Local Voices
78 Years After Blast, Movement To Exonerate Port Chicago 50 Gains Traction
One of the sailors who survived, Morris Soublet, later told his son Richard about the conditions at the base.
July 21, 2022
At the height of World War II, a huge explosion rocked the East Bay when two munitions ships blew up while being loaded, leading to the largest mass trial for mutiny in U.S. military history. Now, an effort is gaining momentum to exonerate the sailors convicted after the disaster.
Find out what's happening in Concordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
At Port Chicago, near Pittsburg, they used segregated, all-Black units to load munitions aboard ships.
On July 17, 1944, something went wrong and two ships loaded with 5,000 tons of explosives blew up, killing 320 sailors, destroying the base and much of the nearby town.
Find out what's happening in Concordfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Jason Felibret is the nephew of one of the sailors killed in the blast and a former Air Force paralegal. Felibret said the trial was a sham, tainted by racism, and would never be allowed today.
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