The Great Halifax Explosion

On the morning of December 6th, 1917, the SS Mont-Blanc, loaded with nearly 3000 metric tons of explosives destined for France, collided with the SS Imo in the Halifax Harbor narrows, resulting in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. This catastrophic event claimed nearly 2000 lives, injured 9000 others, and decimated a large section of Halifax. This episode of 'History's a Disaster,' hosted by Andrew, delves into the circumstances leading up to the explosion, the immediate chaotic aftermath, the city's reconstruction, and the unwavering support that poured in from surrounding areas and countries, highlighting the profound impact of this tragedy within the context of World War I.

00:00 Introduction to the Great Halifax Explosion
01:03 World War I Context and Halifax's Strategic Importance
03:43 Harbor Safety and Regulatory Lapses
06:39 The Captains and Their Ships
11:02 The Collision and Immediate Aftermath
22:16 The Catastrophic Explosion
26:33 The Aftermath and Rescue Efforts
31:30 International Aid and Rebuilding Halifax
36:53 Conclusion and Reflections

Facebook: historyisadisaster
Instagram: historysadisaster
email: historysadisaster@gmail.com

Transcript

 On the morning of December 6th, 1917, the SS Mo Blanc entered the Neros approaching Halifax Harbor. The Mo Blanc was carrying a shipment of explosives destined for France, weighing nearly 3000 metric tons. It would collide with another ship in the narrows, in the resulting fire. One of the largest non-nuclear explosions would occur.

Almost 2000 people would die in the explosion with another 9,000 injured, along with destroying a large section of Halifax. So what happened? I'm Andrew, and this is History's a disaster.

Tonight we are diving into the Great Halifax explosion, a needless and terrifying tragedy that claimed many lives and caused so much devastation to the surrounding city. During World War I, both Germany and the British Empire relied heavily on imports for food and raw materials to support the war effort.

The British had a large advantage in numbers and could travel the seas freely, while Germany was largely restricted to the North Sea, to counter the British superiority in numbers, the Germans launched a fairly successful ubo campaign against Britain and their allies shipping in the seas around Europe.

This U-boat campaign from 1914 to 1918 would see the sinking of roughly 5,000 ships, which would equal to over 12 million tons of cargo lost. Later in the war, allies developed countermeasures to lessen the effectiveness of the U-boats. One of the most successful ones was setting up convoys. Large numbers of merchant vessels would travel in groups, typically protected by Navy warship.

Convoy losses to U-boat attacks would be relatively small as the U-boat sought out individual ships or smaller convoys. Another countermeasure used to protect against U-boat attacks was the use of an anti-submarine net to protect harbors like the one they used at Halifax. This net would be stretched across the entrance to the narrows near McNabb Island every night and be taken down in the morning to allow ships to go in and out and in World War I.

Halifax was booming. It was one of the largest and busiest ports in the world. It was the center of Canada's war effort. And also a convenient staging area for ship convoys. Heading to Europe. The city's population grew rapidly to over 60,000, and this number did not include all the workers, soldiers, and sailors, along with their spouses that flowed into the city every day.

Food, clothing, weapons, and thousands of men came through Halifax. Every day by train before being loaded onto ships, heading to the western front of World War I. With this, the area surrounding Halifax grew rapidly farming and manufacturing sector. Saw rapid growth, Halifax's income from exports jumped from 19 million in 1916 to 142 million.

In 1917, so things for the most part were looking up in Halifax, but there was problems on the harbor. With the war going on the harbor was getting busier. And if you've ever worked any type of production, you probably already know that when shit gets busy. Safety often takes a backseat to getting things done now, which can often lead to an increase in accidents or injuries.

And depending on what you're doing, this can lead to major consequences. Like when the regulations for transporting explosives safely get dropped or ignored, usually not a good thing. When safety concerns about shit that goes boom, gets ignored. I.

Before the war started, ships carrying explosives were not allowed in the harbor. They had to stop just outside the harbor near George Island and un unload the explosives during daylight hours only onto smaller boats. Then these boats carrying smaller loads of explosives. Had to fly a red flag to market as carrying a dangerous load, and while it was on the move in the harbor, all other traffic had to come to a standstill.

