[2]: 100 The disaster drew the first class action lawsuit against the United States government, on behalf of 8,485 plaintiffs, under the 1946 Federal Tort Claims Act.

Originally named SS Benjamin R. Curtis in Los Angeles in 1942, the ship served in the Pacific theater and was mothballed in Philadelphia after the war.

Grandcamp had a mixed cargo, containing chiefly ammonium nitrate, but also twine, peanuts, tobacco, some small arms ammunition, engineering equipment, and cotton.

[2]: 1  The ammonium nitrate, needed either as fertilizer or an explosive, was manufactured in Nebraska and Iowa and shipped to Texas City by rail before being loaded onto Grandcamp.

The steam may have contributed to the fire by converting the ammonium nitrate to nitrous oxide, while augmenting the already intense heat in the ship's hold.

The first explosion had set Highflyer free from its moorings, and it had drifted across the harbor, coming to rest against SS Wilson B. Keene.

The steel frame of Highflyer had been heated until glowing, and these chunks rained down upon Texas City setting mass fires.

Witnesses compared the scene to the fairly recent images of the 1943 air raid on Bari and the much larger devastation after an atomic bomb was dropped at Nagasaki.

There is some speculation that there were hundreds more killed but uncounted, including visiting seamen, illegal aliens and their families, and an untold number of travelers.

Some of the deaths and damage in Texas City were due to the destruction and subsequent burning of several chemical plants (including Monsanto and Union Carbide), oil storage, and other facilities near the explosions.

It may have been started by a cigarette discarded the previous day, meaning the ship's cargo had been smoldering throughout the night when the fire was discovered on the morning of the explosion.

[1] Historian Hugh Stephens later identified human error as the cause, and cites numerous reasons as to why a minor fire became such a severe incident.

Maceo organized a large-scale benefit on the island, featuring entertainers including Phil Harris, Frank Sinatra, and Ann Sheridan.

[2]: 104–105 Within days of the disaster, major companies that had lost facilities in the explosions announced plans to rebuild in Texas City and in some cases to expand their operations.

Some companies implemented policies of retaining all of the hourly workers who had previously worked at destroyed facilities with plans to use them in the rebuilding.

[2]: 104–105 "Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the explosion [...], just as the Phoenix bird symbolizes resurrection from the ashes of despair, the 'Phoenix Fountain' epitomizes courage and the triumph of the human spirit.

[...] Chewelah, Washington Artist David Govedare was commissioned by Mayor Charles T. Doyle [...] [to] produce this twelve foot sculpture from half inch cor-ten steel.

"[11] Many of the legal cases seeking compensation were combined into Elizabeth Dalehite, et al. v. United States, under the recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA).

On April 13, 1950, the district court found the United States government responsible for a litany of negligent acts of omission and commission by 168 named agencies and their representatives, in the manufacture, packaging, and labeling of ammonium nitrate.

On June 10, 1952, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned this decision, finding that the United States maintained the right to exercise its own "discretion" in vital national matters.

In this case, "a policy adopted in the exercise of an immune discretion was carried out carelessly by those in charge of detail", and that a private person would certainly be held liable for such acts.

A private person is held to a higher standard of care when carrying out "inherently dangerous" acts such as transportation and storage of explosives.