes. Us grandkids didnt know until she was 86. PS Beruit says hold my beer. Boom

I grew up partly in Texas city and then over in Galveston and heard a lot of the stories as well from our neighbors. They were stacking bodies crisscross on top of sheets of plywood in the auto garage is on top of the hydraulic lifts and they would push the bodies up in the air and then lower them again to add more to it and just pouring buckets of blood down into the sewer. One of our neighbors in Texas City told a story that he could walk but he was temporally blinded another man was the opposite his legs were badly damaged but he could see so he picked him up on his back and they were able to find their way through the wreckage with one seeing and one walking. At the time when the explosion first happened the people and some in the government thought it was a Russian atomic attack. That anchor you showed sits partly in the grounds of the Holiday Inn on the Texas City Dyke and that is where it landed across the bay from the refinery. We used to go look at it as a kid

Here in South West Louisiana we well remember it. People who were alive at the time said you could hear the explosion when it happened.

My father was a surgeon in the public health service in Galveston and was sent to the disaster to triage the wounded. He remembered it vividly. The explosions and wounded taken out on the back of tractor trailers stacked on bunked cots. He was called back after the second to assist in the surgical treatment at Galveston.

In Hattiesburg, MS, where I went to college, there was a nursing home. My wife worked there and I used to visit some the patients who had no family. In that nursing home was an almost blind old man. His name was Mr. Strange. He personally experienced this disaster. He described it as almost like Hiroshima.

You would think we would have gotten better about storing ammonium nitrate between this and the Halifax. But then we get Lebanon as the most recent example. Great episode!

On the drive to Texas city we can still see the massive ship propeller that was sent flying from the explosion. No one moves it because it's become a monument to the event

My Dad was studying in the Veterinary college at Texas A&M meanwhile my Uncle was in Pre-med in Dallas. Both were drafted for the Texas City relief. Dad had worked as a pharmacist mate in San Diego in the receiving for wounded in the Pacific Theater. He later told me it was like the same horror all over again. Texas City is well remembered in the Lone Star State...

I grew up 45 miles North, and my mother and anyone old enough at the time to remember the noise, remembered it.

This disaster is routinely studied in fire science courses in the US and Europe. I worked with a municipal health officer who started his career in 1947 in Texas City. His first hand knowledge was as terrifying as it was informative, he noted that numerous refrigerated trucks were brought in to act as temporary storage for the bodies of the victims. This certainly affected his work with our emergency services (I was Fire Service) in our disaster planning and preparedness.

Along with the Great Storm in 1900, which was the most deadly hurricane in US history, we remember our terrible superlatives here in Galveston County. A photo is taken each year of the survivors of Texas City, but it's been a long time and there are fewer each year still alive.

My grandfather made all 4 jumps with the 82nd in WW2. After the war he briefly worked as a merchant marine and came into the bay a few days after the explosion. Between the wrecked city and the smell of rotting bodies he immediately thought of the wrecked cities in Europe.

For a high school history class we were assigned to write a ten page term paper about an industrial or natural disaster that happened in America. This was in the late 1970s in North Idaho. I wanted something unique and found mention of the Texas City Texas disaster. It fascinated me. I knew about the explosive properties of ammonium nitrate from blasters who used it on road projects. My term paper came out to be 14 pages long. All my research ended up giving me nightmares for over a year. My term paper and presentation got me an A even though my writing skills were not the best at the time. To this day, the disaster continues to interest me. Such a terrible and terrifying tragedy that ended up improving disaster preparedness and organization. Thank you for remembering and bringing again to light this forgotten, tragic piece of American history.

I've read a lot about this disaster and am still "blown away" by the power of one ship exploding. The planes blown out of the air tells quite a bit about the power of the explosion.

There is a bitter irony in that the fertilizer which brings so much life can also be one of the greatest vanquisher.

Wow, I've never heard of this disaster. As one responsible for emergency preparedness where I work this is a sober reminder of needing to anticipate what can go wrong and how to respond.

I was surprised that they didn't see flour as a fire hazard. Grain terminals have experienced tremendous explosions. As one fire expert said, "anything that has been alive can burn...:" Sulfur is also used in making gunpowder.

Thanks for talking about this. My grandmother and her family lived through this. They were lucky to make it with only minor injuries and damages to their house.

I remember being taught about this in school during the earliy 1960s. Later I knew adults who had contracted cancer attributed to this disaster.

My fathers ship (merchant marines) was in the cannel leading to the harbor but the ship had broken down and waiting to be towed in. My mother was in a town about 50 miles away and they thought a local refinery had blown up.

