1943 — Sep 17, Depth Charge Explosion, Naval Air Station, Norfolk, VA –26-30

— 40 Wikipedia. “List of accidents and incidents involving transport or storage of ammunition.”
— 30 Erickson. “Deadly WWII disaster hammers the home front in Hampton Roads.” 9-14-2018.
— 30 Lacano. “Gurney Edwards and the Day that Shook Norfolk.” Hampton Roads Naval Museum, 9-16-2017.
— 27 Moran. Explosive Accident Summary: [WW] II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, 1992, 129.
— 27 Ruthven Free Press (IA). “Funeral Services for Alfred Gates,” 9-29-1943, p. 1.
— 26 Daily Times-News. “Explosion Death Toll Reaches 26 as Seaman Dies.” 9-20-1943, p. 5.
— 25 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 285
— 25 Lockhart Post-Register, TX. “The Year in Review…Disasters,” 1-6-1944, p. 6.
— 24 Daily Times Herald, Carroll, IA. “24 Killed in Norfolk, Va. Blast.” 9-18-1943, p. 1.
–>24 Kimberlin. “After 70 years, Navy base blast fades from…” Virginia-Pilot, 12-3-2012.
— 24 Nat. Fire Protect. Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003).

Narrative Information

Kimberlin: “Almost 70 years ago, a 300-pound depth charge detonated at the Norfolk naval base, bringing World War II home in the deadliest way. The first bomb set off 23 more. In the space of a single gasp, bodies and buildings were blown to bits. Windows shattered as far as 8 miles away. All across Tidewater, eyes swiveled toward the base, where a column of red flames licked the clouds from the very sky….

“Until 11 o’clock, the morning of Sept. 17 was like any other. At that moment, a trolley of depth charges was weaving its way from a pier to the magazine. The silver canisters, the size of garbage cans, were loaded with Torpex, the Allies’ latest secret weapon. Developed by the British and rushed into production in America, Torpex was a cocktail of explosives more potent than the old bombs. It had hang time, an element that extended the pulse of its shock wave and its power to crack a submarine’s shell. But the formula could be finicky – as lethal for its handlers as its targets. On the trolley outside Helen’s building that day: two dozen depth charges packed with a ton and a half of Torpex.

“In the haste of wartime, they’d been stacked six to a trailer – two more than recommended – and no one had strapped down the load. The tow driver didn’t notice when one of the canisters slipped from its perch, wedging itself beneath the next cart in the train. A sentry saw it being dragged along the concrete, but by the time he got the driver’s attention, sparks had turned to smoke. Accounts varied on exactly what happened next. Some said the driver panicked, dropped his tow and took off to save his own skin. Others said he was running to get help.

“All agreed that Gurney Edwards, an assistant fire chief, appeared almost immediately. The canister detonated as Edwards was spraying it with a fire extinguisher, killing him instantly and igniting every bomb on the trolley. The blasts punched a crater 5 feet deep through the concrete. A wall of fire shot up 500 to 600 feet. The booms turned heads in Suffolk, 20 miles away….

“Thirty-three aircraft and at least 15 buildings were destroyed by the explosions and inferno that raced across the base. The exact number of casualties remains hard to pin down. A story in the next day’s Virginian-Pilot said 24 were killed, including one female sailor – the first in the newly formed WAVES division to die in the line of duty. The wounded were estimated at around 250 people, but some of those succumbed to their injuries in the days and weeks that followed.

“From that same newspaper story: ‘All available ambulances in Norfolk and Portsmouth were pressed into service, their sirens sounding a dirge along streets leading to and from the base to give the initial warning as to the extent of the catastrophe.’….

“More disasters seemed to settle the question, including a Torpex-fueled blast two months later that killed seven at an ammunition depot in Yorktown. Historians at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum say Torpex was soon replaced by a more stable explosive, but weapons handling remained dangerous – an unsung price paid at production plants, military installations, on board ships, railcars and tractor-trailers. One accident killed 320 people when munitions blew up during a ship-loading in California….” (Kimberlin, Joanne. “After 70 years, Navy base blast fades from memory.” Virginia-Pilot, Hampton Roads, 12-3-2012.)

Moran: “NAS Norfolk — Norfolk, VA — US — 9/17/43 — Trans [type] — Depth Bombs, AN-MK47 — Airfield Taxiway — 27 [dead] — 399 [injured]” (Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. “World War II Explosions, Navy Installations Ashore” table. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992, p. 129.)

Wikipedia: “Undoubtedly, the loudest noise heard and one of the most devastating Navy accidents in Hampton Roads during World War II occurred at 11 AM September 17, 1943. A NAS ordnance department truck was pulling four trailers loaded with depth charges on the taxiway between NAS and the NOB piers. Each trailer was designed to carry four aerial depth charges. To save time, two additional charges were loaded on top of each trailer. Compounding the problem, the charges on top were not properly chained down. One of the charges slipped loose and became wedged between the trailer and the ground. The friction of being dragged against the road caused the charge to begin smoking.