But with the threat of a possible U-boat attack, they stopped the red flag requirement since it would make it too obvious a target if a U-boat was in the area. Which also meant the requirement for boats to stop while shit was being moved was dropped since no one knew who was carrying explosives. One regulation that was not dropped but would cause issues was the use of Harbor pilots.

I. Any ocean going ship coming into the harbor had to have a harbor pilot. These pilots knew the section of the narrows and would guide the ship through it safely. However, they only had 14 of these pilots and they were making a lot of money and refused to cooperate with. Any plans to bring in more since it would mean they would basically get a pay cut.

The pilots were also a bit unruly more often than not, not sharing information about ship's, cargo and movements. To further complicate this, the task of communicating daily ship movements was left in the hands of a 15-year-old clerk. A 15-year-old clerk who was continuously laughed at and mocked every time he tried to call in his reports, which never got written down.

So he eventually quit calling in ship movements. So shit in the harbor wasn't exactly great, especially when you add in inpatient ship captains or captains with little experience with the ships they're running. Which just happens to be the equivalent of a really big fucking bomb. So let's meet these fine gentlemen and their ships.

First up, we have Captain Haken from, captain Fromm was the captain of the Emo. The EMO was a 430 foot long all purpose steamer. Perfect for trans-Atlantic shipping and owned by the Norwegian South Pacific Whaling Company and was on loan to the Belgian Relief Commission to haul supplies between North America and Europe.

Belgium being neutral meant they carried mostly humanitarian supplies. And then we have Ka Emmy LA of the ma. The Mon Block was owned by the French line and had guns added front and back for use in the war. Captain Mimetic had not been a captain for very long, and his previous ships had been smaller, and he never captained a ship carrying explosives before.

But hey, first time for everything and for his first trip on the M Black, he got sent to New York. And of course, for security reasons, they did not tell him what he was picking up there. When they got to New York, they were sent to Brooklyn and given plans to cover every inch of metal in their holds with wood cloth, tar and rubber, and to only use copper nails to secure everything.

Then they had to wait three weeks while the holds were filled with boxes and barrels. By the time they were done, the ship was coated with 62 tons of gun cotton, 250 tons of TNT and 2,366 tons of Pi Creek acid, which is a more powerful and unstable form of TNT. At this point, they had the equivalent of three kilotons of TNT.

So a fifth of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and since this obviously wasn't enough explosives after all this was built and packed up nice and neat and sealed up, France decided they needed more benzo, a highly flammable fuel, so they added another 246 tons of the ship to the ship. And unlike the other explosives.

They were at least stacked and separated and placed carefully. This highly volatile fuel was just thrown wherever they could find room for it. And when I say highly volatile, I mean a little spark could set it off and it was just being thrown around. Right over the other high explosives in the hold. And with that, the ship is now carrying 6 million pounds of the most explosive and volatile chemicals known to man at this point in time.

With all the weight on the ship, its best speed was estimated to be no more than eight knots. Or 10 miles per hour since it would not be able to keep up with any convoys. Leaving New York, it was sent to Halifax to try to catch a slower moving convoy there. So at 11:00 PM on December 1st, the Mo Blanc left Graves and Bay heading to Halifax, carrying the largest load of explosives ever loaded on a ship.

It would be a nerve wracking four day voyage, hugging the coast all the way up to Halifax. When they arrived outside of Mc Dab Island on the fifth, they just missed being able to enter Safe Harbor. The submarine nets had already been closed for the night, so they'd have to spend one more night. Outside the harbor at Anchor, while they just missed getting in.

Captain from on the emo, just missed getting out, being a neutral ship. They were low on Halifax's priority list. So when they had placed an order for coal, the coal company dragged their feet getting to them, and by the time they were loaded, the gate would be closed. They'd have to spend the night in the harbor before being able to get out and continue to New York.

At seven 50 the next morning, captain Tic and Harbor Pilot Francis Mackey got the moth blanc moving into the harbor. They got the ship up to four knots going down the narrows. It take them 90 minutes to get all the way through to where they could drop anchor in the Harper, and they were in no hurry.

