100 yrs ago this morning

[yellowperil]

One of the worst explosions the world has ever known. Halifax, N.S.

[GH85Carrera]

One of the worst ACCIDENTAL explosions ever.

[Rickysa]

[MRM]

I had not heard of the disaster before. From reading about it the scope and scale is hard to imagine.

"The blast leveled much of the north end of the city, killed about 2,000 people and injured perhaps 10,000 others, including nearly 600 people who were blinded, mainly by shattered glass.

***
Some experts say that not until the first atomic bomb was dropped over Hiroshima did the world witness a man-made explosion that produced more casualties, covered a larger area, destroyed more property and produced more explosive force."

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/06/world/canada/halifax-explosion-world-war-one.html

[MikeSid]

"A 1,140-pound piece of anchor was thrown more than two miles when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, exploded in 1917."

I simply cannot fathom the amount of force required to launch that hunk of anchor two miles away.

[sand_man]

Originally Posted by MRM

I had not heard of the disaster before...

Me either. Crazy!!!!

[steve185]

QUOTE]One of the worst ACCIDENTAL explosions ever. [/QUOTE]

It was the largest non nuclear explosion ever.

[oldE]

My mother, born in 1909, lived about 80 miles away from Halifax. She told me they heard the blast but had no idea for a few days what had been the cause.

Best
Les

[74-911]

Not to hijack this thread but this is considered the worst industrial explosion in the U.S.with similar results to the Nova Scotia explosion:


http://www.texascity-library.org/disaster/town.php

[yellowperil]

Originally Posted by steve185

QUOTE]One of the worst ACCIDENTAL explosions ever.

It was the largest non nuclear explosion ever.[/QUOTE]

Right, thanks

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by MikeSid

"A 1,140-pound piece of anchor was thrown more than two miles when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, exploded in 1917."

I simply cannot fathom the amount of force required to launch that hunk of anchor two miles away.

The 20" guns on a battleship launch a one ton projectile about 20 miles.

[sammyg2]

similar results and scale:

The Texas City disaster was an industrial accident that occurred April 16, 1947, in the Port of Texas City. It was the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history, and one of the largest non-nuclear explosions. Originating with a mid-morning fire on board the French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp (docked in the port), her cargo of approximately 2,200 tons (approximately 2,100 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate detonated,[1] with the initial blast and subsequent chain-reaction of further fires and explosions in other ships and nearby oil-storage facilities. It killed at least 581 people, including all but one member of the Texas City fire department.[2] The disaster triggered the first ever class action lawsuit against the United States government, under the then-recently enacted Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), on behalf of 8,485 victims.


The Texas City Disaster is generally considered the worst industrial accident in American history. Witnesses compared the scene to the fairly recent images of the 1943 Air Raid on Bari and the much larger devastation at Nagasaki. Of the dead, 405 were identified and 63 have never been identified. These were placed in a memorial cemetery in the north part of Texas City near Moses Lake. An additional 113 people were classified as missing, for no identifiable parts were ever found. This figure includes firefighters who were aboard Grandcamp when she exploded. There is some speculation that there may have been hundreds more killed but uncounted, including visiting seamen, non-census laborers and their families, and an untold number of travelers. However, there were some survivors as close as 70 feet (21 m) from the dock. The victims' bodies quickly filled the local morgue, and several bodies were laid out in the local high school's gymnasium for identification by loved ones.

More than 5,000 people were injured, with 1,784 admitted to 21 area hospitals. More than 500 homes were destroyed and hundreds damaged, leaving 2,000 homeless. The seaport was destroyed, and many businesses were flattened or burned. Over 1,100 vehicles were damaged and 362 freight cars were obliterated—the property damage was estimated at $100 million[7] ($1.07 billion in today's terms).

A 2-short-ton (1.8-metric-ton) anchor of Grandcamp was hurled 1.62 miles (2.61 km) and found in a 10-foot (3 m) crater. It now rests in a memorial park. The other main 5-short-ton (4.5-metric-ton) anchor was hurled 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) to the entrance of the Texas City Dike, and rests on a "Texas-shaped" memorial at the entrance. Burning wreckage ignited everything within miles, including dozens of oil storage tanks and chemical tanks. The nearby city of Galveston, Texas, was covered with an oily fog which left deposits over every exposed outdoor surface.

[Lund]

I'm in Halifax this week on business, had a walk around in the impact/debris area yesterday, unbelivable and downright scary. Besides the crew onboard the Mont Blanc, the Poor people didnt have a clue what was about to hit them.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by steve185

It was the largest non nuclear explosion ever.

Tree falls in a forest..?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event
The explosion over the sparsely populated Eastern Siberian Taiga flattened 2,000 square kilometres (770 square miles) of forest yet caused no known human casualties. The explosion is generally attributed to the air burst of a meteoroid.

[steve185]

It really does not matter how big the explosion was. The event is a large piece of our maritime history here. The county was already devastated by the loss of so many in the war. At that time the Maritime Provinces were tied closer too New England than rest of Canada and a lot of the Aid came from New England.
The Christmas tree in downtown Boston still comes from Nova Scotia each year as a token of appreciation for the relief after the Halifax explosion.

[GWN7]

Originally Posted by MikeSid

"A 1,140-pound piece of anchor was thrown more than two miles when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, exploded in 1917."

I simply cannot fathom the amount of force required to launch that hunk of anchor two miles away.

Iowa class battleships: 16" guns They fired projectiles weighing from 1,900 to 2,700 pounds (850 to 1,200 kg) at a maximum speed of 2,690 feet per second (820 m/s) with a range of up to 24 miles (39 km).

[sammyg2]

gun =Focused charge, engineered to seal pressure, aero design of projectile.

Vs. a great big boom that is not focused, not controlled, not aimed in one direction throwing all sorts of parts including a great big non-aero hunk of steel a mile or two.

Both are very impressive.

[rattlsnak]

Wow!! I had never heard of this either!

[GWN7]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

gun =Focused charge, engineered to seal pressure, aero design of projectile.

Vs. a great big boom that is not focused, not controlled, not aimed in one direction throwing all sorts of parts including a great big non-aero hunk of steel a mile or two.

Both are very impressive.

Yep. When you figure the anchor was either attached to the front of the ship or stuck in the mud at the bottom of the bay it's pretty impressive force needed to toss it that distance.

[hughc]

I can remember app. 55 yrs ago my grandfather, who was in Hfx at the time of the explosion, showed me a collection of photos (maybe 15 or so) that were taken in the Halifax area after the explosion. I left home about that time to further my education and start my career and completely forgot about those pics.
Every year (for the last 30 yrs or so) on the anniversary of the explosion I think of those pics and wish they were still around. What a treasure. What a shame they were lost, or misplaced.
I can specifically remember a picture of said anchor.