1947 Explosion of the SS High Flyer -- Texas City TX
N 29° 23.501 W 094° 53.294
15R E 316766 N 3252864
The propeller of the SS High Flyer, the second ammonium-nitrate laden ship to explode during the Texas City disaster of 16 Apr 1947. Her propeller was found a half mile away, salvaged, and donated to the Port. It is near the TX City Dike.
Waymark Code: WMG39G
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/07/2013
Views: 9
The Texas City port explosions of 1947 stand today as the worst industrial accident in US History.
On 16 Apr 1947 when the SS Grandcamp's cargo of ammonium nitrate fertilizer caught fire and then exploded. The fire started slowly, but grew in intensity as it was being fought. An hour and 15 minutes after the fire was spotted bythe crew members, as it was being aggressively batteled by the Texas City Volunteer Fire Department and ship's crewmembers, the Grandcamp exploded.
The force of the Grandcamp's explosion knocked people over 10 miles away in Galveston, and blew windows out of buildings 40 miles away in Houston. People 100 miles away in Louisiana felt the shock wave created by the blast. The area around the explosions was a moonscape of utter destruction, for miles in every direction.
That same explosion destroyed the Monsanto Chemical Company plant, and caused further explosions of chemical tanks and refineries along the waterfront.
The Grandcamp's explosion touched off an explosion in the SS High Flyer, which was docked next tothe Grandcamp, and also carried a cargo of ammonium nitrate. For hours after the Grandcamp explosion the crew of the High Flyer had trued to free her from her mooring in harbor and float her away from the dock, to no avail. After her explosion, the High Flyer's propeller was found a half mile away, parts of it shorn off by the force of the expolosion and fearsome shrapnel.
The High Flyer's explosion started a domino effect of more destruction: it damaged more refineries that then exploded, and blew another ship (the SS Wilson B. Keene) to bits.
Almost 600 people died on this awful day, including all but one of Texas City's volunteer firefighters died that day.
The High Flyer's propeller was installed in a memorial to the explosion in a small plaza with a couple of state historic markers in the 1980s. After 9/11, increased concerns about port security led to the decision to remove and relocate the markers and the propeller to new homes. The propeller was reinstalled here in 2012.
Disaster Date: 04/16/1947
Date of dedication: 01/01/2012
Memorial Sponsors: Texas City Terminal Railway Corp.
Disaster Type: Technological
Relevant Website: [Web Link]
Parking Coordinates: Not Listed
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