They were now safe from possible U-boat attack and going faster only increased the risk of setting something off. They took their time going through the narrows, reducing speed further to avoid smaller boats in the harbor. As the MO block entered the harbor proper, the EMO was pulling up anchor and getting underway.

And since communications and the harbor were a cluster fuck in, very few knew what ships were coming or going. No one knew the EMO was scheduled to leave, and the EMO knew nothing about the Lan at this point. There were. Was roughly four people not on the Mont Blanc that knew what they were carrying, and since they were not flying the munition flag, no one in the harbor had any way to know the ship was dangerous.

Captain Fromm being impatient and in a hurry, ignored, established protocol. As they approached the narrows, he had the ship moving faster than any other ship in the harbor and was heading more towards the left channel in the narrows than the right where they should have been. Typically, when ships are moving through areas, they have channels they should stick to, like driving down the highway.

You should be in the right hand lane or channel if you're on a boat. Oncoming traffic should be to your left. Captain Fromm signaled to an oncoming ship. The SS Clara. They were going to go to the right where they should be, but the Clara responded. They intended to stay on course, meaning once Captain from agreed to this.

Both ships would be in the wrong channel. So once the emo passed the Clara and entered the narrows, they were in the left channel, the same channel the Mod Blanc was using. To make matters worse, the emo was still going faster than they should have been in the narrows and had to head further left to avoid a tugboat with a load of scowls being towed behind it, the mud block was still proceeding slowly down the narrows.

They moved further to the right to avoid a ship they came to within 100 feet of the shore. As they continued on about this time, they saw the emo a mile away, flying down the narrows straight at them. There was a bit of fear on the MO block bridge that the crew of the EMO might not be able to see them given the angle of the sun behind them and how low they were sitting in the water, they didn't need to worry.

The EMO had seen them coming. The mud block signaled they were staying where they were. They were in the correct lane and not moving. The impatient captain from on the emo signaled they weren't moving and intended in passing them on the left signals flew back and forth on who was doing what. The mod block eventually responded by moving closer to shore.

They were now dangerously close to shore and potentially running a ground. Captain Frahm changed directions to his left. A deadly game of chicken was a foot in the narrows with the distance between the two shifts dwindling down to nothing. Captain Tic made the last second desperate decision to cut to the left towards the center channel.

They hoped to narrowly escape a collision. It was the wrong choice. Captain Fromm at the last second threw his ship from full speed ahead to full speed aur, which swung the rear of the ship towards the shore and the front of the ship towards the right. Pointing towards where they should have been all along.

Collision was now imminent. Captain Lame did the only option left to him. He ordered his ship to full speed of stern. He hoped by throwing the ship into reverse. He could slow the ship enough to lessen the impact of the collision. In the chance of setting off the floating bomb, his ship had become. The ships were slowed, but the Emo's bow still swung towards the Mo Blanc at 8 46.

The Game of Chicken. Came to an end as the emo struck the side of the Mont Blanc. The Mont Blanc did not immediately explode like some of the crew expected. However, the emo ripped open a V-shaped hole in the side from the water line. Up to the deck six feet wide. The hole was right over the number one hold containing the benzo fuel and pick rick acid.

The crash knocked barrels of benzo over Many of the barrels broke as they smashed against the deck. Sending the highly volatile fuel all over and dripping down into the holds below the two metal ships were now entangled with each other. And Captain Fromm continued to pull his ship back at full speed as the emo pulled itself free metal rubbed against metal, sending sparks into the fuel that was now spreading across the deck.

The fuel ignited with the first contact. Fire spread quickly, sending thick smoke into the sky. Flames would shoot higher into the sky every time it hit another barrel. The Mont Block crew were on edge waiting for the ship to explode any second, but their discipline did not allow them to panic. They made their way towards the bridge for orders from mimetic strapping down loose barrels on their way.

They had no way to put out the fire and sinking. The ship would have taken way too long, so with no other options, mimetic ordered the ship to be abandoned. Life. Boat were dropped into the water as the crew desperately escaped the ship. In their haste to escape, no one yelled out warnings to the EMO or other nearby ships as far as what was on the moth block.

Most in the area assumed she carried oil or gas based on the fire on deck without the munitions flagged to warn them. They had no idea of its true cargo, so the emo did not rush to get away. And other ships and light boats came closer to the M Blanc to help rescue its crew. Captain Lo Medic and Harbor Pilot, Francis Mackey were the last to leave the ship.

