The date was July 17, 1944. The place: the munitions facility at Port Chicago, California, 35 miles north of San Francisco. African-American Navy personnel units had been assigned to the dangerous work of loading munitions, with loading happening around the clock.
On the evening of July 17, empty merchant ship SS Quinault Victory was prepared for loading on her maiden voyage. The SS E.A. Bryan, another merchant ship, had just returned from her first voyage and was loading across the platform from Quinault Victory. The holds were packed with high explosive and incendiary bombs, depth charges, and ammunition - 4,606 tons of ammunition in all. There were sixteen rail cars on the pier with another 429 tons. Working in the area were 320 cargo handlers, crewmen and sailors.
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