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The Texas City disaster was an industrial accident that occurred on April 16, 1947, in the port of Texas City, Texas, United States, located in Galveston Bay.

The explosion was triggered by a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel Grandcamp (docked at port), which detonated her cargo of about 2,300 short tons (2,100 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate. This started a chain reaction of fires and explosions aboard other ships and in nearby oil-storage facilities, ultimately killing at least 581 people, including all but one member of Texas City's volunteer fire department. The disaster drew the first class-action lawsuit against the United States government, on behalf of 8,485 plaintiffs, under the 1946 Federal Tort Claims Act.

The Port of Texas City is located in a protected harbor inland from Galveston, with relatively straight access to the Gulf of Mexico. The port expanded greatly during World War II, as many wartime chemical and oil plants were located in or near the city. The ammonium nitrate, needed either as fertilizer or an explosive, was manufactured in Nebraska and Iowa and shipped to Texas City by rail before being loaded onto ships. The dedicated Texas City Terminal Railway provided final mile service directly to the port.

Responding fire departments included the Texas City volunteer fire department and the Republic Oil Refining Company firefighting team.

All but one member of the 28-man Texas City volunteer fire department were killed in the initial explosion on the docks while fighting the shipboard fire. With fires raging throughout Texas City, first responders from other areas were initially unable to reach the site of the disaster.

The Texas City disaster is generally considered the worst industrial accident in U.S. history.

Some of the deaths and damage in Texas City were due to the destruction and subsequent burning of several chemical plants (including Monsanto and Union Carbide), oil storage, and other facilities near the explosions. Twenty-seven of Texas City's twenty-eight volunteer firemen, and three of the four Texas City Heights volunteer firemen on the docks near the burning ship were killed. All four Texas City fire engines were twisted and burned husks.

Stephens identifies as root causes the expansion of the port, the proximity of dangerous port operations to the rest of Texas City, a lack of community awareness of the danger posed by chemical hazards, and a lack of safety preparation. Stephens also points out that Texas City was a boomtown in a time when the rest of the country was still recovering from the Great Depression, in which most of the city owed its prosperity to the oil and chemical industry, which may have further led to lax attitudes. Neither the Port of Texas City, the Texas City Terminal Railway, the City itself, nor any of the oil refineries, had a disaster preparedness plan—which even at the time was regarded as inadequate.

Several funds were established to handle donations, particularly the Texas City Relief Fund, created by the city's mayor Curtis Trahan. In the end, the Texas City Relief Fund raised more than $1 million ($15.3 million in today's terms). Within days of the disaster, major companies that had lost facilities in the explosions announced plans to rebuild in Texas City and in some cases to expand their operations. Architect Joseph Allen Hoover and City Engineer James McWhorter designed the fountain built by Texas City's Public Works Department."

1947 Texas City Disaster web exhibit – From the Moore Memorial Public Library in Texas City Pictures – From the Portal to Texas History of the University of North Texas Libraries "The Explosion: 50 Years Later, Texas City Still Remembers" – Collection of articles by the Houston Chronicle "The Texas City Disaster – April 16, 1947"

The Texas City Disaster – April 16, 1947 (1947) by the Texas Department of Public Safety – On the Texas Archive of the Moving Image

Quick Facts

• The Texas City Disaster – April 16, 1947 (1947) by the Texas Department of Public Safety – On the Texas Archive of the Moving Image
• Neither the Port of Texas City, the Texas City Terminal Railway, the City itself, nor any of the oil refineries, had a disaster preparedness plan—which even at the time was regarded as inadequate.
• 1947 Texas City Disaster web exhibit – From the Moore Memorial Public Library in Texas City
• "The Texas City Disaster – April 16, 1947"
• Twenty-seven of Texas City's twenty-eight volunteer firemen, and three of the four Texas City Heights volunteer firemen on the docks near the burning ship were killed.

Source material: Wikipedia - "Texas City disaster". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.