# South Amboy powder pier explosion

The South Amboy powder pier explosion was an incident that took place on Friday, May 19, 1950. Over 420 tons of explosives in transit at the Raritan River Port in South Amboy, New Jersey detonated due to unknown causes, killing 31 and injuring over 350.

## Background

The South Amboy terminal was, at the time, the only terminal of the Port of New York and New Jersey that allowed the unloading of large quantities of commercial explosives from freight cars. However, shipments over 125,000 pounds were restricted.
In 1950, the government of Pakistan contracted National Carloading Corporation to oversee the transit of 9,000 boxes of anti-personnel mines and anti-tank mines, produced by the Kilgore Manufacturing Company of Newark, Ohio and purchased by Pakistan, to Karachi. They were to arrive at South Amboy on Pennsylvania Railroad railcars, and would be loaded on the Isbrandtsen-owned steamship Flying Clipper bound for Karachi. This shipment was later joined by 1,800 boxes of gelignite, produced by Hercules Powder Co., destined for commercial sale in Afghanistan. The combined shipment weighed a total of 300,000 pounds, and James Healing Co., the company hired by National Carloading Corporation for lightering, sought permissions from the United States Coast Guard to temporarily lift the 125,000 pounds restriction. On May 18, they received written and verbal permission from the Coast Guard.
By May 19, the shipments had arrived at the port via railcars, and were being loaded onto four barges at pier 4, the "explosive anchorage" or "powder pier", of Pennsylvania Railroad, located at the foot of Augusta Street.

## Explosion

At approximately 7:26 pm EDT, while being transferred on the barges, 150 tons of the explosives detonated, triggering a chain reaction that caused the explosion of a total of over 420 tons of explosives. The explosion could be felt up to 30 miles (48 km) away.
At 7:50 pm, South Amboy mayor John Leonard declared a state of emergency in South Amboy. He requested help from Governor of New Jersey Alfred E. Driscoll, who sent New Jersey State Police and military assistance. Red Cross disaster units, fire departments, first aid squads and volunteers from neighboring towns joined the rescue effort.
26 employees of the lighterage company and 5 coal barge captains were killed in the explosion, leading to a total casualty count of 31. Only 5 bodies were identified, and many of the bodies were never recovered. Over 350 were injured. The explosion destroyed the four barges, the railcars, the powder pier and adjacent piers. At least 17 other barges in the pier were set on fire or sunk. Almost all of South Amboy's 2,700 homes and buildings suffered some degree of damage. The power grid of the city was also destroyed, causing a blackout. Total property damage was estimated to be over $10 million.
On July 17, 1951, the New Jersey Legislature passed a bill to officially declare the 31 casualties, including those whose bodies were never found, to be dead so that death certificates could be issued. The 31 casualties named in the bill were:
| Name | Address |
| Joseph Santon | Harriet Avenue, Bergenfield, New Jersey |
| William Healing | 340 Herrick Avenue, Teaneck, New Jersey |
| Vincent Baducha | Nicholas Avenue, Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York |
| William Collyer | 52 Pearl Street, Oceanside, New York |
| Hugh O'Neil | 233 East 176th Street, Bronx, New York |
| James Hart | Leroy Place and Scudder Avenue, Copiague, New York |
| Harold Craig | 279 91st Street, Brooklyn, New York |
| Edward Havlicik | 4401 69th Street, Woodside, New York |
| Eugene Healing | 2600 Hudson Boulevard, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| James Reilly | 15 Baldwin Street, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Chester Campbell | 2554 Hudson Boulevard, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| William Harrison | 3000 Montgomery Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| John Keuritsky (or Krienski) | 260 Duncan Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Robert Whitcomb (body found) | 473 North Warren Avenue, Brockton, Massachusetts |
| Henry Jacobosky (body found) | 196 Broadway, Brooklyn, New York |
| James Burnes | Master of and resided aboard the barge Robert Hedger of the Anthony O'Boyle Company, sunk in explosion |
| Michael Walla | 250 Van Pelt Street, Manor Harbor, Staten Island, New York |
| Frank Healing | 166 Clendenny Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| George Ackerly | 427 Jersey Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Raymond Ackerly | 90 Bright Street, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| B.J. Arne Hausvik | 727 57th Street, Brooklyn, New York |
| Frank Boncek | 276 Sumpter Street, Brooklyn, New York |
| Ben Walling | 346 40th Street, Brooklyn, New York |
| John Rinn | 313 9th Street, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Frank J. Rinn | 243 Grand Street, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Charles Lynch | 208 Freeman Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Frank Cinelli | 3 Warner Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Walter Sullivan (body found) | 203 Madison Street, Hoboken, New Jersey |
| Maxine Forbes | 822 Jewett Avenue, Staten Island, New York |
| Syvert Hagen (body found) | 214 Carroll Street, Brooklyn, New York |
| Dade White (body found) | c/o Burns Coal Company, New York, New York (or 116 East 108th Street, New York, New York) |

## Legacy

In 1953, the United States Army performed a three-day search of the area, removing 62 live mines dispersed by the explosion in the harbor area.
Kilgore Manufacturing Company became the target of a congressional investigation, and was charged with 9,000 counts of munitions violations. The hearings revealed that the company had packed detonating fuses in the same case as the explosives, violating regulations set out by the Interstate Commerce Commission. The decision of the Coast Guard to temporarily lift restrictions were also criticized in the hearings, by Mayor Leonard and former Governor Harold G. Hoffman.
In 2013, a plaque was installed at the site to commemorate the disaster.