Halifax Explosion

On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship <a href="/facts/SS_Mont-Blanc/wDCzYMV8">SS Mont-Blanc</a> collided with the Norwegian vessel <a href="/facts/SS_Imo/hTsnyf0c">SS Imo</a> in the harbour of <a href="/facts/Halifax,_Nova_Scotia/Tcm27J9I">Halifax, Nova Scotia</a>, Canada. Mont-Blanc, laden with <a href="/facts/Explosive_material/sUme5Pp8">high explosives</a>, caught fire and exploded, devastating the <a href="/facts/Richmond,_Nova_Scotia/Cbwh3DKD">Richmond district</a> of Halifax. At least 1,782 people were killed, largely in Halifax and <a href="/facts/Dartmouth,_Nova_Scotia/njDJYNAc">Dartmouth</a>, by the blast, debris, fires, or collapsed buildings, and an estimated 9,000 others were injured. The blast was the <a href="/facts/Largest_artificial_non-nuclear_explosions/DXj8nBto">largest human-made explosion</a> at the time. It released the equivalent energy of roughly 2.9 <a href="/facts/TNT_equivalent/nEQ5z8mp">kilotons of TNT</a> (12 <a href="/facts/Terajoule/9ndq9jD2">TJ</a>).
Mont-Blanc was under orders from the French government to carry her cargo from <a href="/facts/New_York_City/YlyvFmVC">New York City</a> via Halifax to <a href="/facts/Bordeaux/k0yG4a8e">Bordeaux</a>, France. At roughly 8:45 am, she collided at low speed, approximately one knot (1.2 mph or 1.9 km/h), with the unladen Imo, chartered by the <a href="/facts/Commission_for_Relief_in_Belgium/NpDyRuc8">Commission for Relief in Belgium</a> to pick up a cargo of relief supplies in New York. On Mont-Blanc, the impact damaged <a href="/facts/Benzole/Hy5KXjqc">benzol</a> barrels stored on deck, causing them to leak vapours which were ignited by sparks from the collision, setting off a fire on board that quickly grew out of control. Approximately 20 minutes later at 9:04:35 am, Mont-Blanc exploded.
Nearly all structures within an 800-metre (half-mile) radius, including the community of Richmond, were obliterated. A <a href="/facts/Longitudinal_wave/KoysWuIN">pressure wave</a> snapped trees, bent iron rails, demolished buildings, grounded vessels (including Imo, which was washed ashore by the ensuing <a href="/facts/Tsunami/N3xGNHBl">tsunami</a>), and scattered fragments of Mont-Blanc for kilometres. Across the harbour, in Dartmouth, there was also widespread damage. A tsunami created by the blast wiped out a community of <a href="/facts/Mi%27kmaq/THH8x1Ek">Mi'kmaq</a> who had lived in the <a href="/facts/Tufts_Cove,_Nova_Scotia/K2qsdFPt">Tufts Cove</a> area for generations.
Relief efforts began almost immediately, and hospitals quickly became full. Rescue trains began arriving the day of the explosion from across Nova Scotia and <a href="/facts/New_Brunswick/SLTqCmM2">New Brunswick</a> while other trains from central Canada and the <a href="/facts/Northeastern_United_States/Xa8zQlkM">Northeastern United States</a> were impeded by blizzards. Construction of temporary shelters to house the many people left homeless began soon after the disaster. The initial judicial inquiry found Mont-Blanc to have been responsible for the disaster, but a later appeal determined that both vessels were to blame. The <a href="/facts/North_End,_Halifax/YkN6cqTD">North End</a> of Halifax has several memorials to the victims of the explosion.

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Halifax Explosion