Farragut’s Press NEWSLETTER OF THE MARE ISLAND HISTORIC PARK FOUNDATION MUSEUM
A 501(c) (3) Charitable Organization
September, 2011
After the clean-up from the explosion was finished, the white naval personnel were granted 30 day survivors’ leave. None of the African-American seamen, including those who had been wounded or hospitalized, were granted any leave. Others had requested transfer to combat duty aboard ships at sea. None of those transfers ever took place. On 31 July 1944, the Fourth and Eighth Divisions were transferred to the Ryder Street Barracks in Vallejo on Sonoma Street across from the ammunition loading depot on the southern end of Mare Island. Now there was a great deal of concern that they would be forced to load ammunition at Mare Island. Most did not want to be involved in such hazardous work without proper training, especially since the explosion. Fear was a motivating factor. Many of the men turned to Seamen First Class Joe Small,23, one of the oldest enlisted men, a winch operator at Port Chicago, a natural leader and asked what he was going to do. His response was that he was not going back to loading ammunition. Some other knowledgeable men also indicated they did not want to load ammunition and then the idea of a work stoppage began to form. The hope was that such an action would force the Navy to do something about working conditions or, possibly, transfer the men to other jobs. On August 8 the men were ordered to form up and Small was to the left to lead cadence. They knew at one point if they were ordered to turn right they were going to the parade ground and if ordered to turn left they were going to the ferry which went to the loading
Port Chicago Mutiny Actually Occurs at Mare Island Shortly after 10 p.m. on 17 July 1944, the worst home front explosion to occur during World War II took place at Port Chicago on Suisun Bay just across from Benicia, California. Two military cargo ships, the S.S. E.A. Bryan and the S.S. Quinalt Victory were being loaded with ammunition and when the explosion occurred, the two ships were blown to smithereens , the base was wrecked, the nearby town was nearly leveled and 320 men were killed, 202 of whom were African American ammunition loaders. The deaths of these African-Americans accounted for more than 15% of all African-Americans killed during WWII. The Port Chicago explosion was the largest explosion in the continental US during the war. Port Chicago was an important supply depot for the navy in the Pacific. Thousands of tons of ammunition were loaded at these docks during the war. All of the men who handled the ammunition were AfricanAmerican and all of their officers were white. All of the seamen were trained to serve at sea, none were trained to handle ammunition. They were told that the bombs were harmless because they had not been armed or were defused, and it was common for the different crews to compete to see who could load the most ammunition fastest. The impetus for this competition was that the officers would bet with each other, for what then might be considered significant sums of money, that their crew could load the most. There were many complaints from the seamen about the working conditions and the inherent dangers. The longshoremen’s union warned the Navy that there would be a disaster if they continued to use untrained men to load the ammunition. The union even offered to send their men to train the seamen. The response to all the complaints was orders to load more tonnage in less time. And so on that fateful day in July 1944 the explosion, which all had been warning would happen, occurred. They were loading 650 pound incendiary bombs with the fuses installed which was considered very dangerous “hot cargo.”
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Mare Island Museum Hours 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Weekdays 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. First and Third Weekends Tel: (707) 557-4646 Shipyard tours by appointment, please call: (707) 664-4746 or (707) 280-5742
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Farragut’s Press dock for ammunition. The lieutenant gave the command to turn left and suddenly the whole rank stopped and did not move. Small was ordered to the front and asked if he was going back to work and he said he was not. Another man said, “If Small don’t go, we’re not going either.” That made Small the leader. Before the men were ordered into the recreation room and questioned individually, the chaplain tried to persuade the men to go to work . Most refused, even when told they would face severe penalties. Instructions were then given to the Second and Eighth Divisions to order their men to work. It is not clear whether a direct order was given or if they were asked if they were willing to work. Most balked Not all the men were talked to, but at the end of the day of the 328 men in the three divisions, 258 refused to work and were imprisoned on a barge in the Napa River. Civilian stevedores were brought in to load the ship The men were kept in inadequate quarters, cramped and smelly. Fights broke out and there was, by the end of the three days, a near chaotic situation. Small and the other men who were responsible for keeping order decided to call a meeting. Small spoke to the men and told them if they stuck together and obeyed the guards there was little the Navy could do to them. This meeting was later noted in the court as evidence that Small was the leader of the mutiny. On 11 August the men were marched off the barge and onto the baseball field. They were addressed by Admiral Wright, commander of the Twelfth Naval District, who claimed that they were mutinous cowards who did not want to fight the enemy and that “the hazards of facing a firing squad are far greater than the hazards of handling ammunition.” The men were shocked. After this, all of the Eighth Division decided to go back to work and all but forty-four men in the Second and Fourth Divisions agreed to go back to duty. The next day those four were joined by six others who failed to show up for duty after agreeing to work. Admiral Wright had spoken to a few of the sailors when he addressed them and determined their refusal to work was because they were scared after the Port Chicago explosion. However he recommended that the 208 who had agreed to return to work be given dishonorable discharges and the 50 who still refused to work be charged with mutiny for refusing to obey direct orders.
