Caching & Sightseeing in Texas City, TX 4/22/2010

This morning we took the short drive into Texas City to do some caching and to take a look at the city. We did a few NRV caches at places like CVS, a small park, a deserted barber shop, a radio station and a baseball field. We did a virtual cache that took us to Texas City Memorial Park a simply put beautiful small park that remembers the Texas City Disaster, the war veterans and young children who have passed away at an early age.

The Texas City Disaster was a major 20th-century industrial accident in Texas City, Texas (United States). The tragedy took place on April 16, 1947 and started with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp in the Port of Texas City. The fire detonated approximately 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate and the resulting chain reaction of fires and explosions killed at least 581 people. These events also triggered the first ever class action lawsuit against the United States government, under the then-recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), on behalf of 8,485 victims.
The Grandcamp was a recently re-activated 437-foot-long Liberty ship. Originally christened the SS Benjamin R. Curtis in Los Angeles in 1942, the ship served in the Pacific theatre and was mothballed in Philadelphia after World War II. In a Cold War gesture, the ship was assigned to the French Line to assist in the rebuilding of Europe. Along with ammonium nitrate—a very common cargo on the high seas—it was carrying small arms ammunition, machinery, and on the deck bales of sisal twine. The SS High Flyer was another ship in the harbor, about 600 feet (200 m) away from the SS Grandcamp. The High Flyer contained an additional 961 tons of ammonium nitrate[1] and 3,600,000 pounds (1,800 tons) of sulfur. The ammonium nitrate in the two ships and in the adjacent warehouse was fertilizer on its way to farmers in Europe. The Grandcamp had arrived from Houston, Texas, where the port authority did not permit loading of ammonium nitrate.
The 32.5% ammonium nitrate, used as fertilizer and in high explosives, was manufactured in Nebraska and Iowa and shipped to Texas City by rail before being loaded on the Grandcamp.
It was manufactured in a patented explosives process, mixed with clay, petrolatum, rosin and paraffin to avoid moisture caking. It was also packaged in paper sacks, then transported and stored at temperatures that increased its chemical activity. Longshoremen reported the bags were warm to the touch prior to loading.
Around 08:10, smoke was spotted in the cargo hold of the Grandcamp. Attempts at control failed as a red glow returned after each effort.
Shortly before 9:00 AM, the Captain ordered his men to steam the hold, a firefighting method where steam is piped in to put out fires in the hope of preserving the cargo. Meanwhile, the fire had attracted a crowd of spectators along the shoreline, who believed they were a safe distance away.[3] Spectators noted that the water around the ship was already boiling from the heat, an indication of runaway chemical reactions. The cargo hold and deck began to bulge as the forces increased inside.
At 09:12, the ammonium nitrate reached an explosive threshold and the vessel then detonated, causing great destruction and damage throughout the port. The tremendous blast sent a 15-foot (4.5 m) wave that was detectable over nearly 100 miles (160 km) of the Texas shoreline. The blast leveled nearly 1,000 buildings on land. The Grandcamp explosion destroyed the Monsanto Chemical Company plant and resulted in ignition of refineries and chemical tanks on the waterfront. Falling bales of burning twine added to the damage while the Grandcamp's anchor was hurled across the city. Sightseeing airplanes flying nearby had their wings shorn off [4], forcing them out of the sky. Ten miles away, people in Galveston were forced to their knees; windows were shattered in Houston, Texas, 40 miles (60 km) away. People felt the shock 250 miles (400 km) away in Louisiana. The explosion blew almost 6,350 tons of the ship's steel into the air, some at supersonic speed. Official casualty estimates came to a total of 567, but many victims were burned to ashes or literally blown to bits, and the official total is believed to be an underestimate. The entire volunteer fire department of Texas City was killed in the initial explosion, and with the fires raging, first responders from other areas were initially unable to reach the site of the disaster.
The first explosion ignited ammonium nitrate cargo in the High Flyer. The crews spent hours attempting to cut the High Flyer free from its anchor and other obstacles, but without success. After smoke had been pouring out of its hold for over five hours, and about fifteen hours after the explosions aboard the Grandcamp, the High Flyer blew up demolishing the nearby SS Wilson B. Keene, killing at least two more people and increasing the damage to the port and other ships with more shrapnel and fire.
The Texas City Disaster is generally considered the worst industrial accident in American history. Witnesses compared the scene to the fairly recent images of the 1943 Air Raid on Bari and the much larger devastation at Nagasaki. The official death toll was 581. Of the dead, 405 were identified and 63 have never been identified. These 63 were placed in a memorial cemetery in the north part of Texas City near Moses Lake. A remaining 113 people were classified as missing, for no identifiable parts were ever found. This figure includes firefighters who were aboard Grandcamp when it exploded. There is some speculation that there may have been hundreds more killed but uncounted, including visiting seamen, non-census laborers and their families, and an untold number of travelers. However, there were some survivors as close as 70 feet from the dock. The victims' bodies quickly filled the local morgue, and several bodies were laid out in the local high school's gymnasium for identification by loved ones.
Over 5,000 people were injured, with 1,784 admitted to twenty-one area hospitals. More than 500 homes were destroyed and hundreds damaged, leaving 2,000 homeless. The seaport was destroyed and many businesses were flattened or burned. Over 1,100 vehicles were damaged and 362 freight cars were obliterated—the property damage was estimated at $100 million.[5]
A 2 ton anchor of Grandcamp was hurled 1.62 miles (2.61 km) and found in a 10-foot crater. It now rests in a memorial park (see picture). The other main 5 ton anchor was hurled 1/2 mile to the entrance of the Texas City Dike, and rests on a Texas shaped memorial at the entrance. Burning wreckage ignited everything within miles, including dozens of oil storage tanks and chemical tanks. The nearby city of Galveston, Texas, was covered with an oily fog which left deposits over every exposed outdoor surface.
Some of the deaths and damage in Texas City were due to the destruction and subsequent burning of several chemical plants (including Monsanto and Union Carbide), oil storage, and other facilities near the explosions. Twenty-seven of the twenty-eight members of Texas City's volunteer fire department and three members of the Texas City Heights Volunteer Fire Department were killed after an attempt to extinguish the fire on the first ship in what was one of the worst 20th century firefighter tragedies. More firefighters died at one time than had ever died in any previous fire in the nation. One firefighter, Fred Dowdy, who had not responded to the initial call, coordinated other firefighters arriving from communities up to 60 miles away. Eventually two hundred firefighters arrived, from as far away as Los Angeles. Fires resulting from the cataclysmic events were still burning a week after the disaster, and the process of body recovery took nearly a month. All four fire engines of Texas City were twisted and burned hulks.
The disaster gained attention from the national media. Offers of assistance came in from all over the country. Several funds were established to handle donations, particularly the Texas City Relief Fund, created by the city's mayor Curtis Trahan.[6] One of the largest fund raising efforts for the city and the victims of the disaster was organized by Sam Maceo, one of the two brothers who ran organized crime in Galveston at the time. Maceo organized a large-scale benefit on the island featuring some of the most famous entertainers of the time including Phil Harris, Frank Sinatra, and Ann Sheridan. In the end the Texas City Relief Fund raised more than $1 million ($10.4 million in today's terms). Payouts for fire insurance claims reached nearly $4 million ($38.5 million in today's terms).
Within days after the disaster, major companies that had lost facilities in the explosions announced plans to rebuild in Texas City and even expand their operations. Some companies implemented policies of retaining all of the hourly workers who had previously worked at destroyed facilities with plans to utilize them in the rebuilding. In all the expenditures for industrial reconstruction were estimated to have been approximately $100 million ($974 million in today's terms).
Hundred of lawsuits were filed as a result of the disaster. Many of them were combined into Elizabeth Dalehite, et al. v. United States, under the recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). On April 13, 1950, the district court found the United States responsible for a litany of negligent acts of omission and commission by 168 named agencies and their representatives in the manufacture, packaging, and labeling of ammonium nitrate, further compounded by errors in transport, storage, loading, fire prevention, and fire suppression, all of which led to the explosions and the subsequent carnage. On June 10, 1952, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned this decision, finding that the United States maintained the right to exercise its own "discretion" in vital national matters. The Supreme Court affirmed that decision (346 U.S. 15, June 8, 1953), in a 4-to-3 opinion, noting that the district court had no jurisdiction under the federal statute to find the U.S. government liable for "negligent planning decisions" which were properly delegated to various departments and agencies. In short, the FTCA clearly exempts "failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty", and the Court found that all of the alleged acts in this case were discretionary in nature.

