The Halifax Explosion,The SS Mont-Blanc was a French cargo ship during World War I tasked with trans

The Halifax Explosion,The SS Mont-Blanc was a French cargo ship during World War I tasked with transporting war materials from New York City to France.  Often the ship made port in Halifax, Nova Scotia before crossing the Atlantic to Europe.  On December 6th, 1917 the SS Mont-Blanc was in port at Halifax with an especially dangerous cargo of TNT, picric acid, high octane fuel, and guncotton, when it accidentally collided with the Norwegian ship SS Imo.  The collision started a fire on the Mont-Blanc, which quickly grew out of control and enveloped the ship.  Around 9:04 AM, the fire detonated the Mont-Blanc’s cargo of high explosives, resulting in what is now known as the 4th largest man made non-nuclear explosion.The explosion of the Mont-Blanc was truly massive, resulting in a yield equal to 2.9 kilotons of TNT.  The explosion was devastating.  The Mont-Blanc was instantly vaporized and most ships or craft within the harbor were sunk.  The shockwave of the explosion leveled all buildings and structures within a half mile of the harbor, and a resulting 40-50 ft high tsunami swept the city up to 1.5 miles from the harbor.  The entire city was showered with flaming debris, causing several raging fires that continued for days.  Incredibly a half ton piece of the Mont-Blanc’s anchor was found 2 miles away from the harbor, while her 90 mm deck gun was discovered 3.5 miles away.The Halifax explosion caused the destruction of thousands of buildings and homes, resulting in $500 million in damages (adjusted for inflation).  Worse yet was the human damages resulting from the explosion; 1,600 people were killed instantly by the explosion, another 400 died in the aftermath.  Roughly 9,000 were injured.  The bright flash of the explosion resulted in 5,400 eye injuries, with 40 people being permanently blinded. 6,000 were left homeless, with another 25,000 estimated to have insufficient shelter.  The reconstruction efforts would last years, and it would be decades before the city truly recovered from the disaster. -- source link

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