“An alert Marine sentry spotted the smoke and notified the driver who immediately stopped the truck and ran to a nearby fire station. Assistant Fire Chief Gurney E. Edwards hurried to the scene and attempted to cool down the charges with a fire extinguisher. As soon as he started his attempt, the first depth charge exploded, killing him instantly. For several minutes, charges continued to explode. The blasts shattered windows up to seven miles (11 km) away (10 km) and were heard in Suffolk, 20 miles (30 km) distant.

“In the center of the explosion was a group of old enlisted men’s barracks opposite the dispensary, the vicinity of the current location of V-88. A total of 18 buildings were destroyed by the blast. They were so badly damaged that they had to be razed. Thirty-three aircraft were also destroyed with a monetary damage of $1.8 million.

“According to official histories, the shock of the explosion found people scaling fences that had been considered man-proof and impossible to climb. Other persons found themselves some time later with shoes in hand, waiting for street cars, with no memory of the event. The casualties amounted to 426, including 40 dead. Among them was Seaman 2nd Class Elizabeth Korensky, the only woman killed and the first WAVE to die in the line of duty in the war.” (Wikipedia. “Naval Station Norfolk.”) [There are no source citations for this section of the write-up, but much of it appears to be based upon the Joanne Kimberlin article cited herein, except for the fatality figure.]

Newspapers at the Time:

Sep 18: “Norfolk, Va. (AP) – A train of depth charges, touched off by fire, caused the tremendous explosion at the Norfolk naval air station that killed 24 persons and injured 250, an eyewitness disclosed today….This informant said he saw a train of six small trailer type conveyances, hauled by a truck, moving toward a hangar. His attention was drawn to fire burning on one of the trailers, each of which was loaded with four depth charges. At the same time, he saw the truck driver disconnect the truck from the train and move ahead, and saw a station fire-engine race up. He had seen depth charges exploded by fire on a previous occasion, the witness said, and knew an explosion could not be prevented. As he hurled himself o the ground, the depth charges went off with a mighty blast, killing the fireman and reducing the fire truck to scrap.

“The death toll would have been much higher if the explosion had occurred five minutes later, the witness said, as a long line of enlisted men would have been passing the spot enroute to mid-day mess….Thirteen of the 250-odd injured were reported officially to be critically hurt.

“Among the dead, all naval enlisted personnel with but one exception, was seaman second class Elizabeth Korensky of Philadelphia, one of eh first members of the WAVES to be killed on active duty….

“The navy kept mum on the cause of the area’s worst disaster since the crash of the Italian dirigible Roma in 1922, with a loss of 34 lives, except to say witnesses had informed those in authority that the explosion originated in ammunition that was being moved.

“Norfolk police said they had been informed that depth charges of the type carried by the navy’s anti-submarine patrol bombers had exploded, and civilian sources said the blast touched off a truck cargo of aviation gasoline.” (Daily Times Herald, Carroll, IA. “24 Killed in Norfolk, Va. Blast.” 9-18-1943, p. 1.)

Sep 20: “Norfolk, Va., Sept. 20 – (AP) – The death toll in Friday’s ammunition explosion at the Norfolk naval air station rose to 26 with the death last night of Henry Nowocian. Seaman Second Class, U.S.N.R., of Buffalo, N. Y. More than 30 of the 200-odd persons injured in the blast and fire remained In critical condition today.

“A naval board of inquiry today continued its efforts to determine officially the cause of the explosion, which eye-witnesses have attributed to sparks set off by the friction of a depth charge dragging behind one of a six-dolly train of 24 charges in transit from a hangar to planes.” (Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC. “Explosion Death Toll Reaches 26 as Seaman Dies.” 9-20-1943, 5.)

Sources

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Daily Times Herald, Carroll, IA. “24 Killed in Norfolk, Va. Blast.” 9-18-1943, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=162011863&sterm=norfolk+explosion

Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC. “Explosion Death Toll Reaches 26 as Seaman Dies.” 9-20-1943, p. 5. http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=45270485&sterm=norfolk

Erickson, Mark St. John. “Deadly WWII disaster hammers the home front in Hampton Roads.” Daily Press, 9-14-2018. Accessed 5-17-2020 at: https://www.dailypress.com/history/dp-nws-wwii-naval-air-station-explosion-20180912-story.html

Kimberlin, Joanne. “After 70 years, Navy base blast fades from memory.” Virginia-Pilot, Hampton Roads, 12-3-2012. Accessed 4-25-2013 at: http://hamptonroads.com/2012/12/after-70-years-navy-base-blast-fades-memory

Lacano, Julius J., Hampton Roads Naval Museum Educator. “Gurney Edwards and the Day that Shook Norfolk.” Hampton Roads Naval Museum, 9-16-2017. Accessed 5-16-2020 at: http://hamptonroadsnavalmuseum.blogspot.com/2017/09/gurney-edwards-and-day-that-shook.html

Lockhart Post-Register, TX. “The Year in Review…Disasters,” 1-6-1944, p. 6. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=158478718

Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992. Accessed 4-19-2013: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA507027

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)

Ruthven Free Press, IA. “Funeral Services for Alfred Gates,” 9-29-1943, p.1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=18354204

Wikipedia. “List of accidents and incidents involving transport or storage of ammunition.” 5-14-2020 edit. Accessed 5-16-2020 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_transport_or_storage_of_ammunition#cite_note-1