# U.S. Navy sailors go on strike **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 14, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-navy-sailors-go-on-strike/400152 "2007-04-14T23:18:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-navy-sailors-go-on-strike/400152/1 "2007-04-14T23:18:59Z")
In the late 1950s or early 1960s a group of sailors at the San Diego Navy base went on strike (I forget why). The Navy quickly put a stop to the strike and gave all the strikers Undesirable discharges. I have been trying to get some information on the strike but have been unable to find anything on the internet. Can anyone cite a website that discusses the incident? ---
**Author:** ![A.R.Cane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@A.R.Cane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.R.Cane)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-navy-sailors-go-on-strike/400152/2 "2007-04-14T23:46:21Z")
I served on active duty in the U.S, Navy from '56 to '79 and I don’t recall anything in San Diego. There were a couple of incidents in the '40’s involving black sailors though. > **[Monica Moorehead, The Port Chicago Mutiny](http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/013.html)** > > Monica Moorehead, The Port Chicago Mutiny ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-navy-sailors-go-on-strike/400152/3 "2007-04-14T23:47:55Z")
I can’t give you a cite, but I can tell you that the authorities involved would have put that strike down like a lit match under a boot–you don’t go “on strike” in the military. “Strike” in the military could be equivalent to mutiny or sedition (depending on conditions) and would end up with your ass in jail for a lengthy term. Tripler Yeah, if my Airmen went on strike, I’d throw 'em in jail too. . . ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-navy-sailors-go-on-strike/400152/4 "2007-04-15T00:06:57Z")
[QUOTE=Tripler] …“Strike” in the military could be equivalent to mutiny or sedition (depending on conditions) and would end up with your ass in jail for a lengthy term… [/QUOTE] Or death by lethal injection (or does the military still retain firing sqauds as an option?). ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-navy-sailors-go-on-strike/400152/5 "2007-04-15T00:17:29Z")
> [@Ronald C. Semone](#): > > ``` > In the late 1950s or early 1960s a group of sailors at the San Diego Navy base went on strike (I forget why). > > ``` You’re sure it wasn’t near San Francisco during WWII? > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > (2) Formal charges but not navy ship. This mutiny took place at the Port Chicago/Mare Island naval complex northeast of San Francisco during World War Two. Port Chicago was a major ammunition depot for the Pacific fleet, where ships were loaded hastily with minimal regard for safety, perhaps because most menial labor was done by black sailors commanded by white officers. On July 17, 1944, the merchant ship E.A. Bryan was being loaded with 4,600 tons of explosives when it blew up, killing all 320 men on duty and injuring 390 others. When the surviving workers were told to resume loading ammunition at nearby Mare Island less than a month later, 258 refused. The navy hit 208 of the men with bad-conduct discharges and court-martialed the rest for mutiny. All 50 received lengthy prison terms, but their sentences were commuted shortly after war’s end. From this column: [Has there ever been a mutiny aboard a U.S. naval vessel?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/070126.html)