The Halifax Explosion

Question 1

How did it happen

Answer 1

● On December 6, 1917, The Mont Blanc arrived from New York, and entered the Halifax harbour to prepare for her trip across the Atlantic.
● Her cargo for Europe included:
○ 2300 tons of wet and dry picric acid. ○ 200 tons of TNT.
○ 35 tons of benzol.
○ 10 tons of gun cotton.
● As the Mont Blanc entered the harbour, another ship the Imo, moved to exit.
● Through a series of mixed signals, and neither ship yielding the right of way, the two ships collided.
● At 9:05 the Mont Blanc exploded with the power of a volcano.
● The explosion was so violent that it created a tsunami 60 feet (18 meters) high.

Question 2

Results of the explosion

Answer 2

● The blast wave drove air, water, and accumulating debris at great velocity through the city.
● Vaporized fuel and chemicals fell as rain.
● Chunks and shards of the ship dropped across an
eight-kilometre range.
● Over 1700 people were killed.
● 9,000 were maimed or blinded.
● 25,000 left with no adequate shelter.