I remember reading about this when I was a kid. Thanks!

God bless you History Guy. Your retelling of the stories of the dead truly does them an honor. You are a great story teller

In 1982, I drove a delivery truck for Amerigas, Inc. out of Deer Park, Texas. Often I had to pick up a load of explosive gasses from the refineries in Texas City. Older locals would tell that story as I loaded my truck.

My father related to me that he heard the two explosions all the way east to the Baton Rouge, Louisiana area. The event was significant to him because he had served as a Merchant Mariner during WWII.

What an excellent summary of this disaster, as usual now I know more than when I started the video.

My cousin, Estelle Scarborough was considered by many rescuers and medical personnel to be the most severely injured survivor of the disaster. She had been a typist working on the second floor of a chemical company building on the docks. She did not remember the explosion, only waking up horribly shredded by shards of glass in the basement of the now missing building she had been working in. An injured black man was walking along railroad tracks next to the basement. The basement was rapidly flooding and the man climbed down to carry her out. He laid her on the railroad tracks, then laid down next to her and died. His throat was heavily cut and he most likely bled out. Estelle was evacuated to Galveston in hopes of providing medical care but she was too badly injured and the triage needs of other victims came first. Estelle’s brother and sister came to Texas City and searched the hospitals and morgues for her. They found Estelle in a Galveston convent with a white privacy screen around her bed, a measure taken for hopeless cases. Estelle’s siblings sent for a doctor and an ambulance from Tyler Texas. She not only survived, she was one of the most optimistic people I had ever known. She never married and always wore sleeves and pantsuits. She told me she often had shards of glass fall from her skin when taking showers and had to be careful to not step on glass shards on the shower floor. I never understood why she shared her story with me. She was very private about her survival and refused to attend the Texas City Disaster Memorials all her life.

My parents lived in Pasadena, TX, about 25 miles northeast of Texas City. My Mother was pregnant with me at the time and was standing in the kitchen when the explosion occurred. My Father was a longshoreman at the time at the Port of Houston, and had been very close to the Grand Camp when it was docked there prior to the explosion. It was six months before I was born, but I remember my whole life the discussions about the disaster and recovery efforts. Many crews from Houston and Pasadena went to the scene to assist. Both Texas City and Houston ports and chemical plants have been the scene of many accidents and explosions throughout the years since, but none coming even close to this disaster. Thank you for your excellent description of this remarkable point in history.

I have not watched the complete video yet, but it sounds a lot like the Halifax, NS, Canada, disaster. A ship explosion that brought experts from many countries to study. Killed about two thousand.

My father was hired by Stone Chemical. He went home to get his things and returned to a ruin. His job was now cleaning up what was left of the plant.

About 10 years agao I was operating a Track Hoe at the explosion site. This dock had not been touched since the explosion, a huge notch was taken out of the dock area when it happend. As I was excavating the actual explosion place I dug up chunks of steel from the ship which were picked up and tranported by the Port. I also found the concrete dock footings that were tilted at a 45 degree angle. The were demo'd later. There is now a new dock at the site and no more traces of the event remain there.

I am so glad to see you do this grew up near Texas city always heard the warning siren test, also knew plenty of survivors and lots of horrific stories. Thank you for doing this one.

Thanks. This video was a reminder for me. As a chemistry major I read of this disaster, then later got a reminder from my father who was involved in Civil Defense/Emergency Preparedness. Around December, 1917, there was the Halifax disaster, involving picric acid, TNT, benzene and chlorinated benzenes. A book, Curse of the Narrows, details the fiasco and tragedy. Thank you again.

I grew up in Texas City and have heard many tellings of this story. I learn something from everyone, and yours is no exception. Thank you for another excellent piece of history that deserves to be remembered.

On the final note about industrial accidents being actively forgotten. There's even another industrial accident with nearly the same name, the Texas City Explosion (2005)

Thanks! I saw a video about this from a different channel a while ago, but this one was far more detailed. Yours has better footage and bbn photos too.

I feel like THG can do a Disaster history series on ammonium nitrate. I recollect reading about numerous horrific explosions throughout world history of the fertilizing substance (not forgetting Beirut.)

That last sentence. I used to work where industrial accidents / diseases were referred to medical tribunals - some were horrific, some (Asbestosis and Byssinosis) took decades to show up.

