Compiled History by Ewa Historian John Bond
Big historic blast explosions in Pearl Harbor
Hawaii’s largest explosive disasters are the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941 and
the May 1944 West Loch explosion.
USS Arizona 1941 – It was not the Japanese bomb but the ammunition — hundreds of thousands of pounds of ammunition that caused the massive explosion.
At approximately 8:10 AM, December 7, 1941 the Arizona was struck by a 1,760-pound (800-kg) projectile. The impact caused munitions and fuels to ignite, creating a massive explosion that lifted the battleship out of the water. More than 1,170 crewmen were killed. The explosion touched off fierce fires that burned for two days; debris showered down on Ford Island in the vicinity.
The forward deck of the Arizona was struck by a 1,760-pound bomb that triggered a massive explosion, lifted the 33,000-ton vessel out of the water and killed 1,177 sailors and Marines instantly. “It wasn’t the bomb itself that created the giant explosion. It was her own ammunition — hundreds of thousands of pounds of ammunition, exploding all at the same time,” Jay Blount, spokesman for the Pearl Harbor National Memorial tells TIME. The ship burned for two and a half days after the initial attack. Blount says that temperatures reached as high as 8000°F — more than three times as hot as lava spurting out of Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano, which erupted last year.
West Loch 1944 - The West Loch Disaster was an accident during World War II at Pearl Harbor. The first explosion occurred just after 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 21, 1944, in a staging area for Landing Ships, Tank (LSTs) and amphibious assault ships in West Loch. Explosions and fire spread among the ships being prepared for Operation Forager, the invasion of the Mariana Islands. Over 24 hours, six LSTs sank, 163 naval personnel died, and 396 were injured. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Loch_disaster
Port Chicago 1944- The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion that occurred on July 17, 1944, at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California. Munitions detonated while being loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for the Pacific Theater of Operations, killing 320 sailors and civilians and injuring 390 others. In all, the munitions on the pier and in the ship contained the equivalent of approximately 2,000 short tons (1,800 t) of TNT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chicago_disaster
Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot 1926- On July 10, 1926, lightning struck one of the explosives storage structures during a thunderstorm in Lake Denmark, NJ. As a result, several million pounds of explosives detonated over a period of two or three days. This caused $70,000,000 in damage (approximately $1 billion today), massive structural devastation (187 of 200 buildings destroyed), and military and civilian casualties. As a result of a full-scale Congressional investigation, Congress directed the establishment of the Armed Forces Explosives Safety Board to provide oversight on every aspect of explosives under the control of the US Armed Forces. http://thevane.gawker.com/july-10-1926-the-day-nature-blew-up-a-town-in-new-jer-1602586498
Halifax Explosion 1917- was a disaster that occurred in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the morning of 6 December 1917. SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship laden with high explosives, collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbour to Bedford Basin. A fire on board the French ship ignited her cargo, causing a massive explosion that devastated the Richmond district of Halifax. Approximately 2,000 people were killed by the blast, debris, fires, or collapsed buildings, and an estimated 9,000 others were injured. The blast was the largest human-made explosion at the time, releasing the equivalent energy of roughly 2.9 kilotons of TNT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion
2020 Beirut explosion- On 4 August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the port of the city of Beirut, Lebanon, accidentally exploded, causing at least 180 deaths, 6,000 injuries, US$10–15 billion in property damage, and leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless. Around 2,750 tons of the substance had been stored in a warehouse without proper safety measures for six years. The blast occurred when fireworks stored in the same building caught fire and detonated the ammonium nitrate. The explosion, equivalent to around 1.1 kilotons of TNT (4.6 TJ) was detected by the US Geological Survey as a seismic event of magnitude 3.3; was felt in Turkey, Syria, Israel, and parts of Europe; and was heard in Cyprus more than 250 km (160 mi) away. It is considered to be one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Beirut_explosion
The Beirut explosion was not a result of military munitions but shows the blast pressure wave effect that did enormous damage miles away.
10 KM (6.2 miles) away from the explosion site and the glass of buildings were shattered.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1290671474269986822
https://izispicy.com/img/img13/20200805/gifs/huge_explosion_in_port_of_beirut_lebanon_23.gif
