Port Chicago Explosion: 320 Men Killed, 202 Black Sailors

On July 17, 1944, an explosion at Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California kills 320 men, 202 of them Black enlisted men who did nearly all the dangerous ammunition loading under white officers. Black sailors had complained for months about unsafe conditions and officers betting on which divisions could load fastest. The explosion is the deadliest home-front disaster of WWII and disproportionately devastates the Black enlisted workforce.