If anyone wants a glimpse at what the Halifax explosion looked like, just take a look at the videos of the recent Beirut explosion of 2020. The blasts were very similar in size. Halifax was about 2.9 kilotons, and the Beirut blast was 2.7 kilotons.
@@richardpehtown2412 that one was around 3.5 kilotonnes. It was eerily similar to the Halifax Explosion a French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp full of ammonia nitrate caught fire and exploded.
I was listening to this while drinking a brandy. Mr. Coleman...a toast and much respect. You knew you would not survive and went back anyway. There were hundreds more people that lived because of you.
For the 28 years following the disaster, Halifax was the yardstick that other explosions were held up against. When the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Time Magazine stated it as being seven times the power of Halifax
I've sailed as Engineer on 3 ammo ships. 2 of them old steam ships. Having a good idea what I was getting into, I figured that if there was an explosion it would be so fast it wouldn't matter. No where to run, no where to hide.
In grade school, I has Sisters of Charity of Halifax as teachers. Several of my teachers were postulants or novices at the time of the explosion. The motherhouse happened to be on the reverse slope of one of the hills, so they were spared. The stories they told though of combing through the wreckage afterwards looking for survivors and deceased souls was spellbinding. They were some strong women, they made my education in grade school a wonderful experience.
The Motherhouse lies nearly three miles away, across the Bedford Basin from where the explosion took place. The portion of the shock wave moving northwest toward the motherhouse would have been deflected by the hill rising from the harbour.
Vince Coleman was actually one of the only people in Halifax that had prior knowledge of the Mount Blanc's cargo... My local library had a book entitled "The City that Disappeared" that was written in 1962 and was my introduction to this tragedy..I dont remember the author, however.
Coming from a family of merchant navy,I always found interest in ships especially historical ones.And I find your videos a great history lesson. Keep them coming sir.
White Star line were the owners of the Olympic and the Titanic! Corruptly run. After the Olympic suffered an accident and it’s insurance wouldn’t pay for full repairs the owners switched titles and arranged for the now Titanic to be sunk. The old Titanic survived
My great grandmother was in Halifax as a teenager for this. She would tell stories about it before she passed. And my uncle donated one of the tree's to Boston in the late 90's. It was a huge tree. He still has part of the stump
Thanks for making this! I’m from Halifax and am fascinated by this. I live in a house on the Dartmouth waterfront. It makes me wonder what was here before!
Check out the pre 1917 street directories for the area. Likely loads of information available. Your local library likely has copies of the street directories.
Im glad someone finally made a video on this. Not a lot of people here in Boston know why we get a tree from them. Definitely subscribing because I also like naval history.
We in Canada who know Halifax's history will never forget what the awesome people of Boston did for us...your efforts in supplying the emergency goods and staff so quickly undoubtedly saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. Thank you Boston!!
I have a new one up called Ten Technical Titanic Facts. On January 30th, I'll be uploading a Wilhelm Gustloff video to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the sinking.
Apparently the Olympic was in Halifax just a few days before this disaster. If she was still there she almost certainly would have been lost. I know she already had the nickname "Old Reliable", but I feel that "Lucky Lady" would also apply. Narrowly escaping Halifax, gets hit with a torpedo that turned out to be a dud (which if it wasn't it would probably have sunk her), and ramming/getting rammed by multiple other vessels and still came out of each one relatively unharmed. There was just something special about that ship I swear, I wouldn't be surprised if she would have sunk the iceberg instead if she were in Titanic's position. Just a real shame that her sisters were perhaps the unluckiest in history.
Because of all the windows shattering and people watching the burning ship through said windows, the Halifax explosion was also the largest mass-blinding in Canadian history, about 850 people were permanently blinded that day, their lives changed forever. The explosion was a big reason for the formation of the Canadian Nation Institute for the Blind, the CNIB. A terrible tragedy in every sense of the word that I hope will never be repeated.
An ammunition ship explosions of similar size occured many times in WW2 before the trinity test but the Halifax explosion was important because it happened so close to a populated city rather than out in the ocean.
G'day Dylan, my Mum's family were from Larne. What's happening at Tiger's Bay & Harland & Wolf...I hear they both are slowly being erased to the winds. Slain te'🍻
Here are several books about the explosion: Explosion in Halifax Harbour 1917 by Dan Soucoup. The Halifax Explosion by Ken Cuthbertson. The Great Halifax Explosion by John U Bacon. The Town that Died by Michael J Bird. Shattered City by Janet Kitz.
It's interesting that 2 of the worst maritime disasters in Canada (the Halifax disaster & the sinking of the Empress of Ireland) were caused by Norwegian ships colliding into them
So you’re the captain of a ship carrying explosives and you refuse to move off course then after the fire breaks out realise the danger you call for an abandon ship, my god the audacity.