I worked at a motor control building manufacturer in Houston for about 10 years back in the 90's. The man who started it was named Powell. At the time of the Texas City disaster he was working out of his garage building motor control cabinets. It was hard to get a foothold in the industry because there were many other companies who had been in the business for many years and they were who industries went to when they were in need of motor control cabinets. But when the explosion happened in Texas City, the industries that were damaged needed to get their plants back on line quickly so they gave this new upstart, Mr Powell, a chance. His work was good enough to make Powell a major player in the field of motor control cabinets in the years to follow. By the time I started there in 1994 they had a huge facility east of Hobby Airport and in the years since have had to move a few miles away so as to have room to expand more. They were very busy the years I was there. 10 months out of the year we worked 65 hours a week. Most money I ever made and they had great benefits too. Worst decision I ever made was to leave there to go back to college.

Industrial accidents are far less common today. That's because America shipped off many, many industries and jobs off shore to China. Which means the really big explosions happen there instead. Also, many of the terrible accidents in American history could have been avoided if it wasn't for neglect and greed. One case to prove this point, the Westwego Continental Grain Elevator Explosion. The company knew that the dust from the grain could be explosive and was a danger, but, neglect and greed led to the disaster. In more recent history, The Sago Mine disaster. TOTALLY PREVENTABLE!!!! sad but true.

I was born in Texas City after the explosion. It was discussed often. When the fire department was dispatched, one firefighter was told to stay at the fire station to answer the phone (no cell phones back then). He was the only Texas City firefighter that survived. There was also the story of two Monsanto workers that survived. One guy was stumbling around with blood in his eyes. The other guy had fractured legs and couldn't walk but, could see fine. He convinced the other guy to put him on his shoulders to guide them out. When they reached help, they both fully recovered. In 1966 there was a 20 year special on TV. A lot of survivor stories. I am not sure if that is available.

Excellent attention to historic accuracy, with one exception... The grain elevator did not collapse, it stood for years. Part of the headhouse and some of the ancillary structures did collapse, however, The entire Volunteer fire department were lost, except the Chief who was out of town.

Helluvva thing. My mother-in-law's father was there, fortunately he survived. Those explosions are inconceivably violent. I remember a nursing home in Baytown that had a plate of Steel about the size of a laptop that had been ejected from one of the refineries a mile or two away and come through their roof. I saw it back around 2004, and it wasn't new then but I don't remember when the explosion took place.

I have just found you and your beautifully described treasure trove of useful and some almost forgotten history. Keep being awesome and historically accurate History Guy!!!! I’ll gladly support this work!!!!

I heard stories growing up and I think it almost took out my mom as a child. Wild stuff.

My great uncle was killed in the explosion. He just adored my mother. His body was never found, but his wallet was discovered burned and wet. However, when opened, the photo of my mother was completely intact with no damage at all.

My mom told about this incident. She said there were dark clouds in Houston’s skys.

Thank you History Guy for such in-depth videos on History that deserves to be remembered. Every video I watch of yours is captivating and entertaining, and I will continue to watch to learn more about our worlds past!

Just found your site and what a grand but sad story. My grandfather survived the Peshtigo fire in Wisconsin in 1871. Thank you for presenting these unforgettable stories.

I only learned of this disaster about 20 years ago (I'm 84) and I never miss an opportunity to read or hear more about it. It seems every source adds a little more information and The History Guy didn't waste my time. Thank you sincerely.

For present day comparisons, the explosion in Beirut in August 2020 was the same material. History worth remembering but lesson not learned, as they had been storing the material in the port for years! As well, when the BP refinery exploded in March 2005, killing 15 workers (many of whom were in office trailers that did not need to be on-site at all and were later relocated to another part of the city), we heard & felt the explosion in Galveston.

The book "The Alchemy of Air" describes the invention of the process to create nitrogen fertilizers and early explosions. Two Nobel Prizes. A worthwhile read.

I have heard this story before a few times, but you have revealed details that I had never heard. You are a masterful researcher and story teller. So There!

Well that's interesting timing, I was just looking at footage of the 2020 Beirut explosion. I saw some videos about the Texas City explosion in my search. Great video as usual!

Great video. I always learn so much from your videos and I really appreciate the time that goes into making them.

I saw all the impressive refineries and silos in Texas City coming from Galveston a few months ago but didn't learn about the Texas City explosion until after that. It was very eerie to know that the worst industrial disaster in American history occurred there.

Please check out a ship explosion that I remember as a 10 year old. It happened in the Los Angeles harbor. It was the SS Sansinena. Part of which ended up on the dock and it burned for 4 days. Thanks Lance, love the show !

Thanks for presenting the story on Texas City. Fascinating piece of history!

Great story and fantastic photos which really brought home the disaster.

Another great video thank you History Guy for your work in bringing us these stories.

