On 17 July, the 80th anniversary of the 1944 explosion at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine—the deadliest homefront disaster of World War II—Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro fully exonerated the African American sailors working at Port Chicago who were court-martialed for refusing to continue to work in the hazardous conditions after the catastrophe.
The explosion killed 320 people, injured 400 others, destroyed two ships and a train, and caused damage to the nearby town of Port Chicago, California.
Following the 1944 explosion, white supervising officers at Port Chicago were given hardship leave, while the surviving African American sailors were ordered back to work. In the absence of clarity on the explosions or any further safety training, 258 of them refused to resume ammunition handling. After threats of disciplinary action, 208 of the sailors returned to work (but the Navy still subsequently convicted them at a summary court-martial for disobeying orders).
The remaining 50 sailors—who came to be called the “Port Chicago 50”—continued to refuse to return to work. They were charged with mutiny and convicted at a mass general court-martial. Each of these defendants was sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, 15 years’ confinement at hard labor, reduction in rate to E-1, and total forfeitures of their pay.
During subsequent reviews of the general court-martial, the dishonorable discharges were suspended, and the period of confinement was reduced to 17 to 29 months.
In an article in Naval History (see “Port Chicago Revisited"), U.S. Coast Guard Commander Todd Moe argued, “In the case of the Port Chicago 50 . . . exoneration . . . would demonstrate to the entire chain of command that junior military members have the ability to refuse unlawful orders without fear of reprisal. The Navy should complete the final step in this case—and issue full exoneration of the Port Chicago 50.” Now, that exoneration has become a reality.
“The Port Chicago 50, and the hundreds who stood with them, may not be with us today, but their story lives on, a testament to the enduring power of courage and the unwavering pursuit of justice,” said Secretary Del Toro. “They stand as a beacon of hope, forever reminding us that even in the face of overwhelming odds, the fight for what’s right can and will prevail.”
“Today, the U.S. Navy is righting an historic wrong,” said President Joe Biden in a White House statement, noting that “future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall represented the ‘Port Chicago 50’ in their appeal of their courts-martial convictions, writing that, ‘justice can only be done in this case by a complete reversal of findings.’ With this action, we are answering that call.”