@@Snagglepuss1952 The crew of the Mont Blanc was most aware of the dangerous situation and took no hesitation in fleeing from the scene, even as the captain of the Imo tried fixing the situation by sending crewmen to the Mont Blanc with the intention of putting out the fire. Although the French crew tried to warn the citizens of Halifax of the danger, who were watching the event unfold on the shore, the problem was that the canadians couldn't understand French and the French didn't speak English. So some of the French resorted to grabbing the children from the arms of their mothers in the crowd and running away, which proved to be quite successful because the parents of these children started chasing these unexpected kidnappers away from the explosion zone, which the french returned the children to after the explosion. The point is that even though the French made poor decisions, they also tried saving as many people as possible.
If the rule was to stay right, why didn't the Imo turn to stern and get back on the correct side after passing the tug boat? Why maintain course in the wrong lane? Especially after another ship had already sounded they would stay course on the correct side? I dont get it. The first ship that caused the IMO to move into the wrong lane, and the IMO's failure to correct asap seems to be the cause of this accident. But why not correct your position at the first opportunity?
MrPyrotonic It’s been a while since I have looked into this topic (you’ll see that this is a somewhat old video), but, if I remember correctly, it was a chain of events stemming from one failure to adhere to regulation.
Also, remember what was mentioned. *Both* ships were on emergency details, and both were in a hurry. Feeling rushed frequently leads to poor decision making, especially in the heat of the moment. The Imo probably felt it more important to keep moving forward, to try and make up some time, then to lose more time by trying to correct their course. Of course, in the end the decision cost them far more than time.
My mother is from a small town in Nova Scotia not far from Halifax, although she was born in 1935, this disaster greatly affected her family, and then intern my family. Back then big families were quite common as infant mortality rates were quite high. In one home they were 15 children, all would’ve been my great aunt and uncles, all of them, including both their parents were killed instantly the moment the explosion happened as their home was right on the waterfront. It was just a horrible flu that kept the entire family home that day, when normally they would have been at school, and the parents would have been at work, quite far away from the explosion and probably would have survived. It’s a very very dark day in my family‘s history that we lost 17 family members in a matter of seconds. Although I naturally never met any of them, with family comes love, and even watching this has me in tears, just imagining the terror that they went through at the moment of the explosion. Our only solace is knowing they died probably instantly, as a matter of fact were told that they were probably vaporized by the heat wave that was hotter than the surface of the sun. It obliterated the entire city, had it not been for the kindness and charity of the people of Boston, Halifax would’ve never recovered, at least not to the degree that it did, and I am forever grateful to them. It was one of the worst war time disasters in history, yet for so many reasons, so few people even know about it, with Hollywood re-creating disasters all the time, why have they not yet made a moody to honour the memories of the people that perished, like my family? They have made a few cheesy made for TV movies, but never something that is worthy of truly telling their story and letting the world know about it so that they are never forgotten. I just wish to God someone like James Cameron, a Canadian, would come and make a movie to honour the biggest pre-atomic explosion in human history! All of this happened long before I was born, it’s still hurts me anyways, 17 members of my family gone in seconds, how would you feel?
@@EdinburghFive technically true, but we can get it from my perspective, it did destroy the entire city, because the parts of the city that survived or left in peril, desperately coping with the thousands upon thousands that were killed were maimed in the explosion. Each time I go back, I go right back to the area where am I family‘s home once stood before it was literally blowing off the face of the earth, and while I’m surrounded by a bustling modern city, it’s only for a few moments it feels as though I’m surrounded by nothing, and I can feel the pain and the suffering of all those people so long ago. I know a great deal about it having studied it for years, desperately wanting to learn more to see if I have any surviving family members from that explosion, and I do, but after finding out what they went through after the explosion, if you could just read their words, it truly absolutely devastated the entire city, even if parts of the city remain standing, it doesn’t mean it didn’t devastate the people that lived there. That’s what I mean when I say it devastated the entire city. My apologies if I’ve mislead you, that was not my intention.
Titanic sank in 1912. The German navy sank the Britannic in 1916. And if in 1917 the Olympic had been literally vaporized by this explosion people may have thought White Star Line ships cursed. Oddly enough, the Emo was also originally a White Star liner (SS Runic) too.
One Short Blast means, I am altering course to Starboard. Two Short Blasts means I an altering course to Port. Three Short Blasts means , my engines are going astern.
@@Mondo762 Making up your own signals does not work in real life, Emergency full astern will be a communication between the Bridge and Engine Room of the ship. The Engine Room does not listen to blasts on the whistle.
@@benwilson6145 I sailed over 30 years in the US Merchant Marine as an Engineer. I don't need you to tell me how things work aboard ship. I was off duty when my ship buried her bow into a Greek tanker off the coast of Argentina. This was the SS Santa Maria, a passenger/cargo ship and it happened back in 1982. I distinctly hear 4 blasts before hearing the smack and the ship listing over to starboard. Of course I know how Emergency Full Astern is communicated to the Engine Room. I have answered that bell while on the throttle. Thankfully no collision happened that time.
