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19176 December 1917 · Halifax, Nova Scotia

Halifax Explosion

The flattened Richmond district of Halifax in 1917, looking across the Narrows to the grounded ship Imo
Archival image: William James. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On 6 December 1917 the French munitions ship Mont-Blanc collided with the Norwegian Imo in the Narrows of Halifax Harbour and caught fire. About twenty minutes later its cargo exploded, flattening the city's North End, killing about 2,000 people and injuring some 9,000. Nova Scotia still sends Boston a Christmas tree each year in thanks for its relief effort.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Fort Needham Memorial ParkHilltop memorial bell tower above the Narrows where the ships met.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Maritime Museum of the AtlanticGallery on the explosion, with wreckage and survivors' accounts.Map ↗

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Also in Halifax

More from the First World War

Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.