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35-431: Bombay Blasts may refer to several events in history: Bombay Explosion (1944) — the 1944 accident involving the freighter SS Fort Stikine 1993 Bombay bombings — the 1993 terrorist attack 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings 13 July 2011 Mumbai bombings Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

70-644: A Fellow of the Royal Society ) held the Directorship when the new machines were established. Colaba Observatory became more well known through his examination of geomagnetic measurements at Colaba, and his interpretation of the physics behind the phenomena. After his untimely death in Feb. 1896, the mantle of Directorship fell on the shoulders of Nanabhoy Ardeshir Framji Moos , the first Indian to hold this position. With an Engineering degree from Poona , and

105-483: A claim for loss or damage to property. During periodic dredging operations to maintain the depth of the docking bays, many intact gold bars have been found, some as late as February 2011, and returned to the government. A live shell weighing 45 kg (100 lb) was also found in October 2011. The Mumbai Fire Brigade 's headquarters at Byculla has a memorial to the fire fighters who died. National Fire Safety Week

140-741: A higher degree in Science from Edinburgh in Scotland, Moos saw to the efficient functioning of Colaba Observatory, regular analysis and interpretation of the measurements, and the starting of seismological observations. In 1900 Bombay decided to convert its fleet of horse-drawn trams to electric power for public transport. The electric trams would have vitiated the data from the Colaba magnetic observatory by generating electromagnetic noise. Moos selected an alternative site at Alibag , located about 30 km (19 mi) directly south-east of Bombay. Alibag

175-534: A hundred persons who had found accommodation in Kherwadiand Old Khar village. Khar Danda , a fishing village, had made arrangements for about a hundred people's accommodation and food. Many families on Salsette Island , also known as Mumbai suburb, opened their doors to the needy. As part of the salvage operation, sub-lieutenant Ken Jackson, RNVR was seconded to the Indian government to establish

210-407: A senior journalist at The Bombay Chronicle newspaper, stated in a report dated 20 April 1944 that Mumbaikars ( transl.  Residents of Mumbai ) are always known for their good heart which is why around five days after the incident massive relief activities were shifted to the suburbs owing to the neutralisation of South Mumbai from the damages caused. Soon after the calamity people from

245-489: Is carried on in a room built with such good insulation that the variation in temperature within is just 10 °C over an entire day. Of the entire Colaba-Alibag data, the French geomagnetician Pierre Noel Mayaud, had the following to say in 1973: Finally, the (magnetic) records of Colaba and Alibag were found to form a beautiful series, beginning in 1871, and making up perhaps, the most complete collection of records in

280-477: Is observed across India from 14 to 21 April, in memory of the 66 firemen who died in this explosion. Apart from Fort Stikine , the following vessels were sunk or severely damaged. Colaba Observatory The Colaba Observatory was built in 1826 by the East India Company for astronomical observations and time-keeping, with the purpose to provide support to British and other shipping which used

315-651: The United States National Research Council , there is none which exhibits so wide and varied and intensive coverage of all the geomagnetic problems in the early 20th century. Prof. K. R. Ramanathan , who assumed the Director position after Moos, and would later head the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, said of his predecessor: “He was an ideal head of the observatory, always taking a deep interest in

350-694: The Agra Road. Ghatkopar workers opened a kitchen for them at the Hindu Sabha Hall. The kitchen served food for about a thousand persons twice daily. The Ghatkopar kitchen was still running when Vile Parle 's Irla residents started running a second centre for about 500 persons, where food and lodging were provided for the refugees. A third kitchen was opened at Khotwadi and Narli Agripada in Santacruz where about 300 people were being served. In Khar , arrangements had been made to give rations to about

385-634: The Government Observatory, Bombay for the period 1846–1905. Parts I. and II." Of these volumes and of Colaba-Alibag's performance as a Geomagnetic Observatory, J.A. Fleming , a pioneer in Terrestrial Magnetism and Electricity, had the following to say in 1954: The Golden Jubilee of the foundation of the Magnetic Observatory at Alibag ( Mumbai ), is a historic one in the field of Geomagnetism , and marks

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420-820: The Honorary Director of the Kew Observatory , was supplied to Colaba in ensuing years. In 1846 the East India Company ordered his full atmospheric electricity collecting and measuring apparatus for the observatory. Subsequent superintendents Charles Montriou and Edward Francis Fergusson maintained contact with Ronalds and visited him at Kew for hands-on instruction. It was arranged in 1867 for Kew's photo-recording machines to be supplied so that continuous observation of atmospheric pressure , temperature and geomagnetic intensity could be performed automatically. Charles Chambers (later to become

