Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Halifax Explosion

Episode Date: April 20, 2021

On December 6, 1917, one of the greatest tragedies of World War I took place. In a single instant, 1,782 people, mostly civilians were killed. However, this tragedy didn’t take place on the fields of Belgium or in a trench in France. It took place in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Learn more about the Halifax Explosion, one of the worst disasters of World War I, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On December 6th, 1917, one of the greatest tragedies of World War I took place. In a single instant, 2,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed. However, this tragedy didn't take place in the fields of Belgium or in a trench in France. It took place in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Learn more about the Halifax explosion, one of the worst disasters of World War I on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night.

And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. This episode is sponsored by CuriosityStream. Among all the programs you can find on CuriosityStream about science, history, and other subjects, you'll find a fair share of shows. on disasters. Whether it's the Tunguska event, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, Chernobyl, the Titanic, or major pandemics, curiosity stream will satisfy your need for disaster-related entertainment. You can subscribe to CuriosityStream for only $20 per year, not a month, but a whole year. If you're a curious person, then start your subscription by visiting everything-everywhere.com

or click on the link in the show notes. When Britain entered World War I, on August 4, 1914. Canada, by default, became part of the war because they were a dominion of Great Britain at the time. Despite the lack of a declaration of war, the majority of Canadians supported the war effort, and many Canadians enlisted. The city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was quickly becoming the most important port in Canada. It was the eastern most major port in Canada, which was connected to the mainland. St. John's Newfoundland was technically closer to Europe, but it was on an island, which made getting goods to the port difficult. Halifax was connected to the Canadian Pacific Railway, which allowed goods to travel all the way from Vancouver to the Atlantic, where they could be loaded onto ships headed for Europe.

In fact, it was really World War I and the rise of Halifax as a port that was responsible for much of the population growth at the beginning of the 20th century. Many ships which carried supplies from American ports would stop in Halifax on their way to Europe to pick up more cargo before making the voyage across the Atlantic. It was in this environment that the events of December 6, 1917, took place. The disaster came about because of two ships. The first ship was the SS Emo, which was a Norwegian steamship which was transporting relief supplies for Belgium. It had crossed the Atlantic empty on its way to New York to get supplies. It was a neutral ship, as Norway did not take part in World War I. It had arrived in Halifax on December 3rd and spent two days in port refueling and getting supplies.

It was scheduled to leave Halifax on December 5th for New York, however, its coal was late in arriving. Also, the Halifax Harbor was guarded by an anti-submarine net, which was raised each evening to keep U-boats out of the harbor. The coal delay plus the closing of the harbor at night meant that the ship couldn't leave until the morning of the 6th. The other ship in this story is the SS Montblanc, a French freighter that was getting ready to cross the Atlantic

after having just gotten supplies from New York. The supplies on board the ship are the reason why this disaster took place. The ship was loaded with explosives and flammable material. The ship was filled with TNT, the explosive puric acid, the highly flammable fuel benzol, and gun cotton, aka nitrocellulose, which was used as a propellant in ammunition. The Montblanc was there to join a convoy of merchant vessels to cross the Atlantic Ocean. On the morning of December 6 at 7.30 a.m., the Montblanc headed further up the inlet to the area known as the Bedford Basin. As the ship was heading north, it saw the

SS Emo in the distance which was sailing out of Bedford Basin. There was a lot happening in the harbor that morning. In addition to the ferries which were always crossing from Halifax on one side to the town of Dartmouth on the other, there were also other ships moving around the harbor as well. The Emo is traveling above the posted speed for the harbor, their captain having lost a day because the coal delay wanted to make up lost time. The Mont Blanc spotted the Emo a little over a kilometer away. It was going at a high speed and was on a course that would cut off the Mont Blanc. The captain of the Mont Blanc blew his whistle once to indicate that it had the right away.

The captain of the emu blew his whistle twice to indicate that he would not yield. The Montblanc captain turned off its engine and again blew a single whistle, where the Emo captain again responded with two whistles. At this point, it became clear to everyone in the harbor that the ships were going to collide. The Emo had also shut off its engines, but the ships were moving on inertia at this point. As the ships moved closer, the captain of the Emo sent three long whistles which indicated that they were reversing engines. However, because the ship was empty and riding high in the water, it ended up turning the ship right into the Mont Blanc, and it was right into its main cargo hold. The collision occurred at 8.45 a.m.

