Each man said that he himself had not coerced others to refuse to work. [37] Naval personnel worked quickly to contain the fires and to prevent other explosions. On August 10, there had been conflicts between the prisoners and their guards as the prisoners were marched to the mess hall for meals. Coakley was challenged by Veltmann when he attempted to bring the men's signed statements in as evidence but the court allowed the statements to be used to refresh the men's memories of their answers to interrogation. Delucchi added that the cook and a second man were sailors he did not consider "up to par"; the cook in particular was prone to nervous attacks and was seen as a liability at the pier. [14] Most loading officers considered this goal too high. Two of the 50 prisoners remained in the prison's hospital for additional months recuperating from injuries, and one was not released because of a bad conduct record. [53], Throughout August, all 258 sailors were taken to Camp Shoemaker and questioned. A huge mine and fully loaded ammunition ship exploded in Oslo Harbour. [112] The New York Times called it "just as suitable for adults" and noted that the "seriousness and breadth of Sheinkin’s research can be seen in his footnotes and lists of sources, which include oral histories, documentaries and Navy documents. [90] A year before the disaster, in mid-1943, the U.S. Navy had over 100,000 African Americans in service but not one black officer. In principle, this ruling was favorable, but in practice it would benefit the men only if the court had been attentively keeping notes for each accused man. Wright, who had seen nearly 400 of his men killed in 1942 in the Battle of Tassafaronga, said that although loading ammunition was risky, death by firing squad was the greater hazard. [24], Commander Paul B. Cronk, head of a Coast Guard explosives-loading detail tasked with supervision of the working dock, warned the Navy that conditions were unsafe and ripe for disaster. [76], The defense continued a few more days with testimony from a Navy psychiatrist who verified that the immense explosion would generate fear in each man. The next day, Coakley gave the press a statement accusing Veltmann of coaching McPherson. [84], Marshall obtained written permission from each of the 50 convicted men for him to appeal their case when it came up for review in Washington, DC in front of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy. It had been attacked by a kaiten. 1044), which, in addition to calling for another five acres, allowed for the City of Concord and the East Bay Regional Park District "...to establish and operate a facility for visitor orientation and parking, administrative offices, and curatorial storage for the Memorial. Marshall wrote that "[t]he accused were made scapegoats in a situation brought about by a combination of circumstances. Diagram from the Port Chicago board of inquiry's report showing the facility's munitions pier at the time of the disaster. [44], The Navy asked Congress to give each victim's family $5,000. Directly after the court closed the case, Marshall sent a letter to Secretary Forrestal asking why only blacks were assigned the task of loading munitions, why they had not been trained for that task, why they were forced to compete for speed, why they were not given survivor's leaves, and why they had not been allowed to rise in rank. 4 hold. [28], A boxcar delivery containing a new airborne anti-submarine depth charge design, the Mark 47 armed with 252 lb (114 kg) of torpex, was being loaded into No. [64] Delucchi described overhearing men of Division Eight say to his men, "Don't go to work for the white motherfuckers"[65] but, under cross-examination, was unable to identify who said it. Arriving there on September 22, U.S.S. Full Title: The Liberty Ship SS Robert Rowan explodes after being hit by a German bomber off the coast of Gela, Sicily on July 11, 1943. However at about 6:30 PM, the calm was broken by a tremendous and earth moving flash and explosion. Veltmann stressed that much of the testimony was hearsay and failed to establish a conspiracy or a mutiny. The rebuttal fared poorly, as Veltmann was able to elicit from them: that some of the accused men had not been informed they could refuse to make a statement; that some of the interrogations had taken place with an armed sentry standing guard; that very few of the prisoners' explanations that they had been afraid of another explosion had been included in the statements; and that the officers had emphasized portions of the interrogations that would satisfy Coakley's requirement for evidence of conspiracy. Petitions began to circulate, collecting thousands of names of citizens who demanded a reversal of the mutiny verdict. Sandra Evers-Manly, 1998. [58], The 50 remaining men‍—‌soon to be known as the "Port Chicago 50"‍—‌were formally charged in early September 1944 with disobeying orders and making a mutiny "with a deliberate purpose and intent to override superior military authority". On board the ship were 31 U.S. He had streets named after him. [10], At NSGL, the enlisted African Americans who tested in the top 30 to 40% were selected for non-labor battalion assignments. Coakley entered into the record his definition of mutiny: "Collective insubordination, collective disobedience of lawful orders of a superior officer, is mutiny. [72], Some of the men who had been named as having been given direct orders to work testified that they had not been given any such order. [49], Divisions Two, Four and Eight‍—‌reinforced with replacement sailors fresh from training at NSGL‍—‌were taken to Mare Island Navy Yard where there was an ammunition depot and loading piers. Divisions Two and Four were split by the decisions of their men: Small and 43 others chose to form a group unwilling to obey every order. The general trend of the men's responses was that all of them were willing to obey any order except to load ammunition, all were afraid of another explosion, and none had been approached by "ringleaders" persuading them not to work‍—‌each had made his own decision. The ship was obliterated while also sinking or severely damaging 22 smaller craft nearby. Close to where we lived was an E.W.S (Emergency Water Supply), but the kids used to swim in the water. 5.5-inch guns of 235 and 336 Medium Batteries, Royal Artillery, fire in support of the Rhine crossing, 21 March 1945. On April 3, 1945, he appeared to present his arguments. "[97] In September 1999, the petition by Meeks was bolstered by 37 members of Congress including George Miller, the U.S. representative for the district containing the disaster site. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. The Port Chicago Mutiny involved African American enlisted men in the U.S. Navy who refused to return to loading ammunition after a disastrous explosion at Port Chicago, California on July 17, 1944 that destroyed the Liberty ship SS E.A. Forrestal replied weakly,[83] saying that a predominance of black men were stationed at Port Chicago so of course they would be working there to load munitions. An Army Air Forces pilot flying in the area reported that the fireball was 3 mi (4.8 km) in diameter. In 2004, author Robert L. Allen was reported as saying "...even for today it's important to have these convictions set aside. [11], There was no system at Port Chicago for making sure officers and men were familiar with safety regulations. The cleanup detail from Division Two dug into the wreckage of the pier and began tearing out the damaged portions. He said that the men he had spoken with were willing to follow any order except to load munitions; that each man expressed fear of another explosion. At 9:05 a.m., in the harbor of Halifax in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, the most devastating manmade explosion in the pre-atomic age occurs when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, explodes 20 minutes after colliding with another vessel. As part of the refit process, all ammunition was removed from ships in port. I can also remember the anti-aircraft guns and incendiary devices in New Brighton. If we stick together, they can't do anything to us. On 7 December 1941, East and Middle Lochs exploded in flames during the Japanese air attacks that brought the United States into World War II. The ammunition loaders worried and complained about the safety of what they were doing, but their concerns were never addressed. [81] In late November, the 50 men were transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution, Terminal Island in San Pedro Bay near the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. [95], In the 1990s, Freddie Meeks, one of the few still alive among the group of 50, was urged to petition the president for a pardon. [88] In all, the Navy granted clemency to about 1,700 imprisoned men at this time. The Navy's General Classification Test (GCT) results for the enlisted men at Port Chicago averaged 31, putting them in the lowest twelfth of the Navy. This section of Division Two and all of Divisions Four and Eight were transferred to Camp Shoemaker, about 30 mi (48 km) south, where they were assigned barracks duty until July 31, 1944. Questions focused on identifying "ringleaders" of the work-stoppage and on what was said by whom at the meeting on the prison barge. Other munitions the same officers and conditions. ' the storyteller was an ammunition factory behind his ’... 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