T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion

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Coordinates: 40°27′42″N 74°17′23″W / 40.46167°N 74.28972°W / 40.46167; -74.28972
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T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion
Perth Amboy, NJ
; broken windows for 20 miles (32 km) around.
Explosion site is located in Middlesex County, New Jersey
Explosion site
Explosion site
class=notpageimage|
Location in Middlesex County, NJ

The T. A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant explosion, sometimes called the Morgan Munitions Depot explosion or similar titles, began at 7:36 pm

Laurence Harbor (Old Bridge). Over a century later, explosive debris continues to surface regularly across a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) radius.[1][2]

T. A. Gillespie

T. A. Gillespie Company, founded by Thomas Andrew Gillespie (1852–1926),

US Army Corps of Engineers, was in Building 6-1-1, at the present-day residential block bounded by Dusko, Gillen and Rota Drives.[5] The full plant employed more than 6,000 workers in round-the-clock production.[6]

Damages

Damage to the plant was estimated to be $18 million

Asbury Park, more than 20 miles (32 km) distant.[8]

Man standing in a large crater from the explosion of 1 million pounds (0.5 kiloton) of stored ammonium nitrate[9]

Casualties

The death toll for the accident is unclear, as employment records were destroyed by the explosion and ammunition workers were individually uninsurable. The total is believed to be approximately 100 people, with hundreds more injured.[1][7][8] Many victims disintegrated in the explosions and fires, and the unidentified remains of 14 to 18 workers were buried in a mass grave off Ernston Road in what is now Old Bridge Township.[5] The inscription reads: "In memory of the unidentified dead who gave their lives while in the service of the United States of America, at the Morgan Shell Loading Plant in the explosion of October 4–5, 1918."[5]

Government authorities declared

influenza pandemic that struck a few weeks later, and the area's death toll from the outbreak was high.[1][10][6]

Coast Guard involvement

Among many others involved in rescue operations were

US Coast Guardsmen stationed across the Raritan River in Perth Amboy. Twelve received Navy Crosses for their heroic actions in the aftermath of the explosion, and two died in the effort. The award citations indicate that during the conflagration, they risked death when they moved a train loaded with TNT that was threatened by the fire. One Navy Cross recipient was Joseph Stika, who later became a vice admiral.[11][12]

Legacy

The explosions scattered thousands of shells and components over a wide area, more than 1.2 miles (1.9 km) in radius. Nearly a century later,

US Army Corps of Engineers, which collected and disposed of a combined total of 5,080 pieces of ordnance.[1][13]

Local historians Frank Yusko and Randall Gabrielan compiled detailed histories about the explosions for a 1994 television documentary and a 2012 book, respectively.[9][14]

The sports teams of Sayreville War Memorial High School are named the Sayreville Bombers, recalling the town's World War I ammunition plants and many World War II veterans.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "For 3 days, the ground shook in South Amboy". The Star-Ledger. October 4, 1998.
  2. ^ a b "Old military explosive unearthed in schoolyard". The Suburban. July 6, 2007. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. We find these things a couple of times a year in town.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "The Ancestors of Christie MacDonald Gillespie". Baker Family Tree. August 25, 2013.
  4. ^ "Gillespie Motor Co. – History". VintageMachinery.org.
  5. ^ a b c James, Verne (October 4, 2009). "Grave Site of the Morgan Plant Unidentified Dead". Morgan, New Jersey.
  6. ^ a b "Explosions devastated Morgan 90 years ago". The Suburban. October 16, 2008. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ a b "Great Munition Plant Blown Up; 100 May Be Dead" (PDF). The New York Times. October 5, 1918.
  8. ^ a b "Day of Explosions and Fire Finishes Shell Plant Ruin" (PDF). The New York Times. October 6, 1918.
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-1-60949-517-6
    .
  10. ^ "Morgan Munitions Blast Remembered 80 Years Later". Home News Tribune. October 4, 1998. Archived from the original on October 12, 1999.
  11. ^ "Recipients Of The Navy Cross – The Gillespie Plant Explosion". HomeOfHeroes.com. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  12. ^ Stringer, Harry R., ed. (1921). The Navy Book of Distinguished Service. Washington, DC: Fassett Publishing Company.
  13. ^ "75-year-old ordnance cleared from schoolyard". American City and Country. March 1, 1995.
  14. ^ Yusko, Frank (1994). The Morgan Explosion of 1918. Milltown, NJ: Visionary Video Studios.
  15. ^ "Sayreville High School Arrests Divide a Town That Lived for Football". The New York Times. October 13, 2014..

External links

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