The Mont Blanc actually wasn't that badly damaged. However, the barrels of benzol and the main main, deck toppled over, and fuel began filling the cargo hold and some of it spilled over on the side of the ship. As the emo pulled away from the Mont Blanc, it created sparks that ignited the fuel, which quickly spread to the cargo hold. The Montblanc was now on fire with massive smoke plumes rising from the ship. This caused quite a commotion, and people began to stream to the edge of the harbor to see the spectacle of the burning ship, or they watched it from the windows inside of buildings on the harbor. No one had any clue what was inside the Montblanc. The ship careened towards one of the piers and set it on fire.

The captain of the Mont Blanc, knowing what would happen if the contents of the ship caught fire, ordered his men to immediately abandon ship. At 9.05 a.m., 20 minutes after the collision of the ships and the ignition of the fire, the Montblanc exploded. It was the single largest explosion in human history up to that point in time. The explosion was so large that it was the unit of measure for all explosions up until the detonation of the atomic bomb. When Hiroshima was bombed in World War II, Time magazine reported that it was seven times the power of the Halifax explosion. The blast waves traveled at 1,000 meters per second.

Every building within 800 meters of the explosion was completely flattened. The Montblanc itself was completely disintegrated and the ship became nothing but flying trapnel. As many as 1,600 people died immediately in the blast. The crowds which had assembled to watch the fire, significantly increased the number of fatalities. At least 9,000 people were injured, with many people going blind from metal shrapnel and flying glass. 1600 homes were destroyed, and 13,000 more were damaged. Windows, 50 miles away, were broken, and the sound of the blast could be heard hundreds of miles away. Bodies were strewn around Halifax, some impaled by glass and wood, and others thrown

high into the air being caught in telegraph wires. A sugar refinery that was made, made out of brick, totally collapsed, killing everyone inside. On top of the devastation of the explosion, it set a massive fire in the town. The town of Dartmouth on the other side of the harbor was heavily damaged as well, but not nearly as bad as Halifax, as it was further away. At least another hundred people died from injuries after the explosion, putting the confirmed list of fatalities over 1700, but it is believed that as many as 2,000 people might have perished.

The explosion cut off Europe from the rest of North America, because the undersea cables all came through Halifax. As word of the disaster spread, relief efforts were hampered by 16 inches or 41 centimeters of snow which fell on Halifax the very next day. Relief efforts were stalled because trains were being stuck in snow drifts. Believe it or not, the one group which didn't suffer massive casualties was the crew of the Mont Blanc itself. Only one member of the crew was killed. Everyone else got off the ship quickly enough and got far enough away to avoid the worst of the blast. They were the only people who knew that the ship was going to explode.

To put the explosion in context, if you've seen video of the recent explosion in Beirut, which occurred in 2020, the Halifax explosion was 10 times greater. For years after the disaster, the people of Halifax didn't actually commemorate the explosion due to the trauma to the community. After the first year, there wasn't a commemoration until the 50th anniversary in 1967. Today, there are several monuments and traditions which commemorate the disaster. The location where the anchor of the Mont Blanc landed, 2.35 miles away from the blast site, has a marker. There is a memorial bell tower where a ceremony is held every December 6th. One of the lasting traditions was that a large Christmas tree was sent to the city of Boston by the city of Halifax, in thanks for the support provided after the explosion.

That tradition continues to this day, sponsored by the provincial government, government. It's the official Christmas tree of the city of Boston, and it's located every season in the Boston Commons. The Halifax explosion remains the largest accidental explosion in history, and one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever. The associate producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Thor Thompson. Today's five-star review comes from listener Abaris on Podcast Republic. They write, Hi there, a note from a neighbor. Amare Usque Admare Usquay Admue, Admi, Uskwe, Adm Yeah, I hear you, Clemens. I would rather decline two drinks than one German adjective, Mark Twain, a tramp abroad.

Uh, thanks, Ebraeus. I have to decipher your comment and translate it for everyone else. By note from a neighbor, I am assuming that you are meaning Canada, given you spelt neighbor with a U. The Latin phrase which you use is a take on the national motto of Canada, which is Amari Uskwe Admarai, which means from C to C. The variant you used is sort of what some Canadians are recommending for the motto to be changed to, as Canada borders three oceans, not two. The actual proposed Latin would be Amari ad Amari from C to C to C. The final bit is a reference to Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain, who had a well-known distaste for the German language. Remember, if you leave a five-star review, you too can have your review read on the show.