1944 – Apr 6, Naval Ammunition Depot explosion, bomb/mine loading area, Hastings, NE–8
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-7-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–8 Adams County Nebraska Historical Society. The Naval Ammunition Depot (webpage). 2015.
–8 Moran. Explosive Accident Summary: [WW] II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, 1992, 116.
Narrative Information
Adams County Nebraska Historical Society. The Naval Ammunition Depot (webpage):
“….The first test run of projectile loading was made July 1, 1943 and three days later on July Fourth, the first loaded ammunition came off the production lines ready for the fleet. Employment and production reached their maximum in June and July 1945, when the Depot was manned by 125 officers, 1,800 enlisted men, and 6,692 civilians. An additional 2,000 civilians were still working for construction companies…. Among the types of ammunition produced at the Hastings NAD during the war years were bombs, mines, rockets, 40mm shells and 16-inch projectiles.
“….during the early morning hours of April 6, a second explosion occurred in the bomb and mine loading area. One hundred thousand pounds of explosives blew up in a dual blast that occurred first in a boxcar being loaded and then in a cooling shed filled with mines and depth charges. Bodies of three persons were identified – Chester Arthur Curtis, Norris Elmer Frey, and Lida Sarah Mitchell – and buried along with the ashes of five others – Lois Lillian Nevins Adams, Vera E. Conant, Mary E. McQuaid, Keith Clark Mathiasen, and LaVerne L. Tompkins – in a little cemetery on the depot land, south of Inland. Their monument erected by fellow employees reads “They gave their lives that liberty might not perish.” Streets in the depot were named after these people also. This blast was felt as far away as Omaha and south into Kansas. Eyewitnesses said a blinding sheet of flame lighted up the entire sky. Glenvil, the town closest to the explosion was badly damaged. Every house in the village seemed to rock on its foundation. Downtown store fronts were shattered. Other nearby towns – Harvard, Fairfield and Clay Center – suffered considerable damage.”
Moran: “A…accident occurred in April of 1944 when Cooling Building 180, also barricaded on two sides, detonated, killing 8 and injuring 2. Two railcars alongside were involved for a total of 110,000 pounds of Torpex. Again, massive concrete fragments littered the area for a distance of 3,200 feet. Strangely, one man was killed by a missile at 1,300 feet. Severe structural damage to competent buildings occurred at 800 feet, weaker buildings such as warehouses were damaged at 1,700 feet. Due to a number of explosions of this nature, the U.S. Navy no longer uses Torpex.”
(Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992. pp. 115-116.)
Newspaper
Apr 6, AP: “Hastings, Neb., April 6 (AP) – An estimated hundred thousand pounds of high explosives – depth charges and mines – went up in a terrific blast at the Hastings naval ammunition depot today that shook the entire countryside for miles around, and claimed eight civilian depot employes as victims – three killed outright and five missing ‘presumed to be dead.’ Three workers who were in a heavily reinforced concrete cooling shed that contained the high explosives managed to survive but were in a critical condition.
“Capt. D. F. Patterson, commander at the depot, said a railroad box car beside the shed went up first, and the shed followed. He said 35 workers were treated for minor injuries.
“The dead were: Norris Frey, Glenvil;
Chester Curtis, Hastings;
Mrs. Myda Mitchell, Clay Center.
“Missing were: Mary McQuaid, Hastings;
Vera E. Conant, North Platte;
LaVerne J. Tompkins, Ayr;
Louis Adams, Grand Island; and
Keith Mathensain, Minden.
“Critically hurt were: George Armstrong,
Mable Wise and
Leona Tassieux, all of Hastings.
“Capt. Patterson said the cause of the blast was undetermined. He estimated the damage at $50,000 and said 35 other depot employes were given treatment for minor injuries. The missing he said ‘are presumed to be dead.’
“Glenvil, village on the outskirts of the depot, suffered heavily with buildings in the town collapsing. No one there was injured seriously.
“The blast was heard as far as 125 miles away. Six buildings were damaged on the west side of the square at Clay Center, about 15 miles from the depot, and the post-office, three business houses and schools were damaged at Fairfield, about six miles south of Glenvil.
“Armstrong, who was working in the shed, said he saw a ‘flash’ and headed for the door. By the time he got there the ‘wall was gone, and the next thing I knew I was in a pickup truck being taken to a hospital.
“The explosion shattered windows in about 20 stores in Hastings, an estimated 10½ miles from the explosion scene.
“Capt. Patterson…gave this report: ‘This explosion occurred at 1:20 a.m. first in a railroad box car that was on a siding beside a cooling shed for bombs and mines. This box car was being loaded. After the explosion of the box var the cooling shed exploded. It was filled with mines and depth charges. The cooling shed, about 100 by 100 feet, is built of concrete, heavily barricaded. Three people in the shed survived, but they are quite badly hurt.’….” (Associated Press. “Mighty Blast Rocks Hastings Navy Plant.” Beatrice Daily Sun, NE. 4-6-1944, p. 1.)
Sources
Adams County Nebraska Historical Society. The Naval Ammunition Depot (webpage). 2015. Accessed 12-1-2023 at: https://www.adamshistory.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30:nad&catid=2&Itemid=42
Associated Press. “Mighty Blast Rocks Hastings Navy Plant.” Beatrice Daily Sun, NE. 4-6-1944, p. 1. Accessed 4-7-2024 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/beatrice-daily-sun-apr-06-1944-p-1/
Moran, Edward P. Jr. Explosive Accident Summary: World War II. DoD Explosives Safety Board, Aug 1992. Accessed 4-19-2013 at: http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA507027