@@Mondo762 Just go and read the Collision Regulations, they are for all vessels operating in International waters, Engine Room staff do not learn the Collision Regulations.
1500 dead with 9,000 wounded doesn't sound too bad until you remember that's a sizeable chunk of the entire city at the time. Imagine the death toll if this happened in WW2, or in modern day Halifax.
In 1917 1900 dead and 9000 injured largely to the face and eyes, is nearly one in ten Haligonians, we're starting to bounce back a hundred years later, but it scarred a generation, haunted the following generation, and became mythical status from there on
my grandfather was an infant in Boston in the winter of 1917, and the family trade was ship-welding, so I imagine his own father's work in Boston Harbor was majorly affected by this explosion. Apparently, my great-grandfather was as taciturn as his son was gregarious, so my grandfather had only remote speculations to offer on how this event personally affected our family. Reflection is a privilege not all can access
Wish you could make more videos on trains and railroading, the only railroad specific video is the one on canadian pacific, would you do more like those?
Maritime is more my niche and I know a lot more about it. Railroad topics are very interesting to me, but take a lot more time to research because I have less base knowledge. I intend to do more of it in the future, but it will be more sparse than maritime and aviation topics.
_Let me sing you a song boys of fire and flame_ _of a french ammo ship, the Montblanc was her name_ _how brave nova scotia was never the same_ _on the morning when Halifax burned_
I have a very interesting question, in the tv movie Shattered City the Halifax Explosion, there was a scene of what I suppose was a German spy trying to open the sea cocks so the munitions won't explode into the Innocent people of Halifax. I don't know if this scene ever happened but I was kind of curious recently as I saw some people putting fireworks in the icy water and yet they would explode. So my question is if the Imo were to sink before the explosions ignited would it stop the ammunition from exploding?
That's a great question. As a quick note: it was the Mont Blanc that exploded, not the Imo. Moving on. There were attempts by the crew of the HMS Niobe to scuttle Mont Blanc in order to stop her cargo from exploding. Of course, this attempt did not come to fruition and I don't know for sure if it would have worked, although I suspect it would have at least bough some time. The crew of Niobe put their lives on the line, so they must have believed that it had the potential to work.
There was a similar incident in WW2, where a US Navy ammo ship Just randomly decided its a good time to explode, in a hub Port with houndrets of armed warships docked
Yeah. A sad thing is that the captain of the Mont Blanc knew that the cargo was too dangerous and he did attempt to warn the port authorities in New York that it was a bad idea to pack the ship full of explosives but he was pretty much told to shut up and to not interfere with the loading of the cargo or the ship would not be allowed to leave port. If people had listened to him, the explosion would not have been as big as it was.
at 1:36 I kept having to replay because I kept hearing "emo" and each time since you've said the name I have, guilty as charged, had a moment of "haha thats funny" before I remember that a lot of people lost their lives. :(
My family lost many family members in this explosion. We lost William Arthur Lovett and his son William Arthur Lovett and son's spouse Bertha Josephine Lovett and son's daughter Edna Frances Lovett only 3 years old, Alfred Lovett and his son Charles Lovett, and Ada E Lovett... The Lovett family lost many wonderful people... If you know anyone who is related to my family please comment or message me. We are looking for relatives. Thank you. Rest in peace my family.
Thousands of “civilian” ships. The majority were army supply ships like tankers, and troop transports. Many others sunk were armed navy vessels. Very few civilian ships were suck and when they were suck most of the time they were trying to smuggle ammunition or something for the war effort. Which makes them no longer civilian vessels.
@@shady493 As for British vessels, and I assume its Commonwealth partner civilian ships (merchant marine), remained under the ownership, manning, and command of the companies that owned them. The British authorities controlled all aspects of which ports the ships sailed to and from, as well as the cargos carried, etc. The civilian ships were not armed. They sailed in convoy escorted by naval vessels. Cheers
Why was that first inbound ship in the out bound lane ? The Imo captain had his ship in the right position , he should have stayed in the out bound lane .
It's an older intro and I've changed it since. But, I do some aviation too. Just not as much. If you're interested, check out the video on the space shuttle program and the Wright Brothers. I have one on airships coming out soon.
Ho Ho happy holliday? This is one of those weird ones for sure. Now we have Beirut, which is the new second place behind Hallifax for largest noon nuclear explosion. Which I think was the Texas fertilizer ship explosion.
I like your videos, topics and also narration... but I feel this video was way, WAY too short and did not cover enough. So many questions remain, so many stories are not told. Considering how big the event was, it deserved more. Don't get me wrong, the video is great... but it should have covered more.
