The Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy, and Extraordinary Heroism, by John U. Bacon (2017)
The Great Halifax
Explosion, by John U. Bacon, recounts the events leading up to the collision of
two ships in 1917 in the Halifax Harbor as well as the aftermath. One of the ships was laden some of the most
lethal explosives known. The explosion
was as powerful an explosion as a nuclear weapon, and is second only to the
bombing of Hiroshima. Over 2000 people
were killed in the subsequent explosion and thousands of others were wounded,
many very seriously.
The SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship was ordered by the French
government to carry nearly 3000 tons of high explosives from New York City to
Europe, via Nova Scotia, Canada, as a part of the World War I effort. The ship carried almost 500 steel drums of
combustible airplane fuel, 250 tons of TNT and nearly 2,500 tons of picric
acid, an extremely unstable explosive.
The Mont-Blanc carefully
sailed to the Halifax Harbor, successfully avoiding the German U-boats, and was
to join a convoy for the remainder of the transport across the Atlantic.
The SS Imo, was a Norwegian vessel heading back across the Atlantic from Halifax
Harbor. The Imo was leaving the Harbor as the Mont-Blanc was entering. Due
to a number of factors, a serious miscalculation caused the two ships to
collide on the morning of December 6, 1917.
The explosives were packed
into the Mont-Blanc in such a way that the explosion did not immediately
occur. Instead, there was a fire, which
caught the attention of the towns people.
Many folks looked out their windows, or wandered down to the dock to see
the spectacle. When the explosion
finally occurred, it created a tsunami-like effect, causing shock waves to
dissipate over much of the surrounding area, knocking down building, structures
and people in its way. The entire
waterfront was virtually gone. That
which wasn’t immediately destroyed became consumed by the resulting fires.
The town folk initially
assumed that the disaster was the result of a German attack since the Great War
(World War I) was in full force in Europe.
In an instant, about half of the population of Halifax was homeless. In 1917,
telephones were a luxury and the telegraph lines were destroyed. Word of the explosion, however, reached
nearby communities. Boston,
Massachusetts was the nearest large city accessible to Halifax via the
Atlantic. Despite the frosty relations
between Canada and the United States (another fact I was not aware of), the
acting Mayor of Halifax informed the Mayor of Boston of its need for
assistance.
Boston just happened to be
one of the few cities that actually had a disaster emergency plan in
place. The city immediately sent
doctors, nurses, medical supplies and money to assist the people of Halifax.
The author brings several
of the survivors to life. He follows
their actions in the days after the explosion in a very compassionate manner.
I just recently learned of
the Halifax Explosion when listening to a history podcast. Shortly thereafter, I happened to see The
Great Halifax Explosion: A World War I Story of Treachery, Tragedy and
Extraordinary Heroism in the public library.
I can’t believe that I never heard of the Explosion, especially since
the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia has been giving my city of Boston,
Massachusetts a Christmas tree as a way of “thanks” for years.
I found this book to be riveting.
Read: January 17, 2018
5 Stars
