28 March 1943: Explosion of the Caterina Costa at the port of Naples in Italy killed 549, injured over 3 000 people
The explosion of the ship, Caterina Costa at port of Naples in Italy, killed 549people and injured over 3 000. Caterina Costa was a new 8 060-ton motor cargo ship, finished building in 1942. On 28 March 1943, while loading ammunition and supplies at Naples during World War II, the vessel caught fire and exploded. It was moored in the port of Naples in the area overlooking the district of Sant’Erasmo, while being loaded with arms and supplies, which included 1 000 tons of gas, 900 explosives, tanks and others, to be transported to Bizerte to supply war materials for the Italian armed forces stationed in Africa. It was been requisitioned by the Italian Regia Marina to be used to transport troops and war material. It had already made four crossings of the Mediterranean to bring supplies to the troops in Africa. In the early afternoon of 28 March 1943, a fire started possibly due to arson, which became uncontrollable. The fire reached the Caterina Costa's hold, causing a devastating explosion. The pier sank and a large number of buildings around were destroyed or badly damaged. Some ships nearby caught fire and sank while hot parts of the ship and tanks were thrown at great distance, finishing in via Atri and Piazza Carlo III. Other fragments reached the Market Square and Vomero while others set fire to the central station. Even today it is not known if the fire was an act of sabotage or an accident. The ship was loaded with guns, tanks, vehicles, ammunition and fuel. Some hundreds of Italian and German military were on board. As the Caterina Costa was ready to sail for the coast of Tunisia.
The rescue operation took place in a general chaos. Port authorities did not do what was more logical to do; to tow the ship further out to sea and sink it. Orders crossed other orders. The firemen ran but informed the imminent danger of explosion, they went away from ship. No one thought to send away the people from the port. A large group of people stayed at the harbour to see. They were unaware of the danger. Many soldiers who were on board, did not have time to save themselves, remaining trapped by the fire.
At 17h39 the fire reached the ammunition depots. The ship exploded with a deafening roar, similar to the outbreak of an atomic bomb. All the people who were standing on the pier were embossed away from the explosion. A piece of the ship shot down two houses to the Maddalena Bridge. The turret of a tank crashed through the roof of a building in Via Atri. In the port several buildings caught fire. Pieces of metal flew like bullets in all directions, reaching all corners of the city: Lavinaio, Granili, the trains in the central station, the AGIP fuel depots, Borgo Loreto. Some came to the Vomero, others went further, even falling Pianura and Soccavo.
The “Maschio Angioino” was hit by a tank piece; even now there are clear signs of the impact on the walls of the castle facing towards Piazza Municipio. The San Carlo Theatre was struck, which had destroyed the roof. The clock of bell tower of Sant’Eligio church stopped time of the outbreak.
The official casualties were 549, wounded over 3 000. Some witnesses told about a person who, as he walked to the square Port’Alba, was hit by a metal plate. The head ripped from the body. The body, though headless, continued to walk for several metres before it fell.
Admiral Lorenzo Gasparri, commander of the Fleet Destroyer Group, was among the casualties; he was killed by the explosion while trying to distance some barges laden with ammunitions from the blazing ship and he was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour.
Sources: History Page Italy, Alchetron, Claudio Ciccarone