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The recommendations were forwarded to Washington and the Department of the Navy. Secretary James Forrestal advised President Roosevelt of the reports and reiterated that “mass fear” had motivated the sailors’ actions. He also advised the President that he was sending white crews to work at Port Chicago and Mare Island loading ammunition so there would be no “semblance of discrimination against negroes (sic).” Roosevelt decided that the 208 should be given nominal sentences, but said nothing about the other 50, although the original statement was that the fear had motivated all of the 258. Roosevelt also made his wife, Eleanor, aware of the situation since she was a strong proponent for the racially oppressed and thus a real plus in his quest for votes among minorities. Her feelings would become apparent later. In early September the 50 were charged with mutiny and their court martial began on 14 September at Treasure Island. The Navy touted it as the first mutiny trial of WWII and the largest ever in U.S. Naval history. An official observer of the trial was a representative of the NAACP and later a Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall. Unlike other courts martial the press was encouraged to cover this trial fully and several wire services reported daily on the proceedings which lasted 32 days. The end result was that all 50 men were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms of 15 years, reduced in rank and given dishonorable discharges. The board met to consider mitigating circumstances and one 17 year-old was recommended for clemency. Admiral Wright later reduced the sentences of 24 of the men to 12 years, eleven others had their sentences reduced to eight years, but ten of the men, including Joe Small, were still to be imprisoned for 15 years. The 208 who had agreed to return to work were never put to work and were given summary courts martial with sentences of forfeiture of three month’s pay and bad conduct discharges. There was an outrage among the African-American communities in the Bay Area which had dramatically
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Farragut’s Press increased during the war. Thurgood Marshall while attending the trial was already formulating plans for an appeal. Upon his return to New York Marshall wrote to secretary of the Navy Forrestal asking why only African-Americans were assigned to loading ammunition; why the men were not trained to load ammunition; why they were forced to compete against each other; why they had not been given leave; and why they could not be promoted to higher ratings. Forrestal refused to respond to the questions on training and competition. He said there were whites loading ammunition at other munitions depots and that the experience of the Navy was the best way to deal men after an explosion was to immediately return them to duty so as to not build up “emotional and mental barriers.” He avoided the discrimination issue. 1944 was an election year and Roosevelt was courting the African-American vote. By January 1945 African-American publications had editorials about the trial and there was widespread outrage. Thousands signed petitions to have the convictions reversed. In April 1945 Eleanor Roosevelt sent Forrestal a copy of the NAACP pamphlet with the hope that “special care will be taken with these boys”. This campaign found support in many different regions of the country. By August 1945 the Japanese had surrendered, the war hysteria had become muted and the severe sentences no longer were deemed appropriate. Captain Harold Stassen (later a Presidential candidate) recommended that the sentences be reduced to two years for the men with good conduct records and three years for the others. Credit was to be given for the time already served. Meanwhile because of Port Chicago and other protests which involved racial factors, the Navy decided that segregation was no longer a wise policy. African-American sailors should be spread throughout the service which made collective action by this group no longer possible. Now everyone became an advocate of this “enlightened policy” though no one ever discussed the rationale behind it.In June 1945 the Navy discontinued segregation at its training facilities and officers were told to rate and promote African –Americans exactly as they would white sailors. In January 1946 the Navy released 47 of the Port Chicago prisoners. (two were hospitalized and one
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had a bad conduct record) The men were released from prison, but not from the Navy. In small groups they were put on ships to the South Pacific and sailed back and forth from port to port with no duties. It was considered a probationary period. Then they were released to return to families. The men received discharges under honorable conditions, but the convictions still stood. Ironically when President Truman integrated the armed services in 1948 with the stroke of a pen, the Navy, which had been the most segregated, was already integrated. In the 1990s three of the survivors were still alive. The Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center started a drive to get pardons for the survivors. One man felt he had never done anything to require a pardon. A second was more interested in getting equal compensation for those killed at Port Chicago (Negros received $3000, whites got $5000), but a third, Eddie Meeks decided he would request a pardon. With the help of Congressman George Miller’s office, Mr. Meeks was granted a pardon on 23 December 1999 by President Bill Clinton. Many still feel that this was less than adequate, that all the men should have had their convictions vacated because of the racial overtones and the extremely hazardous work conditions under which the men were forced to labor. And so it was because of an incident that took place at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, not at Port Chicago, that the U.S. Navy was the first service to end segregation and allow access to all ratings to African-Americans. As a footnote to this story, it was later determined the cause of the explosion was a mine loaded with Torpex, a highly volatile explosive. The formulation for Torpex was later changed so it would not explode simply because of rough handling.
Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
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Farragut’s Press Port Chicago Becomes Laboratory
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was carefully examined. Destruction in other areas was also studied All this information was combined in a report over 600 pages long describing various aspects of the explosion and the consequences. This knowledge was later used in planning for the use of the A-bombs which were dropped on Japan ending World War II.
According to David Caul of Napa, a researcher, writer and specialist on the Manhattan Project, there was an unexpected consequence to the explosion at Port Chicago on July 17, 1944 which was the largest explosion in the continental United states during the Second World war Nothing New Under the Sun! While working on the Manhattan Project to design the atomic bombs, the scientists had studied large One of the major problems on Mare Island is the theft of accidental explosions in the kiloton range. The copper – wire, downspouts, pipe and anything and scientists wanted to know what the destructive power everything thieves can find made of this metal. A new of a kiloton bomb was on different structures and phenomenon? Definitely not!! terrains. Their studies included an explosion in 1917 in As reported in the San Francisco Call on 1 February Halifax, Nova Scotia. However these studies were 1899, one Martin Skouglund alias Martin Lund, was based solely on historical records whose accuracy could arrested and believed to be the ringleader of a gang which be called into question based on the scientific had been “systematically pilfering copper and brass knowledge of the time in which the explosions castings from the navy yard,” and was placed in the City occurred. Prison before being turned over to the United States When word of the Port Chicago blast reached Los Marshal and being tried in The United States District Alamos, the scientists were ecstatic. Here was the Court perfect “laboratory” to test the effects of a large The pilfering according to the article had been going on explosion. It was a Naval base so it could be for a long time and the goods stolen amounted to several completely secured. There were ships involved, so the thousands of dollars in value. John Helm was captured at effects on ships could be studied. There had been Mare Island on Saturday morning and through his Army transports flying over at the time of the confessions, Arthur Draught was arrested and it was he explosion so the pilots could provide eye witness who threw suspicion on Skougland, who had escaped in accounts of what they had seen from the air. There a a boat when Draught was caught. The men became was a nearby town, as well as larger towns and a large acquainted with the location of the stores when they were base nearby and the effects on all these could be working on the quay wall extension at the navy yard. determined. And last, but not least, the effects on the And so once again, history repeats itself. morale of the sailors was also of great interest to the An update: During the first week of September 2011 a scientists. metal thief sawed off the hand rails in the front of So Los Alamos sent a team of ordinance experts to Quarters A, the Admiral’s Mansion. Indicative of his Port Chicago headed by Capt. William Parsons, who astuteness is that he left the brass fittings which were later supervised the packing of the bomb components probably more valuable than the metal pipe he took. at Mare Island and armed the bomb on the Enola Gay Sure hope he is not reading this article and comes back to while the plane was flying to Hiroshima. The team take the brass! arrived the day after the explosion and immediately started a “square search” using personnel from Mare Island to determine the location of fragments of shells Why Become a Partner ? and bombs. From this search, they were able to determine patterns of shock waves which they would At the end of each newsletter there is a page with use in determining the effects of the A-bombs. The information on becoming a partner with the Mare Island size of the crater in the bottom of the river was Historic Park Foundation. It’s the kind of thing you find USS Langley (CV-1) measured. Metal fragments and body parts on Roe in so many publications, the never ending requests for Island, three quarters of a mile away were noted. Port money. And it’s the kind of thing so many of us ignore Chicago, the town, which had been severely damaged in all those publications because we think we have better 4
