trackend
Chief Master Sergeant
This is a incident not much known about these days but until the first atomic bomb test in 1945 it was the largest man made explosion in history
At 9:05 on the 6th December 1917, a munition ship exploded in Halifax harbour, (Nova Scotia, Canada). This explosion was so vast that it killed over 2,000 people and completely flattened two square kilometres of northern Halifax.
The war in Europe demanded and consumed vast amounts of people and materials from the new world. Halifax is a deep natural harbour, which was ice-free. since the 1812 war, the harbour was defended by a series of forts, Halifax was now a garrison town, as well as a naval dockyard and harbour. In early 1917 the admiralty officially introduced the convoy system to help reduce the losses from u-boats. The inner harbour, known as the BEDFORD BASIN, was ideal for an anchorage to assemble the convoys, and was used in both world wars.
In December 1917, the Bedford basin was full of merchant ships. The naval escort were in the outer harbour; opposite the naval installations, One of these was HMS HIGHFLYER; a Hermes class Cruiser. In August 1914 the Highflyer had caught the German ex-liner turned Armed Merchant Raider; Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse, refuelling at sea, and sunk her off the West African coast at Rio del oro,
The harbour was also open to neutral ships, (though their crews were not allowed ashore for security reasons). One of these was a Norwegian ship the SS IMO, she was steaming alone, and had 'Belgium Relief' written on her sides to emphasis her 'neutrality' to u-boats, she was on her way to New York to load relief supplies for Belgium. The IMO was behind schedule by having to wait for coal, with this and being empty, she may have been traveling at a faster speed than normal, when she left the Bedford Basin.
The French Ship SS MONT BLANC came from New York where she was loaded with a cocktail of explosives and volatile material. The ship had her holds lined with wood, using non sparking copper nails, but too many volatile cargoes had been mixed together. The Mont Blanc entered Halifax with 2,300 tons of wet and dry picric acid; (used for making lyddite foir artillery shells), 200 tons of trinitrotoluene, (TNT), 10 tons of gun cotton, with drums of Bezol; (High Octane fuel) stacked on her decks. The Mont Blanc was on her way to the Bedford Basin, but arrived too late to be let through the anti submarine nets, and had to wait until the next day to enter the harbour.
On the morning of the 6th December 1917, the IMO weighed anchor and headed for the sea, while the Mont BLanc entered the harbour; the collided in the bottleneck known as 'the Narrows'. Some of the Benzol drums broke loose, spilling on the deck, and soon caught fire. The intensity of the fire, and it's volatile cargo, Captain Le Medec ordered all hands to abandon ship. The Mont Blanc on fire, drifted towards Halifax where she rested against pier 6
At around 9.05 am the Mont Blanc blew up, the whole ship disintegrated. The pressure blast flattened the immediate area for two square kilometers, and devastated an area of 325 acres, most of the windows in Halifax were blown out, About 1,600 people were killed by the blast., eight crew of HMS Highflyer were splattered against the ship's superstructure, . A mushroom-shaped cloud rose kilometres high, and 3,000 tons of the splattered ship rained down on the area. The ship's gun landed near Alboro Lake (2km away), and the stock of one of her anchor's landed in a wood 5km away. The Narrows were boiling with the slashes of shrapnel, also falling were rocks;believed to had been sucked up from the harbour bed.
Next came the pressure wave which washed up the shore line and rocked the ships nearby, some from their moorings, some smaller vessels (e.g. Tugs) were overwhelmed and sunk. This man-made 'tsunami' traveled across to the shores of Dartmouth, it was funneled up Tufts cove, (due north of the explosion) where there was a settlement of the Micmac; (native American tribe of the area). The whole encampment was washed away by the gigantic wave.
The Halifax area opposite the Narrows was heavily populated, a rising hill gave an excellent view of the ship on fire. Naturally there were many spectators, which resulted in high cases of blindness/eye injuries among the thousands of wounded, as glass windows shattered.
After the blast, the rain of shrapnel, and the destructive wave, came the fires. The blast had turned houses into kindle wood, and also overturned coal and wooden stoves, which were in widespread use due to the winter temperature. Being a Naval port and Garrison town, there were lots of 'disciplined and organized' rescue workers available, but an hour after the explosion a rumour spread that the Naval Magazine at Wellington Barracks, (near Admiralty House), was on fire and there was going to be another explosion. There was a massed exodus away from the north, to citadel hill and the parks to the south. The naval magazine did not blow, and was made safe by dumping its contents into the harbour. Slowly the rescuers moved back to the area, however, by nightfall another factor was to contribute to the final death toll; the worst blizzard for years. "It was almost as if Fate, unconvinced that the exploding chemicals in the hold of the Mont Blanc had struck a death blow to Halifax, was now calling upon nature to administer the coup de grace". Other rumours were widespread. Halifax was being bombed by Zeppelins, or maybe a German Naval bombardment. Anti-German hysteria was high, which was taken out on survivors with German sounding names. Earlier in the year, in Britain, a munitions factory had blown up, even though it had been proved to be an accident, people preferred to believe it was the 'dastardly Hun'. This was proof enough, The same stubborn belief, that it was 'somehow' the work of the Germans, still persists in Halifax today, by some survivors of the explosion.
