100 years ago on this date in 1917, my fair city of Halifax experienced a devastating event, know today as "The Halifax Explosion."
WWI was raging in Europe and Halifax was a busy Atlantic seaport from which convoys of troops, munitions and war materials set sail for England.
The convoys formed up in the sheltered inner harbour which is Bedford Basin. Navigating to and from the basin is through a narrower section of the harbour commonly known as "The Narrows" - upper left in the picture.
On 6 December, 1917, two ships were approaching the narrows. One was a French ship carrying a huge cargo of munitions and explosives. The other ship was a Norwegian freighter and somehow the captains got their signals crossed and were on an unavoidable collision course.
The two ships collided at low speed and normally it should have been not much more than a fender bender, however the French ship, Mont Blanc, was carrying dozens of barrels of the volatile liquid benzole on her deck. Some of the barrels broke open spilling the deadly liquid that caught fire and flowed into the hold filled with munitions and all manner of high explosives.
Word quickly spread about the burning ship and people migrated to the harbour side and citizens watched from the windows of their homes and offices.
At 9:04 AM, the ship exploded with the force of a miniature atomic bomb and was the largest man-made explosion in the history of the world until the atomic bomb in 1945.
Nearly 2000 people were killed outright and nearly 9000 were injured, maimed and blinded.
The north end of the city was flattened.
The force of the explosion blew the shaft of the two ton Mont Blanc anchor more than two miles away over the city and came to rest in a wooded park where it still rests. To add to the misery of the rescue and recovery, it snowed later that day.
In spite of everything, the city slowly recovered and rose from the devastation and became a thriving cosmopolitan seaport once again. Today, there will be church services and ceremonies on this 100th anniversary.
WWI was raging in Europe and Halifax was a busy Atlantic seaport from which convoys of troops, munitions and war materials set sail for England.
The convoys formed up in the sheltered inner harbour which is Bedford Basin. Navigating to and from the basin is through a narrower section of the harbour commonly known as "The Narrows" - upper left in the picture.
On 6 December, 1917, two ships were approaching the narrows. One was a French ship carrying a huge cargo of munitions and explosives. The other ship was a Norwegian freighter and somehow the captains got their signals crossed and were on an unavoidable collision course.
The two ships collided at low speed and normally it should have been not much more than a fender bender, however the French ship, Mont Blanc, was carrying dozens of barrels of the volatile liquid benzole on her deck. Some of the barrels broke open spilling the deadly liquid that caught fire and flowed into the hold filled with munitions and all manner of high explosives.
Word quickly spread about the burning ship and people migrated to the harbour side and citizens watched from the windows of their homes and offices.
At 9:04 AM, the ship exploded with the force of a miniature atomic bomb and was the largest man-made explosion in the history of the world until the atomic bomb in 1945.
Nearly 2000 people were killed outright and nearly 9000 were injured, maimed and blinded.
The north end of the city was flattened.
The force of the explosion blew the shaft of the two ton Mont Blanc anchor more than two miles away over the city and came to rest in a wooded park where it still rests. To add to the misery of the rescue and recovery, it snowed later that day.
In spite of everything, the city slowly recovered and rose from the devastation and became a thriving cosmopolitan seaport once again. Today, there will be church services and ceremonies on this 100th anniversary.
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