Thanks for the feedback! This was one of my earlier videos and, when I was first starting this channel, I tended to make shorter videos. If I were to make this video today, it would probably be a fair bit longer.
to add at that time of history, the rules of the road, written down as they are and answerable to a court of law, the people who follow them still have egos regarding who should be in there positions, (red, right, returning) I would think all these rules and laws of the sea, were seen as suggestions, this is from my humble career on 4 different railways from the 70's and I have had relations who worked from the 50's, I have also worked with guys who worked with people in the railroad from the turn of the century, they said the job has been much the same until the 80's, in Canada anyway as we were a crown company
Not a long enough video...I don't mean to be rude, I know that you try to keep your videos short and to the point, but it would've been nice to see a detailed explanation on many points.
I like your channel. Do you have an educational background in history? It seems like you might.
Scott Garnett Thank you! I do not, I just like both transportation and history.
@@TheGreatBigMove In that case, I'm even more impressed. Good work.
@@TheGreatBigMove your passion clearly shows and you have excellent vision. Take advantage of your peak
@@CBielski87 Thank you! I think the channel is finally getting into a good groove.
"Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys."
Del, in the movie, pactrick is much more younger, idk why, checkout the movie, its good, its on prime video.
@@karolpaztelez3470 What is the name of this movie?
@@latmask00 Shattered City, Halifax Explosion I believe.
@@23draft7 Thank you! :)
He couldn't have run far anyways. His balls were too big.
I got teary-eyed when I heard Halifax still sends Christmas trees to Boston. That's wonderful.
It is wonderful
I saw it head out last year. Quite odd sitting through traffic next to a great big Christmas tree
If anyone wants a glimpse at what the Halifax explosion looked like, just take a look at the videos of the recent Beirut explosion of 2020. The blasts were very similar in size. Halifax was about 2.9 kilotons, and the Beirut blast was 2.7 kilotons.
Interesting. Strange how i never heard about the beirut explosion despite it being so recent.
i heard the beirut explosions from my hometown in cyprus
it was really loud and the house was shaking so uh yeah
How many KT was the Texas City, Texas explosion in 1947?
Here's a good video of the 1947 disaster
ua-cam.com/video/ykcnFOuulfM/v-deo.html
And an encore 19 2005
ua-cam.com/video/tq0xcM0m8aU/v-deo.html
@@richardpehtown2412 that one was around 3.5 kilotonnes. It was eerily similar to the Halifax Explosion a French-registered vessel SS Grandcamp full of ammonia nitrate caught fire and exploded.
I was listening to this while drinking a brandy. Mr. Coleman...a toast and much respect. You knew you would not survive and went back anyway. There were hundreds more people that lived because of you.
Canada's Heritage Minute does a nice telling of Coleman saving the train.
It's a great story of a selfless man. I'll take a look!
@@TheGreatBigMove he was a hero
The museum of the North Atlantic has a wonder display dedicated to the explosion
For the 28 years following the disaster, Halifax was the yardstick that other explosions were held up against. When the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Time Magazine stated it as being seven times the power of Halifax
I've sailed as Engineer on 3 ammo ships. 2 of them old steam ships. Having a good idea what I was getting into, I figured that if there was an explosion it would be so fast it wouldn't matter. No where to run, no where to hide.
In grade school, I has Sisters of Charity of Halifax as teachers. Several of my teachers were postulants or novices at the time of the explosion. The motherhouse happened to be on the reverse slope of one of the hills, so they were spared. The stories they told though of combing through the wreckage afterwards looking for survivors and deceased souls was spellbinding. They were some strong women, they made my education in grade school a wonderful experience.
The Motherhouse lies nearly three miles away, across the Bedford Basin from where the explosion took place. The portion of the shock wave moving northwest toward the motherhouse would have been deflected by the hill rising from the harbour.
Patrick Vincent Coleman - respect always
Vince Coleman was actually one of the only people in Halifax that had prior knowledge of the Mount Blanc's cargo...
My local library had a book entitled "The City that Disappeared" that was written in 1962 and was my introduction to this tragedy..I dont remember the author, however.
Coming from a family of merchant navy,I always found interest in ships especially historical ones.And I find your videos a great history lesson. Keep them coming sir.
Here is an interesting fact, the SS Imo was originally operated by the White Star Line and was originally named SS Runic.
Yes, she was! And now she's wrecked in the Falkland Islands of all places.
@@TheGreatBigMove yep due to a fire the ship had grounded on the shore and the hull is surprisingly recognizable.
Thats why i hate single props because they were so slow and less manuverable than. Twin props, Triple props & Quadriple props.
@@ibxgameryt9449 the hell does any of this have to do with the SS Runic!?!
White Star line were the owners of the Olympic and the Titanic! Corruptly run. After the Olympic suffered an accident and it’s insurance wouldn’t pay for full repairs the owners switched titles and arranged for the now Titanic to be sunk. The old Titanic survived
My great grandmother was in Halifax as a teenager for this.
She would tell stories about it before she passed.
And my uncle donated one of the tree's to Boston in the late 90's. It was a huge tree. He still has part of the stump
have lived in Halifax since the 80's and this is the best video I've seen that clearly explains how it went down. Well done.