We walked around the park reading all the information there and taking pictures and it took us about 20 minutes to walk through the whole park. As you can see by the description it was a terrible disaster and you also can see how lovely the park is.


The next interesting stop was at a huge park in the city along the Galveston Bay called Bay City Park which consisted of several smaller parks. The whole park was 50 acres of land and 50 acres of fresh water lagoon. The first section we visited was Sundance Gardens a small section that had some benches, tables, many many lovely flowers and a statue. Next was the Wings of Heritage display which was a display of a stainless steel replica of one of the original aircraft, a 1913 Burgess and Curtis Biplane, and a F-100 Saber Jet which was acquired through the U.S. Air Force in Arizona. The F-100 Saber Jet was shipped to the City in several large components. Upon arrival, it was assembled and painted by a City work crew. A historical marker in the park honors the First Aero Squadron in the United States, which was based here from 1913 to 1915. Next was Anchor Park where a plaque and the anchor of the freighter S.S. Grandcamp stand at the flagpole commemorating the great disaster of 1947 when the freighter exploded in the harbor. Next it was up to the top of the hurricane dike and Halfmoon Shoal Lighthouse which is a scale-model replica of the lighthouse, which stood in Galveston Bay from 1854 to 1900. Inside the structure there are displays providing facts and photos of the Texas City bay shore facilities and wildlife. As we drove along the top of the dike we watched the wind surfers out in the bay.

After we finished caching we drove around the downtown area which by the way looked very depressed as there was countless empty run down buildings. We saw the very lovey Doyle Convention Center, several wall murals, the old Showboat Theater, a firefighter statue entitled "The Protector", the Texas City H.S. whose nickname was "The Fighting Stingrees" and who were 1997 & 1999 Class AAAA Division 1 State Football Champions and Noble Park where there was a caboose, locomotive, depot and information sign.

After we finished we drove back to the coach and stopped at DQ as they are having a 25th birthday special.....buy 1 Blizzard at regular price get another for 25c. Then it was back to the coach for the day. Well until tomorrow we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick