25 replies to this topic

[ejcmartin]

Today is the 90th anniversary of the Halifax explosion, the result of a munitions ship and a "Belgian Relief" ship colliding in Halifax harbour. It is said to the the largest pre-atomic explosion. Much of Halifax was laid to waste and thousands were killed and wounded.

CBC article here:

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Atlantic/071205/t120515A.html

[GRUMPY]

Second largest: the largest was 1944, RAFD Fauld, c. 4000000 kg

[Alan Curragh]

Thanks for posting EJC - can highly recommend "Curse of the Narrows" by Laura MacDonald on the explosion

May the 2000 victims rest in peace...

Alan

[Mark Hone]

I researched the Fauld Crater explosion prior to a mini school battlefield tour 12 years ago. It's an interesting and impressive site in rural Staffordshire, well worth a detour. Amazingly the store was relatively empty when it went up in November'44, and only part of it exploded (about 4,000 tons).  I seem to recall that if the ammo dump had gone off before D-Day, when it was packed with explosives, it would have been horrendous, in explosive terms potentially Hiroshima-level (around 20,000 tons). As it was it 'rained cows' apparently and 70 people were killed, at the dump, at a neighbouring Gypsum plasterboard factory and in the nearby village of Hanbury, which was devastated. When we visited there were information boards and memorials at the crater and interesting wartime photos in the village pub. Thank goodness it wasn't near a heavily-populated area, unlike the Halifax blast.

[roel22]

The link doesn't work

[Arras100]

When I visited Halifax a few years ago it was haunting to see the visible reminders of the explosion, still seen in the city. I went on a cemetary tour and they showed us sections that had been almost destroyed by the explosion; some of the tomb stones were black from it.

[Frank_East]

Second largest: the largest was 1944, RAFD Fauld, c. 4000000 kg

Can I remind you that you still have an action on you to determine or otherwise declare the depth of the crater.

[Connaught Stranger]

Off topic but:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heligoland

From 1945 to 1952 the uninhabited islands were used as a bombing range. On 18 April 1947, the Royal Navy detonated 6,800 tonnes of explosives ("Big Bang" or "British Bang"), creating the biggest non-nuclear single detonation in history.
While aiming at the fortifications, the island's total destruction would have been accepted. The blow shook the main island several miles down to its base, changing its shape (the Mittelland was created). . . .

Connaught Stranger

[Mark Hone]

Frank-Details of the Fauld Explosion, and impressive aerial photos of the crater can be found at:
http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm
It is apparently 90 feet deep and covers 12 acres. The site is well worth a visit.

[Frank_East]

Frank-Details of the Fauld Explosion, and impressive aerial photos of the crater can be found at:
http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm
It is apparntly 90 feet deep and covers 12 acres. The site is well worth a visit.

Mark. Thanks for the link to the Fauld site.

A long long time ago I lived about 3 miles from Fauld and am aware of the mystery of the explosion. The official report on the incident had not been made available at the time. I think the incident report was still outside the public domain.The local view seemed to point at Italians POWs urinating on explosives as the cause.

I remember the site after the RAF had apparently ceased to store explosives there and it appears to have been unused with access secured.It may have been on care and maintenance although it was not all that apparent.

[Roxy]

Here is another CBC link:

http://www.cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion/

Roxy

[Ian Robertson]

I've just uncovered in my Father in Law's effects a little book published by Gerald E Weir, 223 Hollis street Halifax containing about 50 pictures of the disaster. titled "Devastated Halifax" and priced 50c. It is from the 2nd edition which does not have a date of publication but would probably have been sometime in 1918. Some of the pictures and description are quite ghoulish.
The fly leaf has the inscription;

DEVASTATED HALIFAX

Views of the Greatest Disaster in the history of the American Continent; caused by the explosion that followed the collision of the French Munitions Ship 2Mont Blanc" and the Belgian Relief ship "Imo" in Halifax Harbour, December 6th 1917.

Inside the book there is a loose sheet of paper with a map of the Harbour Area and a list of the dead. Very interesting.

regards

Ian

[per ardua per mare per terram]

May they all Rest in Peace.

[Michael Johnson]

Here's a link to an Imperial Service Medal in my collection with links to the Halifax Explosion.

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=4028...st&p=372844

[regimentalrogue]

Halifax was the Home Station of The RCR before and during the First World War. The Regiment's colours were buried in the ruins of the Officer's Mess when that building collapsed, and were not recovered for some days.

Private Fred Felepchuk of The RCR died in the explosion, he is buried in Fort Massey Cemetery in Halifax.



A check of the Canadian Virtual War Memorial for  deaths on 6 Dec 1917 returned 54 names of Canadian sailors and soldiers. A quick check of individual  pages shows that quite a few of them appear to have died at Halifax on  that date.

[Borden Battery]

The Halifax Explosion - CBC TV
The Halifax Explosion website brings together a wide range of resources from CBC Television, CBC Radio and CBC.ca; from major research bodies, community groups and individuals. [CEF Study Group - Jan 2006]
http://www.cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion/

Halifax Explosion: The Aftermath and Relief Efforts (1917)
A 13 minute video showing the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion, which until the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, was the largest man-made explosion in history.  The SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in Halifax Harbour. About 2,000 people were killed over 9,000 people were injured.  A huge blizzard hit the city the next day. [CEF Study Group - Oct 2010]

[Connor]

Thanks for posting.  My last trip to Halifax was years ago but I seem to recall that an anchor from one of the ships was flung more than a mile and landed in an area that is now a park.  (?)

Not to hijack the thread, but isn't the yearly donation of a Christmas tree to Boston, Mass a tradition that originated as a gesture of thanks to the people of Boston for their help with donations etc,,, to Halifax?  i should google and not be so lazy...

[Borden Battery]

Yes, since 1971 there is a tradition of a Christmas tree being sent for placement in the "Boston Common".  Google will give you several websites with more detailed information.  Borden Battery

[ph0ebus]

Connor, on 12 October 2010 - 12:00 PM, said:

Thanks for posting.  My last trip to Halifax was years ago but I seem to recall that an anchor from one of the ships was flung more than a mile and landed in an area that is now a park.  (?)

Not to hijack the thread, but isn't the yearly donation of a Christmas tree to Boston, Mass a tradition that originated as a gesture of thanks to the people of Boston for their help with donations etc,,, to Halifax?  i should google and not be so lazy...

From Wikipedia:

Fragments of Mont-Blanc rained down all over the city. A portion of Mont-Blanc's anchor shaft, weighing 517 kilograms (1,140 lb) was thrown 3,780 metres (2.3 mi) west of the blast on the far side of the Northwest Arm; it is now part of a monument at the corner of Spinnaker Dr. and Anchor Dr. A gun barrel landed in Dartmouth, over 5.5 kilometres (3.4 mi) east, near Albro Lake. Another piece of wreckage was driven into the wall of St. Paul's Church, where it remains today. A one ton boulder, apparently from the harbour bottom, landed with some force on the Picton.

-Daniel

[Connor]

Thanks for that, Daniel and Borden Battery.  I curse my laziness sometimes!!

[regimentalrogue]

This is the gun barrel, mounted in the neighbourhood in Dartmouth near where it landed.

And the plaque behind the gun barrel:

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[ph0ebus]

regimentalrogue, on 12 October 2010 - 02:11 PM, said:

This is the gun barrel, mounted in the neighbourhood in Dartmouth near where it landed.

And the plaque behind the gun barrel:

Thanks for these pics...they really are worth a thousand words.

-Daniel

[regimentalrogue]

I've been going through my photos, but cannot find any of the anchor (which used to sit outside the Dartmouth Public Library).  I did, however, find these images:

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[regimentalrogue]

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[ph0ebus]

These pictures also tell quite a story.  They are regularly available on eBay, with some images more difficult to find (and thus more expensive) than others.

-Daniel