Aug. 12, 1944: 79 years ago, Aug 11 1944, 50 Black sailors chose to face mutiny charges [...]

79 years ago, Aug 11 1944, 50 Black sailors chose to face mutiny charges rather than load munitions at Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Contra Costa County after a disastrous munitions explosion in July left 320 dead, most of whom were Black enlisted men

Sailors at Port Chicago, where safety regulations were lax and training almost nonexistent, had been forced to load munitions at dangerously high speeds. On July 17, a massive explosion (equal to 2000 tons of TNT) occurred after bombs were loaded improperly onto the SS E.A. Bryan

320 people died in the blast, and many hundreds more were injured. Black sailors, who had been consistently assigned the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs, were a majority of the victims. On August 8, 328 men were ordered to begin loading munitions again; 258 Black sailors refused

On August 11, the striking sailors were told that their actions constituted mutiny. They were given the option of returning to work (with less severe punishment) or facing arrest and court-martial. While a majority returned to the docks, 50 refused and were charged with mutiny

Despite a vigorous public defense by the NAACP and much of the Black press, the sailors were found guilty and given sentences of between 8 and 15 years imprisonment and hard labor. All but one, however, were released shortly after the war’s end