By Cheryl Lauersdorf Ross On the morning of April 16, 1947, the SS Grandcamp, surrounded by refineries and chemical plants near the Texas City docks, exploded with a force compared to the Nagasaki atomic bomb, taking the lives of nearly 600 people and injuring thousands more. When a catastrophe like this strikes, reports focus on […]
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Blue-Water Ships, Brown-Water Bayou: Wartime Construction 1941-1945
Long before its formal entry into the Second World War in December 1941, the United States was actively supporting Great Britain and its allies in the struggle against Germany through the Lend-Lease program and other efforts. Part of this assistance was the U.S. Maritime Commission’s decision in late 1940 to accept a contract to build […]
Racer’s Storm: The Benchmark Hurricane of 1837
To read the full text of this article by James L. Glass that appeared in the Summer 2008 issue of Houston History, download the pdf version.