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Ben Miller 

Notable Historical Events of December 6, 1917 
The Halifax Explosion 

During World War I, the naval port in Halifax, Nova Scotia, was filled with maritime activity, primarily military ships carrying troops, ammunition, and fuel for the war effort. On December 6, at 9:05 AM, the unsuspecting port turned into the site of the largest and most devastating manmade explosion in history until the eventual creation of the atomic bomb.  
The cause of the explosion was the collision of two ships, the French SS Mont Blanc and the SS Imo, a Norwegian freighter. The SS Imo’s captain had been impatient and angry with being delayed leaving and decided to go against the orders of the harbor master. While traveling through the narrows, the Imo refused to yield to the SS Mont Blanc; this meant that it could not slow down enough in time to avoid a collision. A collision like this was usually not fatal, but because of the cargo that the SS Mont Blanc carried, it turned out to be deadly. The Mont Blanc carried 2,300 tons of picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 35 tons of high octane benzol gasoline, and 10 tons of gun cotton. When the ships collided, the barrels of benzol on the deck broke loose and spilled; sparks from the ships then ignited the fuel. The captain ordered all crew to the life boats, realizing the risk of explosion. The ship then drifted to the shore near the wharf of Halifax. The crew tried to warn the civilians to get away from the ship, which was gathering a lot of attention from everyone, but the crew all spoke French and were unable to communicate with many of them. The Halifax fire department arrived just in time to witness the explosion firsthand, but too late to prevent it. At 9:05 AM the ship’s cargo of 2,925 tons of munitions exploded, instantly vaporizing the ship and surrounding area. The explosion killed more than 1,800 people and injured more than 9,000, destroying 1,600 houses and damaging another 12,000. Windows were shattered over 50 miles away and the explosion was heard for hundreds of miles.  
 
(Remains of SS Imo after explosion) 
 
(Aftermath of explosion on the harbor and surrounding area) 



Sources: 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/12/06/two-ships-collided-in-halifax-harbor-one-of-them-was-a-3000-ton-floating-bomb/?utm_term=.74a784e11e3a 
http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/halifax/collision/ 
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-great-halifax-explosion 
https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/halifax-explosion 
http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/december.htm

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