100 years ago, there was an explosion...

[Photon440]

Dec. 6th marked the 100 year anniversary of the Halifax explosion. The largest artificial explosion in history prior to nuclear bombs, the accident devastated the city.

Two ships in the harbor collided through miscommunication; a French munitions ship Mont-Blanc, and the Imo, a Norwegian merchant vessel. After burning for about twenty minutes, the Mont-Blanc exploded, destroying a large part of the harbor and city. Nearly 2,000 people were killed, and another 9,000 injured.

http://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/halifax-explosion/

 

[oldbee]

Wasn’t there another big blast at Port Arthur,Tx.?

 

[69 GTX]

Very interesting.

 

[Glenwood]

My mother's side is from Nova Scotia near the coast. Lucky they weren't affected or I might not be here!

 

[Gone]

I like history, so I added this to illustrate the power of the explosion:

At 9:04 a.m., the out-of-control fire aboard Mont-Blanc finally set off her highly explosive cargo. The ship was blown apart and a powerful blast wave radiated away from the explosion at more than 3,300 ft per second. A temperature of 9,000°F and a pressure of thousands of atmospheres occurred at the center of the explosion. Mont-Blanc was completely blown to pieces, and the remains of her hull were launched nearly 1,000 ft into the air. Steel fragments from her hull and fittings landed all over Halifax and Dartmouth. One of Mont-Blanc's guns landed 3.5 miles north of the blast site and her anchor shank landed 2 miles south.

 

[69 GTX]

In perspective 3,300ft per second is faster than a 30-06. Hard to comprehend that kind of a blast.