Captain Lamed had to damn near be dragged off the ship by the crew who argued with him to abandon ship and lead them to safety instead of going down with the ship. Mackey had decided to save himself instead of staying behind thinking nothing he could do would change what was about to happen, so his sacrifice would be in vain with the ship drifting towards the Richmond area.

Which put them much closer to the Halifax shoreline they chose to make for the Dartmouth side of the narrows 800 feet away. They rode as hard as they could, but the heavy lifeboats did not go very fast. An explosion on the deck of the Mach block would urge them to go faster.

Once on the shore, they jumped from the lifeboats, leaving them unsecured on the shore as they dashed into the woods ahead of them. They were met by a woman named Aggie March and her baby girl. Who they tried to warn of the danger, but she did not speak French, so she had no idea what they were saying. A sailor frustrated by this grabbed Aggie's baby and ran into the woods, which led Aggie to chasing after him, just like he hoped.

Once far enough in, he gave up the chase and tossed Aggie to the ground and covered her and her daughter with his body and waited. He undoubtedly saved their lives that day with the crew now hiding in the woods and wondering why their ship had not exploded yet, people had gathered to watch the show on the water with no one on board.

The Mont Blanc was at the winds of the current as it drifted to the Richmond shore. People watched and tried to guess where it would stop. For the most part, people would watch unconcerned workers nearby, would watch for a few, then go back to work. The MOT block would eventually wash up next to a pier and run aground.

The smoke from the burning deck would draw bigger and bigger crowds all amused at the curiosity of the crew running away to the opposite shore deck. Fires were fairly common in the harbor and no one saw the danger coming. Other nearby ships helped to get the M block secured to Pier six and tried to put out the fire to no effect.

The fire was getting out of hand and starting to spread to the wharf if they didn't do something. The fire threatened the whole town, so they decided to tow the ship away. While they did this, the bot block put on a fireworks display for the growing crowds. At least seven barrels of fuel exploded and were launched streaking flames into the sky.

It had now been 14 minutes since the collision with the emo and word of the accident was spreading. With more and more people stopping to go down to the narrows to watch or to stare out their windows. At the drama unfolding on the waterfront, the drama happened at the right time of the morning as people were preparing to start their day instead of going to work or school.

They watched the harbor and the fire was just getting bigger and hotter. When the local fire department got there with their shiny new mechanical fire truck, they could barely look directly at the fire. And the war coming from, it drowned out all sound. They had to yell at the person next to them to be heard.

Then with no explanation. It was silent.

The ship still poured smoke into the air. Barrels exploded and were sent into the sky, but no noise was heard. A deathly quiet settled over the area. At 9 0 4 with dozens of people scrambling over the ship to put out the fire, the heat and the fire hit the hold, and the ship exploded. The explosion lasted one 15th of a second.

It shot up temperatures on the ship to 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The blast traveled at four times the speed of sound and tore through the ship like it wasn't even there. It turned the ship into nothing but shrapnel, sending jagged pieces of metal flying through. The air metal was sent through nearby ships and shops.

People were killed or injured hundreds of yards away. The largest recognizable pieces were a half ton anchor, found four miles away, and a deck cannon three miles away. The water around the ship, along with anyone that happened to be close by the ship were vaporized. They were just gone with no traces.

Left behind a mushroom cloud, two miles high, rose above the explosion. The black cloud rained down, burning, tar and shrapnel on anyone still standing. That was too close. A shockwave traveled through the ground at over 13,000 miles per hour and was felt as far away as 250 miles. Even worse than the ground wave was the AirWave.

A concussive blast ripped through the air buildings nearby were torn apart by the blast. The blast traveled over 2100 miles per hour. Every window in Halifax was blown out. Windows in Nova Scotia 50 miles away were destroyed, and these windows. Were not just shattered. They were blown in and turned into hundreds of tiny knives.

Almost anyone who was not at the harbor watching was at their windows. Hundreds of people would be torn apart and left bleeding, blinded or dead as the glass was blown in their faces as the air blast traveled through Halifax. Destroying building. After building, it picked up more and more debris to smash into the next obstacle in its way, and it smashed everything people and buildings in its path were struck down.

