World War II Port Chicago Disaster/Port Chicago Mutiny Documents Court Martial Files & Films

World War II Port Chicago Disaster/Port Chicago Mutiny Documents Court Martial Files & Films

2,653 pages of documents and 40 minutes of films covering the Port Chicago Explosion and the Court Martial of the Port Chicago 50.

On July 17, 1944, a deadly munitions explosion at Port Chicago Naval Magazine, California killed 320 sailors and civilians and injured 390 others.

African Americans constituted nearly 75 percent of the 320 fatalities and 60 percent of the 390 hurt. It was the worst American home front disaster of World War II.

Constructed in 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the naval magazine was named after the nearby town of Port Chicago. It quickly grew to become the Navy’s largest ammunition shipment facility on the West Coast, essential to the success of US armed forces in the Pacific Theater. Today Port Chicago is now Concord, California.

From the beginning, all the enlisted men employed as loaders at Port Chicago were African American; all their commanding officers were white. All of the enlisted men had been specifically trained for one of the naval ratings during his stay at Naval Station Great Lakes (NSGL) but the men were instead put to work as stevedores. None of the new recruits had been instructed in ammunition loading.

At approximately 10:19 PM on 17 July 1944, two massive explosions just seconds apart devastated the Magazine, when two ships, SS Quinault Victory and SS E. A. Bryan, being loaded with ordnance and ammunition for operations in the Pacific theater blew up. The detonations smashed the almost fully loaded E. A. Bryan to bits and blew large pieces of Quinault Victory over 500 yards away into Suisun Bay. Witnesses reported seeing an immense column of fire that mushroomed, creating a magnificent yellow-orange light. The blasts equaled an estimated 5,000 tons of TNT.

The search for survivors quickly became a recovery effort. Freddie Meeks, an African American Sailor, recalled the shock of putting body parts into baskets as he absorbed the loss of life and the destruction that occurred. Only 51 bodies remained intact for identification, and the smell of burning flesh hung in the air. The blasts had obliterated virtually everything within 1,000 feet, including cargo ships, the pier, boxcars, a 45-ton diesel locomotive, the joiner shop, a Coast Guard barge, and a nearby wharf still under construction.

In the ensuing weeks, surviving white sailors and officers were given leave time and commended for heroic efforts, whereas surviving black enlistees were sent back to work loading ammunition on other ships.

On August 8, 1944, at the U.S. Naval Ammunition Depot in Mare Island, California, 258 sailors refused to load ammunition due to unsafe conditions. When they were told they would be charged with mutiny, a crime punishable by death, most returned to work. Eventually, 50 African American men were accused of refusing lawful orders in the loading and unloading ammunition and charged with "Making a Mutiny," which led to the largest mutiny trial in U.S. Navy history.

The courts-martial ended on Oct. 24, when the trial board, after only eight minutes of deliberation, declared the Port Chicago 50 guilty of mutiny. All of the men were handed sentences ranging from eight to 15 years of hard labor in prison. Led by attorney Thurgood Marshall, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) pushed to have the verdict for the Port Chicago 50 overturned. When the war ended just two months later, the harsh sentences were reduced to 17 months. They were then sent to sea for a year of rehabilitation. Then they were discharged in 1946, “under honorable conditions,” one step short of dishonorable discharge and deprived of veterans’ benefits.

Due in large part to civic pressure, involvement of the press and consternation regarding the treatment of the Port Chicago 50, President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order in 1948 to end segregation in the U.S. military.

In 1992, Congress passed a bill to create the Port Chicago Monument at the site of the explosion. The Port Chicago monument is located inside Military Ocean Terminal Concord, which is a controlled access area, which the public is restricted from visiting. Members of the public are allowed to visit the memorial if arrangements are made weeks before a visit.

In 1999 President Bill Clinton issued a pardon to Freddie Meeks, one of only three of the Port Chicago 50 known to still be alive at the time.

On June 11, 2019, A concurrent resolution sponsored by Representative Mark DeSaulnier was agreed upon by the 116th congress. The resolution recognized the victims of the explosion and officially exonerated the 50 men court-martialed by the Navy.


The Collection includes:

Port Chicago Explosion Judge Advocate General (JAG) Investigation Findings Report - The finding of facts by the Judge Advocate General investigating the Port Chicago explosion.

General Courts Martial Case File of Julius J. Allen, et al., The Port Chicago Mutiny - This is the case of the Port Chicago Mutiny. Contains records of the proceedings of a general court martial which convened at the U.S. Naval Training and Distribution Center in San Francisco, California. The file contains 1,868 pages of the court’s proceedings and transcript of the trial as well as the courts findings. Additionally, this file contains various letters and memorandum regarding the case, including letters to the President from the Secretary of the Navy. Also included is a brief by the chief counsel for the defense, Thurgood Marshall. Finally, this file contains service records and qualifications cards of the defendants, which include some personal information.

Port Chicago Damage Films - Forty minutes of film shot by the Navy of the damage caused by explosion.

Clinton Administration Documents - Clinton Administration documents related to Port Chicago. Meeks. Includes the petition for Pardon for Seaman Second Class Freddie Meeks United States Navy, May 20, 1999, Petitioner's Application for Pardon.

James V. Forrestal Secretary of Navy Selected Files from the Library of Congress and National Archives

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Reports with Reference to Port Chicago from the Library of Congress

Red Cross Response to Port Chicago Files from the Red Cross archives.