The Halifax Explosion of 1917 is described as being, “The single, greatest man-made detonation in history, not bettered until Oppenheimer’s own invention was dropped on Hiroshima” (Beltrame 11). On the Thursday morning, of the 6th of December 1917 two ships, the Mont Blanc, a French single-screw freighter and the Imo, a Norwegian relief ship, collided in Halifax Harbor (HRM Tourism Culture and Heritage). This explosion was so tremendous that it instantly killed more than 2,000 people (Tasker).

Halifax, although it was and is a small city, was used as a naval dockyard and harbor during the First World War (Tasker). This made Halifax an important area in terms of reducing the losses from u-boats, since The Bedford Basin was an ideal dock to assemble the convoys (Tasker). Though on that fateful day, to two pre-mentioned ships both steered into, “The Narrow’s, an 800-meter channel connecting the basin with the harbor” and caused an explosion that “few would have guessed possible” (Beltrame 12 and 13).

Captain Amé Le Medec, commander of the Mont Blanc had a freight of war goodies that he was transporting across water (HRM Tourism Culture and Heritage). His ship contained enough explosives and explosive material to completely decimate an entire city, something he had come dangerously close to accomplishing. 200 tons of TNT, 2300 tons of picric acid, 61 tons of gun cotton in the lower hold and 35 tons of highly flammable Benzyl, were all stored in tightly sealed barrels on the upper deck of the infamous ship (HRM Tourism Culture and Heritage).

All historical recordings of this tragedy, point out that the Mont Blanc was not bearing the regulation red flag, which would have indicated to people that it was in possession of volatile substances (HRM Tourism Culture and Heritage). The Mont Blanc only signal to the unsuspecting Imo that they were traveling in the correct channel, not that they were conveying deadly materials (HRM Tourism Culture and Heritage). After a series of signal exchanging, the Mont Blanc decided to pass on the Halifax side, assuming the Imo would allow the ship to pass; yet the Imo was not changing course (HRM Tourism Culture and Heritage).

The rest, as they say, is history.

A few hours later, the Mont Blanc detonated, the whole ship disintegrating (Tasker). The pressure blast flattened the immediate area and completely devastated two square kilometers of northern Halifax (Tasker). Countless thousands of people lost their lives in the explosion, most being unsuspecting passerby’s that decided to gaze upon the flaming wreckage.

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