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$25.00 might do more good by supporting an institution things to do with our limited funds. But do we?? that enhances education and preserves our history. Our nation’s history is a vital part of our culture. With Consider becoming a partner with Mare Island Historic today’s emphasis on test scores our kids are no longer Park Foundation so that we may better education our are exposed to the history of the US that some of us people and help to preserve the history of this naval older folks were privileged to learn because there is no shipyard whose people played such a significant role in longer time for much history. We recently have had American history. Read that last page closely and perhaps young people visiting our museum who did not you will decide that you, too, would like to become a recognize the famous flag-raising picture on Iwo Jima partner in preserving and teaching history to the which was the basis for the Marine Memorial at generations which follow you. We would greatly Arlington National Cemetery. In fact those same appreciate your support! students had little or no knowledge of anything about WWII or the Korean War or the Vietnam War or, more importantly, the role our military has played in New Additions to the Library preserving those freedoms we treasure so highly. We can blame this lack of knowledge on the schools, or As some of you may know, Sue Lemmon, the MINSY on the parents, or because they play video games, or Base Historian for many years passed away in May 2011 any of a million excuses. But what have we, YOU and at the age of 92. In her memory, the MIHPF board has I, done to make sure the history of our nation and decided to name the library the Sue Lemmon Memorial military is an integral part of our society, and that the Library, both in recognition to her long service to the generations that come after us will honor and preserve island and the foundation and because many of the books this history. presently in the library came from her office. One small way we can do this is by supporting those With her passing, all of the other treasures that were in institutions, be they museums, foundations or Sue’s office in Building 47 will be transferred to the publications, that retell those stories and keep them as museum library. Newly placed in the library are the an essential part of the fabric of our national cloth. bound copies of the base newspaper, The Grapevine, One small way is to support these institutions from1942-43 to 1985. These are available for use in the financially. To become an individual partner we are library. requesting $25.00, for a family $40.00. If we had 1000 Also recently purchased was a video produced by The individual partnerships, MIHPF would have a $25,000 History Channel on the Port Chicago Mutiny which is the budget yearly to expand and enhance our museum subject of this newsletter. Featured in the film, among exhibits; to provide more hands-on exhibits to attract others are Joe Small, the supposed ringleader, and the younger people; to add to our library films, DVDs Freddie Meeks, the only sailor to receive a pardon. and other audio-visual tools which can be used for Robert Allen, the author of the book, The Port Chicago education; to improve our advertising to attract more Mutiny is also interviewed. The video is historically visitors both locally and on a wider geographical basis. factual and there is interesting film from the Port Chicago And we would be preserving the history of not only explosion. The video is presently in VHS format, but we Mare Island, but also the history of the US and some of hope to have it reproduced on a DVD soon. This video its famous, and not so famous, people and passing it on maybe checked out by MIHPF partners for viewing at to future generations. home. And our message is not only a militarily oriented message. Are you interested in art? We have a great The Model Maker collection of Tiffany glass in St. Peter’s Chapel. Our tour guides are constantly learning more about Tiffany and stained glass, so we can improve our presentations Mare Island Museum has a unique volunteer who never to visitors and increase their knowledge of this art form works at the museum. as well as our own. Tom Cosso started at Mare Island in an apprenticeship USS Langley (CV-1) And so, when you decide to buy that new doo-dad for program in 1966 and then found out he was going to be your house or workshop, please consider whether that drafted, so he dropped out of the program and enlisted in 5
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Mare Island Museum bookstore had the best collection the U.S. Navy. Sent to Vietnam, in 1968 he was hit by of ship’s plaques he had ever seen. a huge wave while on deck duty on a destroyer and had This is just one more example of the amazing a shattered cheekbone and fractured femur. After ten contributions made by volunteers to the Mare Island months in the hospital, the Navy discharged him. In Historic Park Foundation. 