The Deadliest Industrial Blast in America

In 1947, a ship fire in Texas triggered the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history. The explosion was so powerful that it registered on seismographs and caused a fifteen-foot tidal wave.

The disaster began when a cargo ship loaded with ammonium nitrate caught fire at a port. Because the blast destroyed much of the city, many people initially mistook the massive explosion for an atomic bomb. Thousands of residents were injured, and the death toll remains the highest of any industrial accident in the country. It serves as a haunting reminder of the volatility of chemical shipments stored near populated areas.