Post by KG on Sept 8, 2010 19:45:31 GMT
The EXPLOSION OF THE S.S. FORT STIKINE
The Fort Stikine, a coal-burner, was built in `forty -two,
Managed by the Port Line with a hardy crew,
Canadian built - a liberty ship, she sailed from Birkenhead,
Joining with a convoy, to Gibraltar then Port Said.
Her discharging port was Bombay in February forty-four,
Risking many perils to reach there in the war,
Her cargo was explosives stowed within the hold,
Plus six score of ingots - each two stone of gold.
A thousand drums of oil with cotton underlaid,
Volatile munitions of highly dangerous grade,
Scrap iron too was plentiful loaded down below,
The making of a bomb then - waiting there to blow.
At her berth in Bombay with many ships about,
Fear was raised on board when someone gave a shout,
A fire took hold so quickly which rapid took a grip,
Discretion used to scarper and abandon ship.
An explosion sent her boiler five cables length away,
Many near-by vessels were sunk or scrapped that day,
Shells, gold bars and oil drums with several bits of mast,
Flaming bales of cotton hurled up with the blast.
Shanties of the local slums turned kindling at a stroke,
Three days to douse the fires underneath the smoke,
Thousands killed or wounded emanating from..
The cargo of a freighter that turned into a bomb.
Joe Earl. June 2010
Emergency response teams needed three days to control the fire. 8,000 men took seven months to remove the 500,000 tons of debris that the SS Fort Stikine scattered when she exploded, and to repair the damage her explosion did to the docks. Official records place the death toll at 740, 476 of whom were military personnel. 1,800 people were injured as a result of the explosion and a total of 27 vessels were sunk or damaged in the docks.
The Docks Explosion was the result of a series of mistakes and miscalculations on the part of everyone involved. The Number 2 hold of the SS Fort Stikine contained 769 tons of raw cotton, timber and scrap iron. The compartment above this contained leaking drums of oil, 124 bars of gold, and 168 tons of Category A explosives. Altogether, three of the SS Fort Stikine’s five holds contained a combination of highly flammable raw cotton, sensitive explosives, and fuel. Together, these would prove to be a deadly mix.
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