Monday, April 16

60 years ago: the Texas City Disaster

This is surely covered in Texas History class, but since I ain't from here, I hadda readabout it online:
On 16 April 1947, America's worst harbor explosion occurred in Texas City, Texas, when the French ship Grandcamp, carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer, caught fire and blew up, devastating the town.
There's a lengthy citation on Wikipedia .. but, who knows how much of that is true, and how much is conjecture?

Lesson learned? When fertilizer catches fire, do NOT "steam the hold".

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