The Halifax Explosion

The Halifax Explosion was the largest man-made explosion prior to the atomic bomb.

On the morning of December 6, 1917, the Norwegian ship SS Imo and the French munitions ship SS Mont-Blanc collided in the narrows of the Halifax Harbour and exploded.

The force of the explosion devastated the city. It killed 2000 people and injured 9000 others. People were blinded by flying glass. Homes, schools and factories were wrecked. The fires that followed completed the destruction.

A severe winter storm on the next day, December 7, hampered rescue efforts. Relief trains from Boston and Montreal managed to get through with medical supplies. Financial assistance came from nations around the world including Great Britain, the United States, Russian and France.

Local relief organization was fast and effective. The Halifax Relief Commission, founded in January 1918 by the Canadian government, took over the administration of pensions, claims and reconstruction. The Commission continued for nearly 58 years, until June 1976.

Every year, the anniversary of the Halifax Explosion is marked by a memorial ceremony. This year, the ninetieth since the disaster, survivors gathered from across Canada, the United States and England to attend the memorial services. I joined them and tagged along to blog the ceremonies being held that day.

(Thanks to the Halifax Regional Municipality for the text used as the basis for this summary)

Category:

Travel & Events

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• Titanic
• halifax
• Explosion
• Anniversary
• Edie
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• MacDonald
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• Atomic
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[johnnydoherty]

my god that must have been a shit load of explosives

[TobiPlatt]

Die Halifax - Explosion war nicht die größte konventionelle Explosion die es jemals gab. Es war "nur" die größte ungewollte konventionelle Explosion. Die Größte konventionelle Explosion war der Versuch die Insel Helgoland zu sprengen. Was allerdings nicht zum Erfolg führte...

[EqualsThreeTribute]

@johnnydoherty 2400lbs of it actually

[equarg]

Wow...to survive the Titanic five years prior..and then this......wow. I about this in a book..I was amazed.....I know that Halifax ends Boston a X-mas tree ever year as a thank you..but I did not know what for....now I know...now I understand RIP to whomever died in this.

[Lawrencelovespiano]

The story of the Halifax Explosion always makes me sad. I can't stop thinking about the act of heroism that Vincent P. Coleman did on that day as a train dispatcher. Thank you for sharing this video.

[TreasuresTresors]

Hi ediehats, great video! Wonderful images, interviews and contextualization. A great tribute. This would be perfect for the Canada’s Got Treasures collection, which aims to feature Canadian videos of personal or cultural significance. Help celebrate Canadian diversity by joining our YouTube group (/group/TresorTreasure) and submitting your video. It would be made available on our channel and website.

Hamish,

Canada's Got Treasures, a VMC initiative

[infamousdnt]

A awsome canadian catastrophy well not awsome but you should no what i mean

[SniperViper1000]

It was and is still claimed to be that of the size of a nuclear bomb cut in half. The Force was so powerful that only of a few houses and a sign survived.

[AdamMoss13]

To comemorate this event the halifax city councel made splody, the explosion masscott. And after every song of boombastic by shaggy is followed by a moment of silence

[loller4e]

29000 Tons explosives

watched N24 Reportage