Video

Video by Petty Officer 3rd Class William Bennett IV

SECNAV Exonerates Sailors Charged in Port Chicago Disaster

Office of the Secretary of the Navy

July 17, 2024 | 3:35

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 17, 2024) Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro signs two different orders, one for the General Courts Martial and one for the Summary Courts Martial, to set aside all 256 Sailors convicted as part of the Port Chicago incident July 17, 2024. On the evening of July 17, 1944, munitions being loaded onto cargo vessel Steam Ship E.A. Bryan detonated, killing 320 Sailors and civilians, and injuring an additional 390. Most of the fallen were African American men, many of their bodies unrecognizable because of the explosion Surviving Sailors, traumatized by the blast, unsafe working conditions, lack of training, and fearful for their lives, refused to continue loading munitions under said conditions. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist William Bennett IV)