455-690: The Indian Institute of Geomagnetism. Until that point the Colaba-Alibag Observatories were part of the Indian Meteorological Department . Its headquarters continued to be in Mumbai, in the building constructed by John Curin in 1826, who was an astronomer for the East India Company. The first Director of the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism over 1971–1979 was B. N. Bhargava. The proceeding Director

490-700: The Victoria Dock of Bombay, British India (now Mumbai , India) when the British freighter SS Fort Stikine caught fire and was destroyed in two giant blasts, scattering debris, sinking surrounding ships and setting fire to the area, killing around 800 to 1,300 people. Some 80,000 people were made homeless and 71 firemen lost their lives in the aftermath. The ship was carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, timber, oil, gold, and ammunition including around 1,400 tons of explosives with an additional 240 tons of torpedoes and weapons. The SS  Fort Stikine

525-463: The affected areas began pouring into the suburbs. About six thousand persons from the Mandvi area, mostly middle class, went to Ghatkopar . The workers and others from Ghatkopar got the three schools opened for their accommodation and private households also provided accommodation to these unfortunate families. There was a rush of labourers from the dock areas who wanted to get out of Bombay on foot by

560-414: The area. Around 2 km (0.77 sq mi) were set ablaze in an 800 m (870 yd) arc around the ship. Eleven neighbouring vessels had been sunk or were sinking, and the emergency personnel at the site suffered heavy losses. Attempts to fight the fire were dealt a further blow when the second explosion from the ship swept the area at 16:34. Burning cotton bales fell from the sky on docked ships,

595-418: The cotton bales as probably being the seat of the fire. It was critical of several errors: Many families lost all their belongings and were left with just the clothes on their backs. Thousands became destitute. It was estimated that about 6,000 firms were affected, and 50,000 people lost their jobs. The government took full responsibility for the disaster, and monetary compensation was paid to citizens who made

630-493: The dock yard, and neighbourhoods outside the harbour. The sound of explosions was heard as far as 80 km (50 mi) away. Some of the most developed and economically important parts of Bombay were wiped out by the blast and resulting fire. The details of the explosions and losses were first reported to the outside world by the Japanese-controlled Radio Saigon, which gave a detailed report of

665-421: The incident on 15 April 1944. British-Indian wartime censorship permitted news reporters to send the reports only in the second week of May 1944. Time magazine published the story as late as 22 May 1944 and still it was news to the outside world. A movie depicting the explosions and aftermath, made by Indian cinematographer Sudhish Ghatak, was confiscated by military officers, although parts of it were shown to

700-493: The long established application of India in an unparalleled series of magnetic recording of the phenomena, and publication of interpretative discussions of the accumulated data, as prepared under the direction of India’s foremost investigator (N.A.F. Moos) in the two large volumes. Despite over 1500 selected references in the field of geomagnetic research, Volume 3 of the Physics-of-the-Earth Series of

735-453: The mid-afternoon around 14:00, the crew were alerted to a fire onboard burning somewhere in the No. 2 hold. The crew, dockside fire teams and fireboats were unable to extinguish the conflagration, despite pumping over 900 tons of water into the ship, and nor were they able to find the source due to the dense smoke. The water was boiling all over the ship, due to heat generated by the fire. At 15:50

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770-646: The observatories Vishakhapatnam, Pondicherry and Tirunelveli followed. Apart from these, a temporary station was run in the Andaman Islands in 1974 as support for the ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Commission of India) in petroleum prospecting. Since 1979, an array of Gough-Reitzel magnetometers has operated at various sites in India for studies of the Earth's internal structure by examining electromagnetic induction within

805-515: The order to abandon ship was given, and sixteen minutes later there was a great explosion, cutting the ship in two and breaking windows over 12 km (7.5 mi) away. This and a later second explosion were powerful enough to be recorded by seismographs at the Colaba Observatory in the city. Sensors recorded that the earth trembled at Shimla , a city over 1,700 km away. The shower of burning material set fire to neighbourhoods in

840-583: The port of the then-named Bombay . The 165-year-old building served as office space for the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism . The recording of geomagnetism and meteorological observations was started at the observatory in 1841 by Arthur Bedford Orlebar, who was then Professor of Astronomy at Bombay’s Elphinstone College . Magnetic measurements between the years of 1841 and 1845 were intermittent; following 1845 they became bi-hourly, then hourly. Sophisticated equipment invented by Francis Ronalds ,

