# Halifax Explosion Centennial **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2017, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715 "2017-12-06T16:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715/21 "2017-12-09T02:08:52Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I’d read this previously and was struck by the article’s clearly laying most blame not on the explosives ship, but on the Norwegian vessel involved in the collision - yet the official investigation blamed personnel on both ships. Jack (if I may be so informal), the book I referenced in the OP discussed this in some detail, the accident legally was the fault of the ship not carrying explosives, there is little doubt on that, but the explosives ship was French and the crew abandoned it and made little if any effort to warn authorities that it was carrying explosives, so feelings after the explosion were rather high against them. Add in a showboating attorney and a Judge who may have been less than impartial and… ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2017, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715/22 "2017-12-09T02:40:30Z")
the curse of the narrows is the book i have. the description of the eye surgeries, hour after hour after hour, is harrowing. i’ve been to the halifax museum, it is well done and very worth a visit. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715/23 "2017-12-11T05:01:29Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Jack (if I may be so informal), the book I referenced in the OP discussed this in some detail, the accident legally was the fault of the ship not carrying explosives, there is little doubt on that, but the explosives ship was French and the crew abandoned it and made little if any effort to warn authorities that it was carrying explosives, so feelings after the explosion were rather high against them. Add in a showboating attorney and a Judge who may have been less than impartial and… Wikipedia’s description makes it plain that the outbound Norwegian ship was at fault for the collision, since they were out of their lane, refusing to return to it or to rightfully yield to _Mont-Blanc_, and speeding. But _Mont-Blanc_ was loaded criminally poorly, with unsecured barrels of aircraft fuel rattling around waiting to be knocked over and poured out when the two ships finally sideswiped each other. And Mont-Blanc’s crew skedaddled rather make any attempt at firefighting or damage control, leaving an abandoned fireship to drift into the pier. No one involved in the initial collison covered themselves in glory that day. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715/24 "2018-01-24T14:14:31Z")
The Feb. 2018 issue of _Naval History_ magazine has a short review of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, in Halifax, “perhaps the most powerful exhibit” of which is about the explosion: [https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/](https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715/25 "2018-05-18T15:44:59Z")
Just came across a copy of the September 2017 issue of _Smithsonian_ magazine, which includes an interesting article, “Fire on the Water,” about a recently-discovered contemporary account of the explosion. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715/26 "2018-05-18T19:34:18Z")
My maternal grandmother suffered cuts from flying glass in the explosion. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715/27 "2018-07-06T19:39:58Z")
Just came across a review of this book in the June 2018 issue of _Naval History_: [https://www.amazon.com/Great-Halifax-Explosion-Treachery-Extraordinary/dp/0062666533/ref=sr\_1\_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1530905913&sr=1-1&keywords=the+great+halifax+explosion+by+john+u.+bacon](https://www.amazon.com/Great-Halifax-Explosion-Treachery-Extraordinary/dp/0062666533/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1530905913&sr=1-1&keywords=the+great+halifax+explosion+by+john+u.+bacon). The reviewer said it’s “an excellent case study in disaster management and humanitarian leadership.” ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715/28 "2018-07-06T20:41:31Z")
There have been a lot of big badda-booms besides Halifax. _USS Mount Hood_ is notable, as is the Oppau ammonia plant explosion in 1921. [USS Mount Hood (AE-11) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Mount_Hood_(AE-11))[Oppau explosion - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppau_explosion). _Mount Hood_ is probably the closest, with this description of the aftermath, > [@](#): > > "Mount Hood’s former position was revealed by a trench in the ocean floor 1,000 feet (300 m) long, 200 feet (60 m) wide, and 30 to 40 feet (9 to 12 m) deep. The largest remaining piece of the hull was found in the trench and measured no bigger than 16 by 10 feet (5 by 3 m). No other remains of Mount Hood were found except fragments of metal which had struck other ships in the harbor and a few tattered pages of a signal notebook found floating in the water several hundred yards away. No human remains were recovered of the 350 men aboard Mount Hood or small boats loading alongside at the time of the explosion. Port Chicago should probably be mentioned as well. [Port Chicago disaster - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chicago_disaster) Loading ordnance can be dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2018, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715/29 "2018-07-08T03:21:44Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > I’m not so sure this was the biggest non-nuclear explosion - 2.9Ktons of explosive power is certainly plenty, but I think the RAF Fauld explosion was somewhat larger but it will be another 27 years until the centenary Fauld was in November, and Trinity wasn’t until the following July. so by the normal measure Fauld was “before the start of the nuclear age”. I think Halifax hasn’t been the largest ever non-nuclear explosion for a while, but that wasn’t the claim. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/halifax-explosion-centennial/803715.md?page=1)