Thanks for making this! I’m from Halifax and am fascinated by this. I live in a house on the Dartmouth waterfront. It makes me wonder what was here before!
What do you find in the earth when you dig down deep in your garden? Is there a strata layer of rubble from the explosion?
Check out the pre 1917 street directories for the area. Likely loads of information available. Your local library likely has copies of the street directories.
The Longest Johns song on this, Fire and Flames is really good
I'm happy to find a video going into more detail about the event since (even though I'm Canadien) I learned about it through their song
Never forget that day rest in peace for all who died
Amen.
And thirty years later someone decided we need a bigger bomb.
In 1947?
@@Treblaine In reference to the narrator's comment at about 7:30.
Im glad someone finally made a video on this. Not a lot of people here in Boston know why we get a tree from them. Definitely subscribing because I also like naval history.
We in Canada who know Halifax's history will never forget what the awesome people of Boston did for us...your efforts in supplying the emergency goods and staff so quickly undoubtedly saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. Thank you Boston!!
I got a celebrity cruise line ad half way through this! XD
At least it was for a good cruise line!
Enjoyed all your videos so far, especially looking forward to some more ocean liner videos.
I have a new one up called Ten Technical Titanic Facts. On January 30th, I'll be uploading a Wilhelm Gustloff video to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the sinking.
The Great Big Move already watched it! Looking forward to that next one.
Apparently the Olympic was in Halifax just a few days before this disaster. If she was still there she almost certainly would have been lost. I know she already had the nickname "Old Reliable", but I feel that "Lucky Lady" would also apply. Narrowly escaping Halifax, gets hit with a torpedo that turned out to be a dud (which if it wasn't it would probably have sunk her), and ramming/getting rammed by multiple other vessels and still came out of each one relatively unharmed. There was just something special about that ship I swear, I wouldn't be surprised if she would have sunk the iceberg instead if she were in Titanic's position. Just a real shame that her sisters were perhaps the unluckiest in history.
That is true! Discussed in my more recent video on Olympic.
Lovely video! I'm writing my senior history thesis on this topic, so it's great to see some more interest in it
That's a fascinating topic you've chosen. Luck you!
Thanks for your time and hard work. Until today I never heard of this, thanks.....
the Christmas 🎄 tree arrived in Boston people beautiful way to say thanks for helping rebuilding Halifax specially in North of Halifax
Because of all the windows shattering and people watching the burning ship through said windows, the Halifax explosion was also the largest mass-blinding in Canadian history, about 850 people were permanently blinded that day, their lives changed forever. The explosion was a big reason for the formation of the Canadian Nation Institute for the Blind, the CNIB.
A terrible tragedy in every sense of the word that I hope will never be repeated.
Great research & terrifically done.
I had never heard about this awful disaster! I'm glad i clicked on it
Walter Santos It’s a fascinating and tragic story. I wanted more people to know about it, so I made this!
@@TheGreatBigMove thanks mate for posting and the reply.. Cheers
Good narrative. Picked up some new tidbits I was unaware of and the graphic explains nicely how this came about.
Just found your channel and I love your videos!
Thank you! More on the way, stay tuned.
There was never before or after an explosion of this magnitude until the dropping of an atom bomb.
Some other munitions explosions were similar though, if not worse in blast yield.
*Manmade explosions obviously. Almost any volcano or asteroid impact would just laugh at that firecracker in Halifax.
An ammunition ship explosions of similar size occured many times in WW2 before the trinity test but the Halifax explosion was important because it happened so close to a populated city rather than out in the ocean.
@@Treblaine "so close to a populated city" - it was in the middle of a populated city.
This is the first video I’ve watched of yours, and that was super good!
I appreciate that! I enjoyed making this one. Make sure you check out the other videos on my channel. There will be many more coming as well.
I love your PFP.
G'day Dylan, my Mum's family were from Larne.
What's happening at Tiger's Bay & Harland & Wolf...I hear they both are slowly being erased to the winds.
Slain te'🍻
Excellent video.
My god who would have thought we would see something like this again this year
Here are several books about the explosion: Explosion in Halifax Harbour 1917 by Dan Soucoup. The Halifax Explosion by Ken Cuthbertson. The Great Halifax Explosion by John U Bacon. The Town that Died by Michael J Bird.
Shattered City by Janet Kitz.
Thank you for sharing!
“Curse of the Narrows” by Laura M. MacDonald is also an excellent book about this.
I have the John U Bacon book. That was a good read, but sad. Some of the anecdotes especially so.
I love your channel. I would love a video about the so-called Japanese hell prison ships of World War II.
Maybe you have insider knowledge, but I happen to be releasing a video on that very subject a week from today as a sort of Halloween episode.
6:26 the Mad lad way to go off
It's interesting that 2 of the worst maritime disasters in Canada (the Halifax disaster & the sinking of the Empress of Ireland) were caused by Norwegian ships colliding into them
Hi there. Just recently subbed. Love your videos so much ...
