The Texas City Disaster - 75 Years Later

This is a photograph of my grandfather, “Jim” (James John) Hickey, who was an employee of the Monsanto Chemical Company. He is pictured here, standing amid a wreckage of twisted pipes and mangled structural steel. On the reverse of the photograph is written, “J.J. Hickey 100 Area Ethylene Dept. Monsanto Co. Texas City April 19 - 1947.”?

Three days prior, on April 16, 1947, Jim lost his father-in-law (my grandmother's father and my great-grandfather), Frank Randall. Frank was a stevedore (longshoreman) who was working at the Port of Texas City, when the deadliest industrial disaster in United States history occurred. Also killed in the disaster were two of Jim’s brother-in-laws (my great-uncles), Harold Bogart, who was a craftsman at the Monsanto plant, and Robert "Bobby" Smith, who was a machinist.?

The tragedy, which is now known as the Texas City Disaster, began to unfold when the SS Grandcamp, a French tanker ship loaded with 2,500 tons of ammonium nitrate, caught fire in the Port of Texas City, TX. The chemical properties and hazards of ammonium nitrate were not understood by those involved in the response effort which led to the selection of ineffective fire fighting methods.

The fire continued to burn until a massive detonation of ammonium nitrate occurred. A mushroom cloud rose 2,000 feet into the air and two airplanes flying nearby were blown out of the sky. The blast from the explosion produced a 15-foot tidal wave that was detectable nearly 100 miles from the Texas shoreline. On land, the blast could be felt 250 miles away in Louisiana and it registered as an earthquake over 900 miles away in Denver, CO. Ten miles away, half the windows in Galveston were shattered, and nearly every outside surface in the city was covered in oily deposits. A 2-ton anchor from the Grandcamp was hurled 1.62 miles and was found lying in the bottom of a 10-foot-deep crater. Another anchor, weighing 5 tons, landed half a mile away at the entrance to the Texas City Dike. The following day, a subsequent explosion from a nearby cargo ship that was set on fire, sent a ship propeller flying into the air, causing it to land nearly a mile inland. In the immediate area surrounding the blast site, the equivalent of $1.1 billion (2019 USD) in damage occurred, destroying the Monsanto Chemical Company plant and surrounding buildings, homes, vehicles, and freight cars. Thousands were injured and hundreds of Monsanto employees and contractors were killed alongside hundreds of pedestrians and bystanders who, unaware of the explosive properties of ammonium nitrate had congregated to watch the firefighting effort. Among the dead was Texas City's fire chief, along with all but one of the city's 28-man volunteer fire department.?

Note: the ammonium nitrate aboard the Grandcamp did not originate in the Monsanto plant, nor was it destined for the Monsanto plant. Monsanto did not make or use ammonium nitrate in their process, but Monsanto’s plant was destroyed as a result of its proximity to the blast.

Many plant employees who survived the initial blast were burned alive as benzol, propane, and ethyl benzene poured from mangled pipes and ruptured storage tanks. Due to many bodily remains being unidentifiable, and all payroll records being destroyed, the exact death toll is unknown, but casualty estimates range from 550-600 lives lost.

Sadly, the Texas City disaster was not the first industrial disaster involving ammonium nitrate. In 1916, 115 people were killed in Kent, United Kingdom; in 1921, 500+ lost their lives in Oppau, Germany; and in 1942, 189 deaths resulted from an explosion in Tessenderlo, Belgium.

The Texas City Disaster led to changes in the way that ammonium nitrate was stored and transported and it also prompted the establishment of the Industry Mutual Aid System, a centrally coordinated emergency response agreement where industrial facilities like chemical plants and refineries offer aid to each other.

While these changes were good, unfortunately, ammonium nitrate tragedies continue even in modern times, despite past disasters being well-documented, and the properties of ammonium nitrate now being understood due to its use in commercial explosive applications (ANFO aka Ammonium Nitrate/Fuel Oil mixture) as well as its infamous use in the 1995 terrorist attack in Oklahoma City that killed 168 innocent people.

Ammonium nitrate explosions occurred in 2004 (Ryongchon, North Korea - 162 fatalities), 2015 (Tianjin, China - 173 fatalities), and 2020 (Beirut, Lebanon - 218 fatalities). Modern incidents have happened domestically as well–see West, Texas ammonium nitrate explosion that killed 15 and injured 160 in 2013.

As we approach the 75th anniversary of the Texas City Disaster, I wanted to write this in remembrance of my family members and the many others who lost their lives that day, and to raise awareness around chemical compounds like ammonium nitrate, and the need for education and strict safety measures.

After the passing of my great-grandfather in the Disaster, my grandfather continued to work for Monsanto until his retirement decades later. My father would also go on to spend his career working for a different chemical plant in Texas City. While I have spent my career working for contract companies, not directly as a plant employee, I am the fourth generation of my family to work in the industry and I am proud to honor the legacy of my lost family members by choosing a career in HSE (Health, Safety, and Environmental).

Dustin Hickey