It’s staggering that such an event is likely not known by many, including myself.
You are never too old to learn about history.
And there is plenty of history to learn.
heartbreaking story by the way.
BTW, anyone know why just hitting it would cause the munitions to go off?
To put it in modern terms, that was a 3-kiloton explosion. Smaller than Hiroshima (10 to 15), but getting into the tactical nuke area.
Darn I thought this was another US Navy screw-up that could be used as fodder for this weekends game. Go Army! Beat Navy!
Oh yes
The and the molasses avalanche have always stood out to me as older disasters
Having owned ships once I can attest they do bump into each other now and then
Wow I just read the story. Sheesh! What a tragedy!
We in the Boston area have some history behind this. We get a beautiful Christmas tree sent to us every year from Nova Scotia, and they display it at the Prudential Center:
On December 6, 1917 at 9:04:35 am, the Halifax Explosion severely destroyed much of the city, by the largest man-made explosion up to that time. Boston authorities learned of the disaster by telegraph, and quickly organized and dispatched a relief train around 10 pm to assist survivors. A blizzard delayed the train, which finally arrived in the early morning of December 8, and immediately began distributing food, water, and medical supplies. Numerous personnel on the train were able to relieve the Nova Scotia medical staff, most of whom had worked without rest since the explosion occurred. Nova Scotian children study the explosion in school and they know “Boston was one of the first responders, and really a lifesaver.”
Nova Scotia donated a large Christmas tree to the city of Boston in thanks and remembrance for the help Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee provided immediately after the Halifax Explosion of 1917. Another tree was sent in 1971, and every year since.
The annual gift was started by the Lunenburg County Christmas Tree Producers Association to promote Christmas tree exports as well as acknowledge the Boston support after the explosion. The gift was taken over by the Nova Scotia Government in 1976 to continue the goodwill gesture and to promote trade and tourism.
In 2017, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the explosion, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Halifax Mayor Michael Savage, and Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil unveiled a plaque on the Boston Common near the site of the tree. The tree that year was donated in honor of first responders in the two cities.
It is so important to the people of Nova Scotia that “people have cried over it, argued about it, even penned song lyrics in its honour.”[3] Joseph Slauenwhite donated the first two trees. The tree typically comes from the southern half of the province, but in 2014 the tree came from Antigonish County, in the north and in 2016 the first tree ever from Cape Breton Island was selected.
I live right near what used to be Richmond. It’s still well remembered here.
What a horrible story.
a 48-hour enucleation marathon
Sends shivers down my spine.
SS Imo?
This article is from the Washington Post. Thus, I would assume normally that the city could as well be London, Cleveland, or Kansas City. However, this particular tragedy is well documented elsewhere. This is an interesting article. Thanks for the posting.
I have been to the Maritime Museum in Halifax. A piece of good feeling history comes from the relation established between Halifax and Boston in the USA from Colonial Times. Boston was among the first US cities to hear of this disaster and was also the first to respond with massive assistance by a special emergency train with supplies and medicos. The ‘official’ Boston Christmas Tree is a gift from the Provincial Government of Nova Scotia.
Yeah, pretty catastrophic. I had the pleasure of visiting Halifax a couple of times as a liberty port.
Just got done reading a book about this. Still hard to wrap my head around the devastation that the city sustained.
But kudos to Massachusetts back then. They really came through for the town with money and medical volunteers.
What was SS Mont Blanc’s cargo?...........
Excuse me, the Imo’s cargo..................
Incomplete without the story of Vince Coleman’s ultimate sacrifice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw-FbwmzPKo
Wow, Ping for later.