1970 Cosso returned to Mare Island to finish his apprenticeship as a pipefitter. In 1972 he got his mechanics rating and then worked on the boats for 13 years. By 1985 he was promoted to a nuclear Coming Events production Shop 56 pipe shop planner. He retired from MINSY in 1995. September 17, 2011 Loving garage and estate sales, Tom bought a number Navy Yard Association Reunion of brass plaques of ships and submarines at these sales. M.I. Museum From these he made molds and then started making plastic plaques, some unmounted and others mounted September 23, 2011 on a wooden shield which he also made. Some of the Shop 51, Electrical Shop Reunion plaques were painted gold while others were made to M.I. Museum look like bronze. These he donated to the bookstore in the museum for sale. September 24, 2011 In the early 2000s Tom had former Mare Island Sister City Dinner employee and a well-known model maker for the U.S. M.I. Museum Navy, George Allen, make him two or three molds of submarines. Tom, being a collector, also bought more than 300 molds of subs and plaques from the son of a October 6, 2011 former Mare Island employee who had died. Now Shop 31 Reunion Tom is in the business of making models of M.I. Museum submarines, painting them and mounting them on wooden bases which he made. These were also October 15, 2011 donated to the Mare Island Museum as well as the Navy League Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum. M.I. Museum Tom estimates it cost him about $60.00 to make a mold from a brass plaque, but then he can make a multitude October 24, 2011 of plastic plaques from it. He often trades with other MIHPF Board Meeting collectors of models and plaques to acquire ones he Qtrs. A does not already own. When the USS Mariano G. Vallejo crew came to Mare Island for its reunion, two days before they arrived, December 18, 2011 Tom was made aware of their visit to the museum. He Christmas Concert quickly fabricated four mounted plaques and three St. Peter’s Chapel models of the Vallejo. We already had two unmounted plaques, a half-model of the Vallejo mounted on a December 18, 2011 wooden background and another full model of the Christmas Concert Reception submarine. Consider that the plaques sell for $15-20, Qtrs. A the half model for $25 and the full models for $40. Do the math and you can see how Tom’s efforts benefit For Further Information Contact the Museum at the foundation. (707) 557-446 Also indicative of Tom’s value was the commentUSS fromLangley (CV-1) a former crewmember of the “Valley Joe” who said that he was going to tell his former shipmates that the 6
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Mare Island Historic Park Foundation Partnership 1100 Railroad Avenue, Vallejo, CA 94592 (707) 557 4646 mihp46@att.net www.mareislandhpf.org
The Mare Island Historic Park Foundation keeps alive the history of Mare Island Naval Shipyard and chronicles its shipbuilding activities in the museum, as well as preserving the most historic buildings – St. Peter’s Chapel, the Shipyard Commander’s Mansion and Building 46, the oldest building on the island dating from 1855. The shipyard founded in 1854 by Commander David G. Farragut, first admiral in the USN, was the first naval installation on the West Coast and was an important contributor to success in World War II in the Pacific. It also played a prominent role in the Cold War by building 17 nuclear submarines. We invite YOU to become a part of this endeavor by partnering with the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation and supporting its work. Benefits of Partnership:
Free Admission to the Mare Island Museum (Bldg 46) for the year of partnership 10% discount on purchases in gift shop Advance notice via email of new exhibits or events sponsored by the foundation Access to Mare Island Museum Library Free newsletter via email Helping to preserve the history of Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Partnership Levels: (All partnerships are for one (1) year and are fully tax deductible) • • • •
Individual $25.00 – Admits partner named on card Out of State $20.00 – Admits partner named on card Family $40.00 – Admits two household members and their children or grandchildren 12-18 (under 12 are free) Student $15.00 – Admits student named on card with a student ID card
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mare Island Historic Park Foundation Partnership Application Name _______________________________________________________________ Date ___________________ Street Address _______________________________________________________________________________ City, State, Zip Code ___________________________________________________________________________ Phone____________________________ Email Address ______________________________________________ Partnership Level: ______ Individual $25 _____ Out of State $20 _____Family $40 _____ Student (with ID) $15 Visa_____Mastercard ____American Express____Card Number _________________________ Exp. Date ______ Make checks payable to MIHPF.
Remit to: ATTN; Partnership Mare Island Museum 1100 Railroad Ave, Vallejo, CA 94592
(For Office Use Only) Received by:_____________________________
Date_______________ 7