Great video this is one event I heard a lot about growing up. I know lot's of my family on my dad's side didn't make it either.
Very interesting 👏
Well done bro!
That is all
So you’re the captain of a ship carrying explosives and you refuse to move off course then after the fire breaks out realise the danger you call for an abandon ship, my god the audacity.
Not exactly stellar seamanship or leadership
Certainly not effective decision making, I guess they all died anyway. Bit like an airline pilot bailing out!
@@Snagglepuss1952
I'm pretty sure that the captain and crew of the Mont Blanc survived.
@@Snagglepuss1952 The crew of the Mont Blanc was most aware of the dangerous situation and took no hesitation in fleeing from the scene, even as the captain of the Imo tried fixing the situation by sending crewmen to the Mont Blanc with the intention of putting out the fire.
Although the French crew tried to warn the citizens of Halifax of the danger, who were watching the event unfold on the shore, the problem was that the canadians couldn't understand French and the French didn't speak English. So some of the French resorted to grabbing the children from the arms of their mothers in the crowd and running away, which proved to be quite successful because the parents of these children started chasing these unexpected kidnappers away from the explosion zone, which the french returned the children to after the explosion.
The point is that even though the French made poor decisions, they also tried saving as many people as possible.
It was the IMO that was on the wrong side of the channel.
If the rule was to stay right, why didn't the Imo turn to stern and get back on the correct side after passing the tug boat? Why maintain course in the wrong lane? Especially after another ship had already sounded they would stay course on the correct side? I dont get it. The first ship that caused the IMO to move into the wrong lane, and the IMO's failure to correct asap seems to be the cause of this accident. But why not correct your position at the first opportunity?
MrPyrotonic It’s been a while since I have looked into this topic (you’ll see that this is a somewhat old video), but, if I remember correctly, it was a chain of events stemming from one failure to adhere to regulation.
Also, remember what was mentioned. *Both* ships were on emergency details, and both were in a hurry. Feeling rushed frequently leads to poor decision making, especially in the heat of the moment. The Imo probably felt it more important to keep moving forward, to try and make up some time, then to lose more time by trying to correct their course. Of course, in the end the decision cost them far more than time.
I live in Halifax! This video was so well done!!
Thank you! Halifax is a beautiful city. I visited a couple years ago. I only got to spend one day there, but I had a great time.
Fasinating. I had no idea.
My mother is from a small town in Nova Scotia not far from Halifax, although she was born in 1935, this disaster greatly affected her family, and then intern my family. Back then big families were quite common as infant mortality rates were quite high. In one home they were 15 children, all would’ve been my great aunt and uncles, all of them, including both their parents were killed instantly the moment the explosion happened as their home was right on the waterfront. It was just a horrible flu that kept the entire family home that day, when normally they would have been at school, and the parents would have been at work, quite far away from the explosion and probably would have survived. It’s a very very dark day in my family‘s history that we lost 17 family members in a matter of seconds. Although I naturally never met any of them, with family comes love, and even watching this has me in tears, just imagining the terror that they went through at the moment of the explosion. Our only solace is knowing they died probably instantly, as a matter of fact were told that they were probably vaporized by the heat wave that was hotter than the surface of the sun. It obliterated the entire city, had it not been for the kindness and charity of the people of Boston, Halifax would’ve never recovered, at least not to the degree that it did, and I am forever grateful to them. It was one of the worst war time disasters in history, yet for so many reasons, so few people even know about it, with Hollywood re-creating disasters all the time, why have they not yet made a moody to honour the memories of the people that perished, like my family? They have made a few cheesy made for TV movies, but never something that is worthy of truly telling their story and letting the world know about it so that they are never forgotten. I just wish to God someone like James Cameron, a Canadian, would come and make a movie to honour the biggest pre-atomic explosion in human history! All of this happened long before I was born, it’s still hurts me anyways, 17 members of my family gone in seconds, how would you feel?
Great story
Although it did a lot of damage it did not "obliterated the entire city".
@@EdinburghFive technically true, but we can get it from my perspective, it did destroy the entire city, because the parts of the city that survived or left in peril, desperately coping with the thousands upon thousands that were killed were maimed in the explosion. Each time I go back, I go right back to the area where am I family‘s home once stood before it was literally blowing off the face of the earth, and while I’m surrounded by a bustling modern city, it’s only for a few moments it feels as though I’m surrounded by nothing, and I can feel the pain and the suffering of all those people so long ago. I know a great deal about it having studied it for years, desperately wanting to learn more to see if I have any surviving family members from that explosion, and I do, but after finding out what they went through after the explosion, if you could just read their words, it truly absolutely devastated the entire city, even if parts of the city remain standing, it doesn’t mean it didn’t devastate the people that lived there. That’s what I mean when I say it devastated the entire city. My apologies if I’ve mislead you, that was not my intention.
@@GIguy I understand your point. Just a bit of bad wording in your previous post.
