DISASTERS - EXPLOSION BOMBAY DOCKS - 1944 April 14, 1944 - The Bombay Explosion (or Bombay Docks Explosion) occurred in the Victoria Dock of Bombay (now Mumbai) when the freighter SS 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 people.