On This Day in History: December 6

The Halifax Explosion

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World War I still had 11 months of trench death left to dish out, but back in the Canadian seaside city of Halifax, Nova Scotia things were relatively peaceful. Until a Norwegian ship traveling too fast on the wrong side of the Narrows heading into Halifax Harbour collided with a French ship carrying all sorts of explodey material.

--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: December 6, 1917--

The war had been good for Halifax. The economy had sucked for a while, but with the outbreak of WWI hostilities in 1914 suddenly it was booming as a hub of Canada’s war effort. Then it was literally booming when that French ship caught fire from the collision and created one of the largest manmade non-nuclear explosions ever.

The Norwegian ship Imo was leaving port and headed to New York to pick up supplies to take to Europe. The French ship SS Mont-Blanc was incoming from New York to join a convoy to Europe. The ­Mont-Blanc was filled with the explosives TNT and picric acid, as well as benzol fuel, and the immensely flammable guncotton. The ships collided in the Narrows on the morning of December 6, 1917. It wasn’t that much of a crash, but some benzol containers on deck spilled and broke open, seeping into the hold. The engines sparked the fumes, and the fire began. People on board the Mont-Blanc were all oh fucking merde this is pas bon. Meanwhile, people with no understanding of the fucktacular shitnado of ass about to be unleashed upon their town gathered along the shore to watch the fire. Continues below …

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Fire crews raced toward the burning ship while the Mont-Blanc’s crew were all fuck this and noped out into lifeboats to get the hell out of there. With no one manning the ship, she drifted toward a busy pier in a populated neighborhood.

As people learned of the dangerous cargo, they began to flee. Railway dispatcher Vincent Coleman was about to bug out when he realized a passenger train was incoming to the site of impending doom, so he stayed at his post to telegraph up the line to halt the trains. Knowing he was ever so fucked, the last words he typed were “Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys.”

The big kaboom and the tsunami that resulted killed 2,000 people and injured another 9,000. Buildings were destroyed, leaving 25,000 homeless. Within hours, trains filled with emergency supplies and healthcare workers were on their way from Boston to aid in the relief efforts. Bostonians raised millions of dollars to help in rebuilding the city. In thanks, Halifax sent Boston a Christmas tree that year. In 1971 a tree was once again sent from the province of Nova Scotia to Boston and displayed in the city’s center square, beginning a new tradition. Every year since a giant tree is carefully selected in Nova Scotia and sent on a journey to Boston to become a Christmas tree to show gratitude for the rapid and tremendous efforts the people of that city made to aid Halifax in its time of need.

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