December 6, 1917: The Halifax Explosion

December 6, 1917: The French cargo ship SS Mont-Blanc collides with the Norwegian ship SS Imo in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Mont-Blanc was carrying high explosives, meant for the French forces in World War I. In the collision, it caught fire and exploded, destroying the Richmond district of Halifax.

Officially, between the initial explosion, the subsequent fires, building collapses, and people being hit by debris, the death toll was 1,782 people. It is widely believed that the true toll was over 2,000. It remains the largest disaster in Canadian history, and the largest human-made explosion up to that point, larger than the Black Tom explosion in New Jersey the year before, and the Morgan explosion, also in New Jersey, the year after. It was estimated to have the same effect as 2.9 kilotons of TNT. (For comparison's sake, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was estimated at 15 kilotons; the one dropped on Nagasaki, 21.)

The crew of the Mont-Blanc were under orders from the French government to carry her cargo from New York via Halifax to Bordeaux, France. The collision occurred at 8:45 AM. The impact damaged benzol barrels stored on deck, leaking vapors that were ignited by sparks from the collision. This set off a fire on board that grew out of control. At 9:04 AM, the Mont-Blanc exploded, wiping out all structures within a half-mile radius.

The Imo was washed ashore by the subsequent tsunami, and 7 of its crew, including its Captain, Haakon From, were killed. But on Mont-Blanc, only 1 crewman died, Yves Quequiner, a 20-year-old gunner. (That's the official story. I refuse to believe that, with an explosion of such a magnitude, only one man onboard died.) There was also widespread damage across the harbor, in the city of Dartmouth. The tsunami hit an area called Tufts Cove, killing all members of the Mi'kmaq First Nation tribe.

To make matters worse, the next day, December 7, 1917 -- a date which, like the one before it, lives in suffering, if not infamy -- a blizzard struck Canada's Maritime Provinces, impeding relief efforts, including trains and ships full of supplies and workers from inner Canada and the Northeastern U.S.

The initial judicial inquiry found the crew of Mont-Blanc to have been responsible for the disaster, but a later appeal determined that both vessels were to blame. The North End of Halifax has several memorials to the victims of the explosion.

Although Imo's superstructure was severely damaged by the blast, the ship was repaired, and returned to service in 1918. The ship was renamed Guvernøren (The Governor) in 1920. But perhaps it was cursed: On November 30, 1921 she ran aground off East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands of the coast of Argentina, and was abandoned.

The Hydrostone District was built after the war, to provide housing for people displaced by the explosion. Today, Halifax is a city of 350,000 people, with a metropolitan area of 465,000. (Aside from its 3 largest cities -- Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver -- Canada doesn't really do suburbs.)

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December 6, 1917 was a Thursday. This was also the day that Finland declared its independence from Russia. However, I do not have a separate entry for this event. Rather, I have one for the end of the Finnish Civil War the next year, because that secured the country's independence.

Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. Professional basketball barely existed. And the 1st season of the National Hockey League was 13 days away from beginning. So there were no scores on this historic day.