At 9:05 on the 6th December 1917, a munition ship exploded in Halifax harbour, (Nova Scotia, Canada). This explosion was so vast that it killed over 2,000 people and completely flattened two square kilometres of northern Halifax.
The war in Europe demanded and consumed vast amounts of people and materials from the new world. Halifax is a deep natural harbour, which was ice-free. since the 1812 war, the harbour was defended by a series of forts, Halifax was now a garrison town, as well as a naval dockyard and harbour. In early 1917 the admiralty officially introduced the convoy system to help reduce the losses from u-boats. The inner harbour, known as the BEDFORD BASIN, was ideal for an anchorage to assemble the convoys, and was used in both world wars.
In December 1917, the Bedford basin was full of merchant ships. The naval escort were in the outer harbour; opposite the naval installations, One of these was HMS HIGHFLYER; a Hermes class Cruiser. In August 1914 the Highflyer had caught the German ex-liner turned Armed Merchant Raider; Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse, refuelling at sea, and sunk her off the West African coast at Rio del oro,
The harbour was also open to neutral ships, (though their crews were not allowed ashore for security reasons). One of these was a Norwegian ship the SS IMO, she was steaming alone, and had 'Belgium Relief' written on her sides to emphasis her 'neutrality' to u-boats, she was on her way to New York to load relief supplies for Belgium. The IMO was behind schedule by having to wait for coal, with this and being empty, she may have been traveling at a faster speed than normal, when she left the Bedford Basin.
The French Ship SS MONT BLANC came from New York where she was loaded with a cocktail of explosives and volatile material. The ship had her holds lined with wood, using non sparking copper nails, but too many volatile cargoes had been mixed together. The Mont Blanc entered Halifax with 2,300 tons of wet and dry picric acid; (used for making lyddite foir artillery shells), 200 tons of trinitrotoluene, (TNT), 10 tons of gun cotton, with drums of Bezol; (High Octane fuel) stacked on her decks. The Mont Blanc was on her way to the Bedford Basin, but arrived too late to be let through the anti submarine nets, and had to wait until the next day to enter the harbour.
On the morning of the 6th December 1917, the IMO weighed anchor and headed for the sea, while the Mont BLanc entered the harbour; the collided in the bottleneck known as 'the Narrows'. Some of the Benzol drums broke loose, spilling on the deck, and soon caught fire. The intensity of the fire, and it's volatile cargo, Captain Le Medec ordered all hands to abandon ship. The Mont Blanc on fire, drifted towards Halifax where she rested against pier 6
At around 9.05 am the Mont Blanc blew up, the whole ship disintegrated. The pressure blast flattened the immediate area for two square kilometers, and devastated an area of 325 acres, most of the windows in Halifax were blown out, About 1,600 people were killed by the blast., eight crew of HMS Highflyer were splattered against the ship's superstructure, . A mushroom-shaped cloud rose kilometres high, and 3,000 tons of the splattered ship rained down on the area. The ship's gun landed near Alboro Lake (2km away), and the stock of one of her anchor's landed in a wood 5km away. The Narrows were boiling with the slashes of shrapnel, also falling were rocks;believed to had been sucked up from the harbour bed.
Next came the pressure wave which washed up the shore line and rocked the ships nearby, some from their moorings, some smaller vessels (e.g. Tugs) were overwhelmed and sunk. This man-made 'tsunami' traveled across to the shores of Dartmouth, it was funneled up Tufts cove, (due north of the explosion) where there was a settlement of the Micmac; (native American tribe of the area). The whole encampment was washed away by the gigantic wave.
The Halifax area opposite the Narrows was heavily populated, a rising hill gave an excellent view of the ship on fire. Naturally there were many spectators, which resulted in high cases of blindness/eye injuries among the thousands of wounded, as glass windows shattered.
After the blast, the rain of shrapnel, and the destructive wave, came the fires. The blast had turned houses into kindle wood, and also overturned coal and wooden stoves, which were in widespread use due to the winter temperature. Being a Naval port and Garrison town, there were lots of 'disciplined and organized' rescue workers available, but an hour after the explosion a rumour spread that the Naval Magazine at Wellington Barracks, (near Admiralty House), was on fire and there was going to be another explosion. There was a massed exodus away from the north, to citadel hill and the parks to the south. The naval magazine did not blow, and was made safe by dumping its contents into the harbour. Slowly the rescuers moved back to the area, however, by nightfall another factor was to contribute to the final death toll; the worst blizzard for years. "It was almost as if Fate, unconvinced that the exploding chemicals in the hold of the Mont Blanc had struck a death blow to Halifax, was now calling upon nature to administer the coup de grace". Other rumours were widespread. Halifax was being bombed by Zeppelins, or maybe a German Naval bombardment. Anti-German hysteria was high, which was taken out on survivors with German sounding names. Earlier in the year, in Britain, a munitions factory had blown up, even though it had been proved to be an accident, people preferred to believe it was the 'dastardly Hun'. This was proof enough, The same stubborn belief, that it was 'somehow' the work of the Germans, still persists in Halifax today, by some survivors of the explosion.
Unreal! great read Track! 8)
). Both were only 5 at the time. The following day, the worst blizzard that had ever occurred to that date hit Halifax. 
