21 June 1944. On this day in 1944 HMAS Gawler, (Bathurst class minesweeper), landed working parties at Bombay to assist restoration of port facilities, after the British ammunition ship, SS Fort Stikine, caught fire and blew up, devastating the port.
Three Indian Navy ships and 18 merchant ships were lost in the explosion which occurred on 14 April 1944, in the Victoria Dock of Bombay (now Mumbai) Fort Stikine carrying a mixed cargo of cotton bales, gold, and ammunition including around 1,400 tons of explosives, caught fire and was destroyed in two giant blasts, scattering debris, sinking surrounding ships and setting fire to the area, killing around 800 to 1300 people. Some 80,000 Indians were made homeless.
Seventy-one firemen lost their lives in the aftermath.