This topic fascinated me ever since I spent three years of my Navy career at Naval Weapons Station Concord in California, site of the Port Chicago explosion on July 17, 1944. Seeing the remains of the pier (nothing more than pilings) and what few landmarks are left of the town of Port Chicago after the Navy bought it out and leveled it made me close my eyes and think about what it was like to live through it. I can only imagine what it was like for witnesses in Texas City, back before RU-vid, social media, 24 hour news on television, computers, the Internet, etc in trying to grasp what had happened.

I lived not far from this and have seen the screw from the ship. It’s crazy that it had the power to move that. One of the offices I went to in clearlake a few miles north of Texas City had photos of the disaster all along its lobby as I think OSHA had an office there. It was very interesting.

Thank you so much for all the history that you given us over the years. I've learned quite a bit from you about things that I never knew of. You do such a great job of explaining everything I would have loved to have you as a teacher in college.

This history 👏 does deserve to be remembered.

Just three months later, the same accident occurred in the French port of Brest, where the Grand Camp came from. Fortunately the news of the Texas City disaster was already known and people were aware of the danger. The explosion of the Ocean Liberty killed 26 persons and wounded around 100.

Another excellent story of events and people that deserve to be remembered. Thank you History Guy....

Incredible report ! Thank you for this detail research.

Another excellent presentation THG. Love this channel!

THG you amaze me. Why is this not in the history books and I'm a history bluff and I'm 51 years old. Great job on producing this episode of History deserves to be remembered.

I'm reminded of the SS Richard Montgomery wrecked on the Nore sandbank in the Thames Estuary, near Sheerness, Kent, England, in August 1944, while carrying a 1,400 ton cargo of munitions.

There is actual video footage of one of the explosions, (the first I believe), on RU-vid. Taken by a woman, across the bay, out of her kitchen window. Unimaginable, the size and devastation of those two detonations. The recent detonation in Lebanon being the only similar ship/port explosion I can think of to compare it with. The Halifax incident being another one.

THG, you'd just done a video on Haber, who created the industrial system for extracting nitrogen to make ammonium nitrate. He was indeed the Man Who Killed Millions but Saved Billions.

Aside from just not having many explosive volcanoes in the lower 48 states, I think we also remember Mt. St. Helens more because 1980 was significantly more recent than 1947, thus being in the living memory of far more people today. Additionally, Mt. St. Helens continued volcanic activity until 2008 and continues to be a very large threat to the region.

Thank you History Guy for the excellent program of this disaster. After all we learn from our past . Great job .

Thank you, this story resonates well with me. I went to Texas A&M Galveston, so we went over this part of history during classes. I really enjoyed it. You covered it well and the effect it had on Texas to this day. Just look at the recent Beruit accident in 2020, over 200 killed and 6,000 injured. This stuff is dangerous.

I had never heard of this disaster. The aftermath of the explosion sound eerily similar to the Halifax explosion which occurred in during the 1st world War when 2 ships collided in the Harbour. Thanks for sharing this video

Thank you Lance. Priceless content

I grew up in Texas City and graduated from TCHS in 2016. Super excited to learn more about the explosion.

Something similar to this happened a few years ago at the west Texas fertilizer plant. I was on break in a semi at a pilot some miles away n we felt the shock wave.as a veteran it scared hell out of me. Definitely put my ptsd into overdrive.

I grew up in east texas hearing referances to this very generally. But this is the first time ive heard it all together. Thank you.

My grandparents lived in Galveston at the time. My grandma was pregnant with my mom as well and was almost in danger because of the disaster.

Very interesting! Love these videos of lesser known history.

Love your work my brother

I wish The History Guy would cover the explosion at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ, around 1926, caused by a lightening strike.

My 4th grade teacher was raised in Texas City, and moved to Philly for a teaching job. When Dad found out where she was from he, asked, "Isn't that where... Yes. She replied. I lost 3 sisters, Mom, and my baby brother Alvin that day. Dad asked how she made it out unscathed? She smiled, then started to push on her face. In a few seconds she started to bleed, just as a piece of glass slid out of her skin, and onto her finger. She dabbed the blood with a Kleenex tissue, looked at Dad and said, Unscathed? She was one tough old broad!

I distinctly remember studying the Texas City Disaster while getting my Fire Science and Engineering degree in '86. It was studied for Incident Command structuring and Hazardous Material handling. After 27+ years in the Fire Service and Insurance Industry, I'm now retired.

Well done. I've often wondered if any visible damage to the surrounding land near the explosion remains. Makes me want to explore that question in Texas City.