Halifax Explosion

Did you know Canada.. The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917 at 9:04 in the morning, when the city of Halifax NS was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc.

The SS Mont-Blanc was a French cargo ship that was fully loaded with wartime explosives. It accidentally collided with the unloaded Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows" section of the Halifax Harbour at about 8:45am. The Norwegian SS Imo had been chartered by the Commission for Relief in Belgium to carry relief supplies. All buildings and structures covering nearly 2 square kilometres along the adjacent shore were completely destroyed.

Unbelievably the explosion caused a tsunami in the harbour creating waves as high as 18 metres that snapped trees in half, bent iron rails, brought down buildings, pushed boats onto the land, and carried fragments of the Mont-Blanc for kilometres.

1.32 square kilometres of Halifax was destroyed. About 2,000 people were killed by debris, fires, or collapsed buildings and it is estimated that over 9,000 people were injured. The next day brought a blizzard that dropped 40 centimetres of snow on the community hindering the rescue of any survivors.

The Halifax Explosion remains the world's largest man-made accidental explosion!

Source: CBC, histori.ca, Wikipedia