Four dead large ships, ten permanently withdrawn from system and about 20 more seriously affected. 1376 dead and 2408 the wounded. Large seaport, disabled for 7 months. These losses and destruction, comparable in scale to Pearl Harbor – the result of the bombing on April 14, 1944 in the bombing port of British the ship “Fort Stykin”. Sea Worker “Fort Stykin” 
A photo from open sources
Fort Staykin was a wartime child. The ship was built in Canada and among 26 of the same type of ships transferred to the UK. His was to become one of the hundreds of threads connecting the metropolis with soldiers fighting in Asia. Allied Command the offensive, and the volume of shipping increased every day. In the holds of “Fort Staykin”, besides weapons, fuels and lubricants, products were loaded bombs, shells, explosives in an amount of about 1,400 tons and more than 300 tons of TNT. Among other things, there was a metal box with gold bars (124 pcs.), weighing 12.7 kg each. End point sailing was the Indian port of Bombay. Swimming promised to be dangerous. For many ships, it was a one-way flight. In addition to conventional marine dangers guarded by German submarines, planes and Raiders On February 24, the ship left England and headed south, relying on God, good luck, two 12-pound guns and mounted on deck of the Oerlikons. March 30, “Fort Stykin”, safely passing Africa, arrived in Karachi. Here the ship got rid of part of the cargo – aircraft, military equipment. In the vacant holds began ship 8737 bales of cotton. Captain Naysmith, when he heard about this, did not believed his ears and immediately went to the port authorities find out who came up with such a stupid idea. Brief Help Cotton is extremely flammable, easy lights up from the slightest spark, is able to burn without access oxygen. Burning speed 0.15m / s. Damp cotton is capable of spontaneous combustion. Even just transporting cotton by sea, where dampness is natural, dangerous, and together with explosives – clean suicide. In the port, the captain’s claims were not accepted, resting on war time. The captain obeyed, on April 9, the ship left the port and three days later arrived in Bombay. Naysmith was the first to go ashore and immediately went to the port authority, where he presented documents for cargo and demanded to immediately begin unloading cotton. “Immediate” work began only on April 14th. Fire! 
Photo from open sources
At 13:30, one of the movers noticed smoke rising from the hold. The sailors rolled out their fire hoses and started pumping water into the hold. The duty fire brigade of the port joined the case. Older the fireman, having learned that there was explosive on the ship, sent an assistant transmit to the supervisory signal “especially dangerous fire” (message No. 2). The assistant, unable to get through, turned on the emergency fireman bell. Fire department manager, having heard a signal, but not knowing true state of affairs, sent 2 more firemen to the pier cars, which would be quite enough in the event of a normal fire. But the fire at Fort Stykin was not ordinary. At 14:30 “message number 2” finally sent, another 8 fire engines arrived at the pier the ship was surrounded by fire ships. 900 tons were pumped into the holds water, but the fire did not stop. The catastrophe was approaching. Even the flooding of the ship has not changed anything: due to insufficient depth (low tide began) burning bales would still remain above the water. IN 15:50 the first boxes of explosives caught fire, and Captain Naysmith gave team order to leave the ship. IN зрыв 
A photo изopen sources
At 16:06 there was an explosion. The resulting tidal wave swept away court. Fire engines pulled down from the pier like bread crumbs from the table. From fifty firefighters subsequently found only charred helmets. Hundreds of burning bales of cotton, scattered hundreds of meters, became centers of dozens of fires. The ships, port facilities caught fire warehouses. At 16:33 a second explosion was heard. IN зрыв-2 
Photo from open sources
The second was even worse than the first. Concussion recorded a seismic station at the foot of the Himalayas. Tidal wave washed ashore (5.000t). Steamboat “Jalampada” (displacement of 4,000 tons) was abandoned on the roof 17-meter warehouse. Several ships were broken on the pier and went to bottom. At 12 a fire broke out. Steam boiler “Fort Staykina” found on 900m distance. from the pier. Burning bales of cotton rained down on the city. Bombay was swept by a fire that was seen at a distance of 75 miles. Вammunition stored there began to burst in burning warehouses. 
Фотоfrom open sources
The part of Bombay adjacent to the port turned into one giant bonfire, which was not possible to extinguish. The wind drove flame to the city center. To save Bombay, authorities created a dead a quarter mile wide strip within which all city buildings were blown up. Only after 4 days, authorities stated that the danger receded. The last fire was extinguished after 2 weeks. Последствия 
Фото изopen sources
The official death toll is 1376 people. But how many were on nobody really knows. In densely populated Bombay accounting systems the population did not exist. Dozens of tons of oil, oil burned, seeds, grain and military property stored in the port. 6.000 companies and firms went bankrupt. 50,000 people became unemployed. Вsome 30 ships were affected to one degree or another. Business life The city was paralyzed. The port had to be rebuilt, until the end of October 1944 it was closed.
Фото изopen source Lucky Basu On that tragic day Shoemaker Antikakshu Basu, as usual, worked in his hut. All of a sudden he heard a rumble, and then at his feet, breaking a hole in the roof, fell yellow brick. It was a gold bar, one of 124 that were on Fort Staykin. “Honest Indian brought him to the police. No more bullion was not found.
Water Time India Fires Aircraft
