Port Chicago is a city that is no longer there. The wanted to call it Chicago, but were not allowed, or the name is Port Chicago. It is on the south side of the Sacramento River, not far upstream from Benecia, which is on the north side. Port Chicago was a shipping town. The depth of the water made it a convenient port. Port Chicago played a very significant part in World War II. Because of the convenient port, a large naval magazine was located there. On July 17 1944 a large explosion on the main dock totally destroyed two Navy vessels, one was loaded and the other not. The loaded vessel was thrown through the air, and it landed upside down. The other vessel disintegrated. 320 men were killed and over 400 wounded. this was the largest mainland disaster during the war. This explosions left a crater at the bottom of the river over 60 feet deep, 300 feet wide, 700 feet long. In town almost every building was damaged, although no one was killed. The movie theater was damaged to the point it had to be destroyed.
Some conspiracy theories still persist about the accident; that perhaps it was a test of some nuclear device or a port busting bomb. The more conventional answer is that the blast was accidental.
Port Chicago was a known place for nuclear testing, and often people from Los Alamos were there. Also tested were mine clearing devices. From Port Chicago, fissionable material was placed aboard the ill-fated USS Indianapolis which delivered this material for the strike on Japan.
The town was closed by the U.S. government in 1969. It is now surrounded by fencing and barbed wire. The last residents were expelled. However, there is a national monument at the Naval magazine that exploded, and this is accessible. (Although currently closed it will reopen in March.) to visit one must get a permit two weeks before their visits. Visits are on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays only.
if i remember correctly, the loading crews were all blacks, due to being 'more expendable'...unfortunately, the racism lingered well into the 70s (there was a racially-based mini-riot at an outpost in korea while i was stationed there...my company was called out to settle the matter, but, by the time we got there, the unrest was quelled)...
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