The Texas City Chain Reaction disaster was an industrial accident that occurred April 16, 1947, in the Port of Texas City, Texas, at Galveston Bay. A mid-morning fire started on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp that was docked in the port, and detonated her cargo of approximately 2,200 tons (approximately 2,100 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate. This started a chain reaction of additional fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities.The events killed a total of at least 581 people. Over 8,000 people were injured.

This episode of The Cornfield Meet: Transportation Disasters podcast is brought to you by ham radio operator N8CSX and an amateur disaster historian, Michele Sargent.

Email: [email protected]

Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/thecornfieldmeet

Facebook: http://facebook.com/thecornfieldmeet

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cornfieldmeet

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thecornfieldmeet

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thecornfieldmeet

© Theme music created by Michele Sargent