Fires were started and quickly spread by the air. Sweeping through. Following the air blast was a tsunami. The force of the blast split the narrows to the point. You could see the seabed. It sent 35 foot waves to smash through the buildings, just devastated by the previous blast. When the water receded, the undertow dragged anyone unlucky enough to be caught in it back down the harbor to drown on the other side of the harbor.

Half a Dartmouth had been crushed. The tiny village of Turtle Grove had been completely wiped out, and less than a second, the explosion had destroyed two square miles. Pier six was gone, just completely wiped off the map. Pier seven, eight, and nine were destroyed and jumbled into a big pile of debris.

Railroad tracks were curled up like they were nothing. Factories were completely crushed. Wooden homes were turned to kindling. In total, 6,000 buildings were destroyed. 25,000 people, nearly half the population were left homeless.

1600 people died in the explosion and the aftermath. 9,000 more were injured, left to wander that destroyed city. Bloody and confused. During the explosion, the EMO had been launched several hundred feet to be beached. On the Darmouth side of the Narrows, five crew members, along with Captain Rom and Harbor Pilot William Hayes, were killed instantly.

Captain Lo Medic and the crew from the Mon Blanc would fare much better. Four crew members would be injured and only one of them severely with a broken arm. He would end up dying from his wounds before help could be found. With the shockwave and tsunami gone, the danger still had not passed. Buildings weakened during the explosion, drown and collapsed in on themselves.

Trapping anyone. Unlucky enough inside fires stirred up by the winds spread amongst the wreckage of the city. People trapped in these buildings under fallen timbers in stone. Were now at risk of burning to death. The aftermath of the explosion was hell on earth with fires raging, and the screams and moans of the wounded either trapped in wreckage or wandering the streets.

People walked around aimlessly searching desperately for loved ones or anyone who could help. Some survivors searched the wreckage to help track neighbors and friends. The dead were everywhere. Corpses strewn the streets, arms and legs poked out of the rubble. Corpses hung out windows grievous wounds on full display with bodies missing limbs and heads.

It was a scene of chaos and devastation. Rumors swirled around the city that it was a German attack. There was a fear going around that this was just the beginning and since communications had been cut, there was no way to spread the news of what happened. There was also no way to ask for help from the outside world, so it was a good thing when a growing number of survivors grouped together to start rescue operations.

They were disorganized, but helping. However, these would be short-lived. The survivors were being told to get to higher ground and away from the city. There was a concern that a storehouse of explosives would blow up and they needed to leave. Devastated. The survivors headed out having to abandon their homes and belongings and listen to the screams of the wounded still trapped in the rubble.

Survivors that owned cars were asked to help. Cars were few and far between in 1917, and they were desperately needed. Those who volunteered their car in time used them to move food and other supplies from the armory to those in need. Others acted as amateur ambulances taking wounded to hospitals and aid stations throughout the city, if not for them.

Many more would've died. Eventually, the Army would flood the storehouse and dump ammunition into the harbor to prevent a second explosion, which meant everyone could go back home, which was a problem. I. Since many of them did not have a home to go to, some survivors would end up staying in the local prison.

Prisoners had escaped during the explosion, so they had room available, and any shelter is better than no shelter. Others would have to rely on family and the kindness of strangers for help. One train had made it to Halifax and stopped just outside of town where the tracks were not tore up with the hospitals overflowing in Halifax.

The train was used to move wounded out of town and bring in more doctors and nurses to help other trains started running to Halifax to do the same. Nearby towns would also open up their doors to survivors and offer shelter and what help they could. In the hours following the explosion, doctors and nurses and ordinary citizens took back to the streets to help wounded and trapped survivors.

Triage was set up so the most severely wounded with the best chance of survival were helped the site of seeing their neighbors helped strangers became contagious, and more people would join in the rescue efforts. Heroism and selflessness was on full display amidst the rubble of their homes. The only real major problem now was supplies.

There was not enough medicine or anesthesia to go around. Food would become a problem soon also, and there was more bad news to come.

