Okla-homey
12/6/2007, 08:50 AM
Dec 16, 1917: The Great Halifax Explosion
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/33910/2005099888129853877_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005099888129853877)
Shot a couple minutes after the explosion
Precisely 90 years ago, at 9:05 a.m., in the harbor of Halifax in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, the most devastating manmade explosion in the pre-atomic age occurs when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, explodes 20 minutes after colliding with another vessel.
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/36063/2005060975454941360_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005060975454941360)
As World War I raged in Europe, the port city of Halifax bustled with ships carrying troops, relief supplies, and munitions across the Atlantic Ocean. On the morning of December 6, the Norwegian vessel Imo left its mooring in Halifax harbor for New York City.
http://aycu28.webshots.com/image/36387/2005034979806839140_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005034979806839140)
SS Mont Blanc. Loaded to the limit with highly explosive materials
At the same time, the French freighter Mont Blanc, its cargo hold packed with highly explosive munitions--2,300 tons of picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 35 tons of high-octane gasoline, and 10 tons of gun cotton--was forging through the harbor's narrows to join a military convoy that would escort it across the Atlantic.
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/35101/2005067500939781444_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005067500939781444)
Picking through the rubble.
At approximately 8:45 a.m., the two ships collided, setting the picric acid ablaze. Mont Blanc was propelled toward the shore by its collision with Imo, and the crew rapidly abandoned the ship, attempting without success to alert the harbor of the peril of the burning ship.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/35677/2005004247457343972_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005004247457343972)
After the collision, Imo skittered off and ran aground. She survived the blast.
Spectators gathered along the waterfront to witness the spectacle of the blazing ship, and minutes later it brushed by a harbor pier, setting it ablaze. The Halifax Fire Department responded quickly and was positioning its engine next to the nearest hydrant when Mont Blanc exploded at 9:05 a.m. in a blinding white flash.
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/35079/2005074961089839385_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005074961089839385)
A brewery died.
The massive explosion killed more than 1,800 people, injured another 9,000--including blinding 200--and destroyed almost the entire north end of the city of Halifax, including more than 1,600 homes.
The resulting shock wave shattered windows 50 miles away, and the sound of the explosion could be heard.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/36695/2005081510987426201_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005081510987426201)
The monument.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/37855/2005069494336234971_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005069494336234971)
Many of the dead were never identified
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/36817/2005084819278090180_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005084819278090180)
http://aycu31.webshots.com/image/33910/2005099888129853877_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005099888129853877)
Shot a couple minutes after the explosion
Precisely 90 years ago, at 9:05 a.m., in the harbor of Halifax in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, the most devastating manmade explosion in the pre-atomic age occurs when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, explodes 20 minutes after colliding with another vessel.
http://aycu24.webshots.com/image/36063/2005060975454941360_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005060975454941360)
As World War I raged in Europe, the port city of Halifax bustled with ships carrying troops, relief supplies, and munitions across the Atlantic Ocean. On the morning of December 6, the Norwegian vessel Imo left its mooring in Halifax harbor for New York City.
http://aycu28.webshots.com/image/36387/2005034979806839140_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005034979806839140)
SS Mont Blanc. Loaded to the limit with highly explosive materials
At the same time, the French freighter Mont Blanc, its cargo hold packed with highly explosive munitions--2,300 tons of picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 35 tons of high-octane gasoline, and 10 tons of gun cotton--was forging through the harbor's narrows to join a military convoy that would escort it across the Atlantic.
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/35101/2005067500939781444_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005067500939781444)
Picking through the rubble.
At approximately 8:45 a.m., the two ships collided, setting the picric acid ablaze. Mont Blanc was propelled toward the shore by its collision with Imo, and the crew rapidly abandoned the ship, attempting without success to alert the harbor of the peril of the burning ship.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/35677/2005004247457343972_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005004247457343972)
After the collision, Imo skittered off and ran aground. She survived the blast.
Spectators gathered along the waterfront to witness the spectacle of the blazing ship, and minutes later it brushed by a harbor pier, setting it ablaze. The Halifax Fire Department responded quickly and was positioning its engine next to the nearest hydrant when Mont Blanc exploded at 9:05 a.m. in a blinding white flash.
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/35079/2005074961089839385_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005074961089839385)
A brewery died.
The massive explosion killed more than 1,800 people, injured another 9,000--including blinding 200--and destroyed almost the entire north end of the city of Halifax, including more than 1,600 homes.
The resulting shock wave shattered windows 50 miles away, and the sound of the explosion could be heard.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/36695/2005081510987426201_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005081510987426201)
The monument.
http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/37855/2005069494336234971_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005069494336234971)
Many of the dead were never identified
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/36817/2005084819278090180_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2005084819278090180)