320 Dead—Navy Court-Martialed The Survivors For Mutiny On July 17, 1944, at 10:18 PM, two massive explosions at Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California created the largest homeland disaster of World War II. The blast killed 320 men instantly and injured 390 others. Of the 320 dead, 258 were Black sailors. They had been forced to load live ammunition onto ships with zero training while white officers refused to do the same dangerous work and watched from a safe distance. The Navy had implemente