Cheers
Imagine if RMS Olympic had been in the port when the explosion happened
Titanic sank in 1912. The German navy sank the Britannic in 1916. And if in 1917 the Olympic had been literally vaporized by this explosion people may have thought White Star Line ships cursed.
Oddly enough, the Emo was also originally a White Star liner (SS Runic) too.
@@FinalLugiaGuardian well britannic wasn’t meant to be sunk by that mine so the Germans didn’t mean to sink her like the Lusitania
One Short Blast means, I am altering course to Starboard. Two Short Blasts means I an altering course to Port. Three Short Blasts means , my engines are going astern.
4 short blasts means Emergency Full Astern. I've been there, it's not fun.
@@Mondo762 Making up your own signals does not work in real life, Emergency full astern will be a communication between the Bridge and Engine Room of the ship. The Engine Room does not listen to blasts on the whistle.
@@benwilson6145 I sailed over 30 years in the US Merchant Marine as an Engineer. I don't need you to tell me how things work aboard ship. I was off duty when my ship buried her bow into a Greek tanker off the coast of Argentina. This was the SS Santa Maria, a passenger/cargo ship and it happened back in 1982. I distinctly hear 4 blasts before hearing the smack and the ship listing over to starboard. Of course I know how Emergency Full Astern is communicated to the Engine Room. I have answered that bell while on the throttle. Thankfully no collision happened that time.
@@Mondo762 Just go and read the Collision Regulations, they are for all vessels operating in International waters, Engine Room staff do not learn the Collision Regulations.
1500 dead with 9,000 wounded doesn't sound too bad until you remember that's a sizeable chunk of the entire city at the time. Imagine the death toll if this happened in WW2, or in modern day Halifax.
In 1917 1900 dead and 9000 injured largely to the face and eyes, is nearly one in ten Haligonians, we're starting to bounce back a hundred years later, but it scarred a generation, haunted the following generation, and became mythical status from there on
How have I never heard about this?
Thanks.
God Bless Vincent Coleman for his selfless, courageous act knowing he wouldn't survive if (when) Mont Blanc exploded.
My grandfather planted the roses at the park where the canon landed
"No man hath greater love than this: than to give up his life for the sake of his friends" - J of N
my grandfather was an infant in Boston in the winter of 1917, and the family trade was ship-welding, so I imagine his own father's work in Boston Harbor was majorly affected by this explosion. Apparently, my great-grandfather was as taciturn as his son was gregarious, so my grandfather had only remote speculations to offer on how this event personally affected our family. Reflection is a privilege not all can access
The explosion happened in Halifax not Boston. So your grandfather's "family trade was ship-welding," was not impacted at all.
Wish you could make more videos on trains and railroading, the only railroad specific video is the one on canadian pacific, would you do more like those?
Maritime is more my niche and I know a lot more about it. Railroad topics are very interesting to me, but take a lot more time to research because I have less base knowledge. I intend to do more of it in the future, but it will be more sparse than maritime and aviation topics.
_Let me sing you a song boys of fire and flame_
_of a french ammo ship, the Montblanc was her name_
_how brave nova scotia was never the same_
_on the morning when Halifax burned_
_We will always remember and lift a glass high_
_To the morning when Halifax burned_
so the tug is the culprit - i will guess that the captain of tug boat was never called for his actions
0:30 "terrorized by germanese (!) U-boats" LOL
He said Germany’s
I have a very interesting question, in the tv movie Shattered City the Halifax Explosion, there was a scene of what I suppose was a German spy trying to open the sea cocks so the munitions won't explode into the Innocent people of Halifax. I don't know if this scene ever happened but I was kind of curious recently as I saw some people putting fireworks in the icy water and yet they would explode. So my question is if the Imo were to sink before the explosions ignited would it stop the ammunition from exploding?
That's a great question. As a quick note: it was the Mont Blanc that exploded, not the Imo. Moving on. There were attempts by the crew of the HMS Niobe to scuttle Mont Blanc in order to stop her cargo from exploding. Of course, this attempt did not come to fruition and I don't know for sure if it would have worked, although I suspect it would have at least bough some time. The crew of Niobe put their lives on the line, so they must have believed that it had the potential to work.
7:06
Are you serious the core of the Explosion is 5000°f.
The kinda sounds freaking hot.
No shit sherlock
Dale Potter yes
u
Depends which one deems to be "proper temp'".
Scientists use ° Kelvin after all :P .
So if you were in your car all that would be left would be the lead in the drivers pencil.....lol
It wasn't mentioned in the video, but the Halifax Explosion was the largest human caused explosion until the atomic bomb.
What a quinsidence the imo was once a white star liner name SS runic i think
Yes, that’s true.
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There was a similar incident in WW2, where a US Navy ammo ship Just randomly decided its a good time to explode, in a hub Port with houndrets of armed warships docked
I was thinking that the explosion would only destruct other ships and the buildings in the side of the canal 😶
ThanksBoston
Halifax ,nova Scotia is where 19 month old Sidney Leslie Goodwin who died in the sinking of the titanic is buried
This ship was essentially a nuclear weapon in terms of explosive power.
