On our recent trip to Japan we missed Hiroshima and Nagasaki though we did cross the stations since our time was limited…
But everyone knows about the grit and determination of these cities and the country as such to recover from such a devastating attack!
Now did you know that before the atomic bomb explosion; there was a disaster which stands as the largest man-made explosion prior to the development of atomic weapons!?
This explosion is known as the Halifax Explosion which was a catastrophic maritime disaster that occurred on the morning of December 6, 1917, in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada!
The explosion occured because one ship was on the wrong side of the ROAD or the canal so to speak! But both the ships did not change course and it lead to one of the biggest explosion ever!
During World War I, Halifax served as a vital, bustling hub for transatlantic Allied convoy ships.
The first ship; SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship was packed with 2,900 tons of military explosives (including TNT, picric acid, and highly flammable benzol) while the other ship the SS Imo, was a Norwegian vessel chartered to carry relief supplies to Belgium, was departing the harbor.
Around 8:45 AM, due to miscommunication and navigational errors in a tight channel known as the Narrows, the two vessels collided at low speed.
The impact ruptured benzol barrels on the Mont-Blanc, sparking a massive deck fire. The crew abandoned ship, but because the vessel did not fly warning flags to keep its deadly cargo a secret from enemy spies, onlookers gathered along the waterfront and at windows to watch the burning ship drift toward Pier 6.
Then at 9:04:35 AM, the Mont-Blanc detonated with a force equivalent to roughly 2.9 kilotons of TNT!
A fireball reaching 5,000° C incinerated everything at ground zero!
The shockwave ripped through the city at over 1,000 meters per second, shattering windows up to 50 miles away and hurling parts of the ship miles into the air!
The displacement of water briefly exposed the harbor floor, generating an 18-meter (60-foot) tsunami that surged blocks into the city and wiped out the indigenous Mi’kmaq community at Tufts Cove!
Approximately 2,000 people were killed and 9,000 were injured. Thousands of the injuries were severe eye lacerations caused by flying glass as people watched the fire through their windows!
Then again you do see rare examples of amazing humans!
Amidst the horror, incredible stories of sacrifice emerged—such as railway dispatcher Vince Coleman, who stayed at his post to telegraph a warning to an incoming passenger train, saving hundreds of lives before he was killed by the blast!
Also in gratitude for the rapid, massive humanitarian aid sent by the state of Massachusetts, Nova Scotia still donates Boston’s official Christmas tree every year! The gifting continues even now and people walk past this huge tree without knowing the story behind it!
The explosion also triggered massive research and medical breakthroughs in eye care and triage resulting from the disaster!
So have you heard of this one before?!
It’s a scary story! Then again if you like non scary ones then you can check out the ones by Sudha Murthy!
Time to hit the sack!
Shubh Ratri!
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