The disaster in Bombay began April 14 with two shattering explosions in the harbor. Next evening Japanese-controlled Radio Saigon broadcast a detailed, running account. Not until last week did British-Indian censors permit correspondents to send the story. It was still news.
Disaster arrived in an 8,000-ton, Canadian-built Liberty ship. Swarms of dockers began unloading her cargo of scrap metal, timber, 708 bales of cotton, $4,293,500 in gold bullion, 300 tons of high explosive (TNT, amatol) in little black canisters. Fire interrupted their work.
"Abandon Ship." The fire started among the cotton bales. But the fire grew. At 4 p.m. the smoke suddenly...
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