A winter storm was heading up the east coast of the US towards them. Now with the phone lines down and work being done to restore them would take time. But fortunately, there was railroad executives in town who acted. They were able to get telegrams out to the surrounding areas. Spreading the word of what happened and asking for relief.

Trains with food and supplies, along with more doctors and nurses, soldiers and sailors waiting to deploy to Europe. Were put to work guarding the area to stop wounders and help protect the wounded. American servicemen from nearby ships volunteered to help with this, to give the Canadians a much needed relief.

While news of the explosion and need for supplies spread throughout Canada and the us Boston stepped up. They were well equipped to deal with a disaster. They had been planning and preparing for one for years. They requested more information from Halifax on what was needed, not knowing they were unable to respond, but Boston did not wait for one.

Within 13 hours of receiving word of the tragedy, they had a train loaded up with boxes of medicine and other supplies, along with several doctors, nurses, and reporters, and headed towards Halifax. And they would be desperately needed medical personnel and volunteers worked around the clock helping the wounded.

They ignored their hunger and exhaustion as they worked to treat as many other wounded as they could possibly get to with some working for over 14 hours straight only to be back after getting just a few hours of sleep to do it all over again. And because shit always has to get worse. During the night the winter storm hit, there was a 20 degree drop in temperature.

Winds in excess of 40 miles per hour withdrew the wreckage, bringing in snow, and even more cold. Unable to fight off the cold. Some of the more seriously injured would not survive the night. Many others would spend the freezing cold night huddled over stoves and fires in their shattered homes as the winds blew through their broken windows.

By morning, more than 16 inches of snow covered the ground. A blizzard was in full effect, changing the city from a burning hellscape on Thursday. To a frozen ball of ice on Friday, snow covered everything from the dead, still in the streets, to survivors still trapped in the rubble. The newly repaired phone lines were wiped out again, so communications were cut until they could be fixed.

People were trapped in their homes, unable to get out, and rescue personnel were unable to get to them. Every car in town broke down and was unusable. Ships were tossed around the harbor under the high winds, with the snow falling at a rate of an inch per hour. It was the worst blizzard to hit Halifax in over a decade.

By Saturday morning after being slowed by the blizzard, the train from Boston had arrived. The reporters who came with would become very important to getting the news spread around the world and getting more countries and businesses to send help to Halifax. Boston, after having gotten word from the doctors on the train, had raised over a hundred thousand dollars, 2 million in today's money for the relief effort, along with sending more medical personnel and tradesmen to help with rebuilding.

Two supply ships were loaded up and sent to Halifax over the weekend. The doctors from Boston quickly got to work upon arrival with help from American and Canadian servicemen. They quickly got a building fixed up and turned into another hospital. They were able to help relieve the struggling hospitals and aid stations and give medical personnel a chance to rest and get some sleep.

In the days following the explosion, more and more support rolled into Halifax, both Canadian and American. Millions of dollars of cash supplies, medicine, and building materials poured in the generosity of the Americans helped to solidify relations between America and Canada. Prior to this, the relationship between the two countries was often tumultuous.

With America, often I in Canada, with thoughts of annexation and the Canadians looking back with suspicion, within a week of the explosion, an official inquiry was launched. People wanted answers. Four separate trials were held over the next two years. After much back and forth, it was finally decided in a British courtroom that both ships were equally to blame for the collision.

And no one would end up being convicted of any criminal charges. In the weeks following the explosion, the rebuilding began, rubble was cleared away, and efforts to repair buildings and create temporary shelters began the explosion had caused over $35 million in damages. Which is over 720 million today.

So damage was pretty extensive. And with the war going on, there was a serious shortage of material and men. It would take months to rebuild Halifax. The entire devastated area was redesigned with better roads and parks, and houses would no longer be made outta wood. Halifax would soon rise from the ashes, bigger and better than before.

And that was the Great Halifax explosion, one of the largest non-nuclear manmade explosions to occur. Thanks for listening, and if you like the show, please consider leaving a rating or review on your Apple Choice. And you can send comments and suggestions to history's a disaster@gmail.com and follow the show on Facebook and Instagram.

And don't forget to share the episode 'cause sharing is caring and if there is more caring in the world, maybe history wouldn't be a disaster. Thanks and goodbye.