Yeah. A sad thing is that the captain of the Mont Blanc knew that the cargo was too dangerous and he did attempt to warn the port authorities in New York that it was a bad idea to pack the ship full of explosives but he was pretty much told to shut up and to not interfere with the loading of the cargo or the ship would not be allowed to leave port.
If people had listened to him, the explosion would not have been as big as it was.
Doesnt a giant death toll and explosion give a Christmas vive?
at 1:36 I kept having to replay because I kept hearing "emo" and each time since you've said the name I have, guilty as charged, had a moment of "haha thats funny" before I remember that a lot of people lost their lives. :(
Imo is a common name in german and Scandinavian countries
My family lost many family members in this explosion. We lost William Arthur Lovett and his son William Arthur Lovett and son's spouse Bertha Josephine Lovett and son's daughter Edna Frances Lovett only 3 years old, Alfred Lovett and his son Charles Lovett, and Ada E Lovett... The Lovett family lost many wonderful people... If you know anyone who is related to my family please comment or message me. We are looking for relatives. Thank you. Rest in peace my family.
Thousands of “civilian” ships.
The majority were army supply ships like tankers, and troop transports.
Many others sunk were armed navy vessels.
Very few civilian ships were suck and when they were suck most of the time they were trying to smuggle ammunition or something for the war effort.
Which makes them no longer civilian vessels.
You clearly have no concept of the convoy system that was developed and used during both the First and Second World Wars.
@@EdinburghFive What was the classification of a civilian vessel during WW1 & WW2?
@@shady493 As for British vessels, and I assume its Commonwealth partner civilian ships (merchant marine), remained under the ownership, manning, and command of the companies that owned them. The British authorities controlled all aspects of which ports the ships sailed to and from, as well as the cargos carried, etc. The civilian ships were not armed. They sailed in convoy escorted by naval vessels.
Cheers
Can you do one on the black Tom explosion in Jersey city New Jersey
4:04
Dusty YT what about it?
The Great Big Move Oh, I'm just in the car. I was just bookmarking it until I came back.
@@cassini4751 Haha, okay. Hope you're enjoying.
I'm just now realizing that it's the 105th anniversary of this tragedy 😳
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Why was that first inbound ship in the out bound lane ? The Imo captain had his ship in the right position , he should have stayed in the out bound lane .
Why have flight controller opening ? You are into ships.
It's an older intro and I've changed it since. But, I do some aviation too. Just not as much. If you're interested, check out the video on the space shuttle program and the Wright Brothers. I have one on airships coming out soon.
The Great Big Move yes. But change intro to more nautical !
Ho Ho happy holliday? This is one of those weird ones for sure. Now we have Beirut, which is the new second place behind Hallifax for largest noon nuclear explosion. Which I think was the Texas fertilizer ship explosion.
Also many hundreds were blinded by flying glass.
The IMO was wrong. The other ship did have the right of way and the IMO should be blamed
No one to blame if they're all fucking dead
@@jzero90921 lol
Germans- Did we just sink that ship?
This happened on my birthday December 6
I like your videos, topics and also narration... but I feel this video was way, WAY too short and did not cover enough.
So many questions remain, so many stories are not told.
Considering how big the event was, it deserved more.
Don't get me wrong, the video is great... but it should have covered more.
Thanks for the feedback! This was one of my earlier videos and, when I was first starting this channel, I tended to make shorter videos. If I were to make this video today, it would probably be a fair bit longer.
Fun fact Olympic a few days early before the explosion
to add at that time of history, the rules of the road, written down as they are and answerable to a court of law, the people who follow them still have egos regarding who should be in there positions, (red, right, returning) I would think all these rules and laws of the sea, were seen as suggestions, this is from my humble career on 4 different railways from the 70's and I have had relations who worked from the 50's, I have also worked with guys who worked with people in the railroad from the turn of the century, they said the job has been much the same until the 80's, in Canada anyway as we were a crown company
Not a long enough video...I don't mean to be rude, I know that you try to keep your videos short and to the point, but it would've been nice to see a detailed explanation on many points.
I actually agree. This is one of my earliest videos. I would have made it longer today.
I live only a few minutes walk from ground zero.
Why such a Loud intro?!
My great grandpa was killed by the explosion
Potential ³.
Yikes. Present day Halifax looks even worse than it did right after the explosion.
Not true
1917 The Halifax Explosion
1989 Tugs Munision
2020 Lebanon explosion.
all of this could have been avoided if one of them were to just make way. well the smaller ships should
Ah yes, if you take a modern map and make it look like old paper it becomes a 1917 map!
Not going to search the earth for a presentable 1917 map of Halifax when it's the geography that matters in this case.
I know, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed if I hadn’t happened to pause there.
BIG BADABOOM !
The first nuke I guess
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