Maritime Lawsuit Lawyers

Shipping Disasters: Halifax 1917

During World War I, Halifax, Nova Scotia became a popular staging point for troops, munitions, and ships leaving North America for Europe. The city had one of the world’s largest natural harbors which also happened to be protected by a narrow strip of land. Because of this narrow strip, the harbor was easily defended.

In 1917, a French cargo ship called the Mont-Blanc was loaded in New York City with a huge amount of explosives. All told, the ship carried roughly 2,653 tons of explosives. It carried TNT, benzol, wet pitric acid, and dry pitric acid. It departed New York for Halifax on December 1st. The ship had to go to Halifax in order to secure a military escort.

Unfortunately, by the time the Mont-Blanc arrived at the opening to Halifax Harbor, the anti-submarine nets were already in place for the night. On the inside of the harbor, the Norwegian relief ship Imo was ready to depart for Belgium but had also been trapped inside by the anti-submarine nets for the evening. The next morning, the two ships agreed that they would pass through the Narrows on the wrong sides of the channel as the Imo was already on the port (left) side and the Mont-Blanc would be docking on the right side of the harbor when it docked.

Everything was going well until a tug boat ordered the Mont-Blanc into the center channel. At the same time, the Imo reversed its propellers to stop in order to let the other ship go by safely and with no moving objects to avoid. Unfortunately, when the propellers were reversed, the Imo also drifted into the center channel. This caused the Imo’s bow, or prow, to get stuck in the starboard (right) bow of the Mont-Blanc. When this happened, sparks formed. The sparks caused the barrels of benzol and pitric acid located on the deck to ignite. When the Imo attempted to dislodge itself, it likely ignited more barrels.

The crew of the Mont-Blanc quickly evacuated the ship as they realized the dangerous nature of their cargo. At 9:05, the ship blew up. The explosion immediately destroyed the ship and caused hot metal to fall onto a large area. In addition, the rapid displacement of water due to the explosion caused a tsunami that reportedly was 18 meters high. A pressure wave of air also formed and snapped trees, bent iron rails, demolished buildings, grounded vessels, and carried parts of the Mont-Blanc for miles. All buildings and structures within an area of 2 square kilometers on shore on either side of the Narrows were obliterated. In addition to affecting Halifax, the explosion and resulting fires also destroyed buildings in Dartmouth and Richmond.

In the aftermath, roughly 2000 people died. 9000 more were injured, of which 6000 were seriously injured. The explosion of the Mont-Blanc is still one of the largest, man-made conventional explosions. If you have been injured in an accident on a ship, contact the maritime lawsuit lawyers of Williams Kherkher at 1-866-950-9000 to discuss your case and to determine your legal options.