A Brief History
On March 1, 1939, the land version of an “Oops moment” happened at Hirakata, Osaka, when a Japanese Army ammunition dump exploded, killing 94 workers and soldiers.
Digging Deeper
Military operations are dangerous even when not in combat, with a variety of accidents that can cost lives, and dealing with high explosive munitions has caused major explosive accidents throughout military history. Some of these events include:
The Delft, Holland explosion of a gunpowder storehouse in 1654 that leveled the city and killed over 100 Dutch citizens.
The Birgu, Malta explosion of a gunpowder warehouse in 1806 that killed over 200 people.
The Port Chicago, California explosion of 1944, when dockside masses of munitions ready to be loaded onto ships exploded, sinking a ship and killing 320 mostly African American men.
The Severomorsk, Russia Disaster of 1984 that lasted four days of repeated explosions of naval missiles and torpedoes in a warehouse, costing 200 lives.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Bacon, John. The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism. Mariner Books, 2018.
Charles River Editors. The Port Chicago Disaster: The History of America’s Deadliest Homeland Incident during World War II. CreateSpace, 2015.
The featured image in this article, a painting by Egbert van der Poel (1621–1664) of A view of Delft with the explosion of 1654, is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929.
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