875-437: The public as a newsreel at a later date. The total number of lives lost in the explosion is estimated at more than 800, while some estimates put the figure at around 1,300. More than 500 civilians lost their lives, many of them residing in adjoining slum areas, but as it was wartime, information about the full extent of the damage was partially censored. The results of the explosion are summarised as follows: D. N. Wandrekar,

910-612: The pumping operation. He and chief petty officer Charles Brazier arrived in Bombay on 7 May 1944. Over a period of three months, many ships were salvaged. The de-watering operation took three months to complete, after which Jackson and Brazier returned to their base in Colombo. Jackson remained in the Far East for another two years, conducting further salvage work. For their efforts with the pumping operation, both men were rewarded: Brazier

945-407: The ship's captain, Alexander James Naismith, recorded his protest about such a "mixture" of cargo. The transportation of cotton through the sea route was inevitable for the merchants, as transporting cotton by rail from Punjab and Sindh to Bombay was banned at that time. Naismith, who lost his life in the explosion, described the cargo as "just about everything that will either burn or blow up." In

980-550: The title Bombay Blasts . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bombay_Blasts&oldid=656818001 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Bombay Explosion (1944) The Bombay explosion (or Bombay docks explosion ) occurred on 14 April 1944, in

1015-432: The welfare of his staff, and being held by them in great affection and esteem”. Over the year 1919–1971, 17 Directors steered the Colaba-Alibag Observatories through avenues of meticulous and uninterrupted geomagnetic recordings, regular publishing of the data, and discussion of observations in scientific research journals. In 1971 the Colaba-Alibag Observatories were converted into an autonomous research organisation called

1050-545: The world. Their quality and especially their regularity were particularly impressive, even in comparison with the Kew and Melbourne records. Moos retired in 1919 after leading the Colaba-Alibag Observatories to worldwide renown. In 1910 he summarised the main findings from 50 years of geomagnetic measurement at the Colaba-Alibag Observatory over 1846–1905, in two volumes titled "Magnetic observations made at

1085-554: Was R. G. Rastogi over 1980–1989. During the IGY-IGC years of 1957–1959, K. R. Ramanathan (a past Director of Colaba-Alibag), strongly advocated the setting up of magnetic observatories to examine the equatorial electrojet . The Trivandrum and Annamalainagar observatories were set up in November 1957, and were tended first under the Directorship of S. L. Malurkar, and then under P. R. Pisharoty. Eighteen years elapsed before there

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1120-924: Was a 7,142 gross register ton freighter built in 1942 in Prince Rupert , British Columbia, under a lend-lease agreement; the name Stikine was derived from the Stikine River in British Columbia. Sailing from Birkenhead on 24 February, via Gibraltar , Port Said and Karachi , she arrived at Bombay on 12 April 1944. Her cargo included 1,395 tons of explosives including 238 tons of sensitive "A" explosives , torpedoes , mines , shells, and munitions . She also carried Supermarine Spitfire fighter aircraft, raw cotton bales, barrels of oil , timber , scrap iron and approximately £890,000 of gold bullion in bars in 31 crates. The 8,700 bales of cotton and lubricating oil were loaded at Karachi and

1155-498: Was a need for further observatories along 75°E longitude meridian. The USSR sponsored "Project Geomagnetic Meridian" to serve their needs. Ujjain and Jaipur were consequently set up in July 1975, as wall as Shillong at 92°E longitude . In May 1977, Gulmarg, located very near the focus of the Sq. current system was started. In May 1991, the ninth observatory was started at Nagpur and then

1190-464: Was awarded the MBE, and Jackson received an accelerated promotion. An Australian minesweeper, HMAS Gawler , landed working parties on 21 June 1944, to assist in the restoration of the port. It took three days to bring the fire under control, and later, 8,000 men toiled for seven months to remove around 500,000 tons of debris and bring the docks back into action. The inquiry into the explosion identified

1225-442: Was located "far enough from Bombay to be free from the threatened electromagnetic noise, and yet near enough to retain the same geomagnetic characteristics". These aspects were checked out carefully over a 2-year period from 1904–1906, and then only was recording at Colaba discontinued, and the electric tram service started in Bombay. The entire building was made of hand-picked, non-magnetic, Porbandar sandstone, and magnetic recording

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