Pomegranate 10 000 tonnes (23 photos) Bashny.Net

Young photographer John Clinton has long craved sensation. But in the small port town of Texas City on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico did not have them. What events in general, could be in this wilderness, if the population was only seventeen and a half thousand people!



He was about to leave the house in the newspaper office when the phone rang. Familiar female voice excitedly said: "Johnny, come quickly! We ship caught fire in the port. Smoke, as in war! Did an excellent report. Do you have a chance! Mchis! »



Squeezed through the crowd of onlookers, a young reporter saw the gray hulk of the steamer. To the disappointment of Clinton, it was not a luxury tourist boat and from its windows do not protrude very young a passenger with cries of "Help!" At the pier was the usual "Liberty" - the brainchild of American wartime - 135-meter truck at 10 000 tonnes with a steam engine capacity of 2 5 thousand. l. p. At the stern of the steamer rinse lazily in the breeze tricolor French flag. Title - "Grandcamp" port - Marseille. From the fourth ship's hold was falling thick white smoke.



Charles de Zhellyabon, the captain of the steamer, never taking his gaze from the open hatch, reluctantly answered questions from a reporter.

 - Yes, the fifth day under podgruzku. Accept fertilizer - ammonium nitrate. Clean, harmless goods. Already loaded 2,300 tons. Tween-decks peanuts, sisal and milling machines. Should withdraw to Dunkirk and Bordeaux, as soon as the loading and repair the car. I think that will soon extinguish the fire ...



No more having achieved by surly French captain, Clinton, making just in case two portraits.

After a few hours of his photos will print all the leading publications of the country.

Exactly after 2 minutes when the vehicle Clinton already raced through the streets of the city, on the pier, where he was moored "Grandcamp" in the spring sky shot up the giant orange-brown tongue of flame.



Deafening, unheard in these parts roar echoed over the frozen waters of the Gulf of Galveston. "Grandcamp" as a gigantic garnet weighing 10 tons Ltd., burst into small pieces, filling the air with buzzing and squealing.

Of course, the word "small pieces" should be understood, given the magnitude of the ship. Many of the ship-ton were later found on the site of the explosion in a radius of 2 miles. Two-ton piece of the steam engine, flying a mile in the air, fell on passing on the central square of the car. Threw himself collapsed concrete port warehouses and 10-meter oil rigs standing on the other side of the bay. Is located at the side of the burning steamer four fire engines flew over the pier and fell into the water. Standing at the opposite pier American ships "Hayflayer" and "Wilson Ki", despite the fact that from the exploded "Grandcamp" separates them long reinforced concrete warehouse, were torn from moorings and were badly damaged.



The water at the pier where the ship was just as if evaporated, exposing the bottom of the bay. After a few seconds the high tide rushed to the shore of the bay. Loaded 50-foot oil barge moored on the nose "Grandcamp" as a rake, was thrown onto the pier and sank in 70 m from the edges to the roof standing in a row of cars, crushing them like eggs. Elsewhere, on the official parking, wave hit 600 cars.



The force of the explosion was monstrous. Molten metal pieces of the ship, part of his cirque machines and boilers, its cargo - mutilated explosion milling machines weighing more than a ton, hundreds of flaming bales Siza la - all it took off into the air and fell on the city and the bay within a radius of 2 miles. Thousands of dead seagulls stone fell to the ground. Two sports planes flying at this time over the city, were shot and killed by air wave in the Gulf.



Robert Morris, a chemical plant worker, at the time of the explosion was driving on the territory of the port in the open "jeep". The car went up in the air a few feet and sat down on a flooded pier.

Most were in the port of people were killed. Many were seriously injured. Frank Taylor was working at the time of the explosion in the warehouse tool. It collapsed roof. Witnesses said that he was all bloodied, climbed out of the wreckage of the building, ran down the pier and jumped into the water. In a state of shock, he swam across the bay of Galveston and climbed the opposite bank near his home. Seeing that his wife and children killed by the explosion, Taylor grabbed a hammer lying under their feet and began frantically nailing boards broken homes. He was crazy.



Hundreds of homes across the bay were destroyed completely. The blast blew out all the windows in the houses, which is located 25 miles from the "Grandcamp". Explosion "desyatitysyachetonnoy grenades" seismographs recorded, located thousands of miles from Texas City. Experts estimate that the force of the explosion was equal to the force of five 25-ton, the most powerful bombs.



Monstrous explosion thundered over the bay Galveston 9 hours 12 minutes 16 April 1947, was only a prelude to disaster Texas City - the city of chemistry in the southern US.



Fell after the explosion of the city glowing shards of metal, burning bales of sisal have caused hundreds of fires. One after another with the speed of a chain reaction flashed oil and benzene storage six refineries companies. Of the burst in the explosion oil flowed oil is ignited at the first contact with the heated piece of metal. Burning warehouses, houses, whole streets. The port area was cut off from the city wall of fire. Fight fire was no one: 27 of the 50 city firefighters died in the explosion. The city started to panic. No one knew what had happened.



Giant fire raged, and because attempts to extinguish it came to nothing lead, the mayor appealed to the governor of Texas with a request to send all chemical quenching car to help perishing in the fire of Texas City. This was done, and seemed to win over the fire is close. But in 1 hour 10 minutes of the night, when it was possible to eliminate the main centers of fire above the bay of Galveston, one after another leaped into the black sky two bloody flames again over the city bombings. It exploded steamers "Hayflayer" and "Ki Wilson».



Appointed by the US Senate committee did manage to establish the following.

1. factories that produce fertilizer Stofuntovaya paper bags, violated basic norms of fire safety. Packaging for this substance should be only metal.

2. Port Authority of Texas City loaders allowed during work in the holds of ships smoke. They smoked and during loading of ammonium nitrate in the hold "Grandcamp».

3. Neither the captain of the ship "Grandcamp" or the Port Authority did not know how enormous explosive potential has ammonium nitrate (ammonium nitrate).

4. Neither led firefighting in the hold "Grandcamp" chief mate or manual fire brigade Texas City did not know what to extinguish ammonium nitrate should only water, and a large volume.

5. The cause of the fire at the "Grandcamp" is likely to be regarded as abandoned as porters in the hold of the butt, and the cause of the explosion - a criminal act ignorant in this matter chief mate - use fire-extinguishing.