How A Shipwreck nearly destroyed an Entire City! (HALIFAX EXPLOSION)!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 1 чер 2021
- n this video we tell the story of the shipwreck that caused the largest man made explosion in history until the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Japan during ww2. This video tells the story of the Halifax Explosion one of the worst disaster in Canada's history.
Discord Link
/ discord
Subscribe to the Historic Hangout channel here!!!
/ @historichangout
Support Historic Travels on Patreon
/ historictravels
Check out Historic Travels merch
historic-travels.creator-spri...
Historic Travels PO BOX address below
Samuel Pence
P.O Box 75356
Charleston WV
25375
#halifax #shipwrecks #canada #explosion #city
A fact that made the things worse: the day after the tragedy, an intense snow storm occured, while a lot of inhabitants were wounded, homeless, or having their home severely damaged. Thank to the population of Boston who sent people and supplies to help. Since then, Halifax provides each year a giant Chrismas tree to Boston in memory for their precious help.
Yep we have a massive event to give the tree to Boston I live in prospect outside halifax
The citizens must have felt like God had forsaken them in their moment of weakness.
Boston helped us so much. God bless those who did.
One other related note is that the first, major, city to send medical aid was Boston. And every year since at Xmas, Halifax sends a massive spruce (maybe fir) tree to Boston as a Xmas Tree
RMS olympic was scheduled to be in halifax around the same time. But was delayed. Would have destroyed the olympic if she made it to port
She'd join her sister ship's in heaven and another interesting fact is that the cemetery where the Titanic victims are buried was 2 miles from the site of the explosion 💥.
I now the Olympic is for some reason the lucky sister.
@@Plsgetmetosubscribers-rq9hy exactly
@@jamesfracasse8178 ships go to heaven? Lol
@@NCC1371 not the actual ship ⚓🚢 the soul of it
I served in the Navy years ago, and they take sailing into any port VERY seriously now days. When you get to a certain range of a port, the crew isn't actually even allowed to pilot the ship. They have people who work in the ports brought on who take over to make sure the rules of the shipping lanes are VERY stricktly followed.
They had Pilots back then too. Francis Mackay was the Pilot sent to the Mont Blanc & had to live w/the guilt of what had happened for the rest of his Life. Almost 20 yrs ago, the CBC did an excellent 2 pt Mini Series called Shattered City : The Halifax Explosion. It’s here on UA-cam if you’re interested in watching it. Just put Shattered City into the Search feature & you should be taken to the links for it. Just remember it’s in 2 pts & in the 2nd half where we see the aftermath of the Explosion, just be forewarned there are some not so easy scenes to watch.
Thank you for your Service & Take Care!! 😊
But that is the case with any ports and any ships nowadays. I wonder if that was a lesson learned in part due to this disaster. I also hope the disaster of the explosion in Beirut, Lebanon at least caused a tightening of safety rules followed when it comes to ships docked in ports.
Thank you for your service. ❤
Like the Beirut explosion. Whether fertilizer or munitions, gotta properly and safely store and ship the stuff. Otherwise disaster and tragedy. Thanks Sam for this, esp as a Canadian. I am a big fan.
Exactly. First thing I thought of as well.
Wut
@@briancoleman5324 kid haha
I'd actually love to see a video about the Beirut explosion.
I’m halifax so I’m even closer to the area
I remember growing up with the Canadian Heritage Minutes (tv campaign) about this. Specifically the story about Vince Coleman who sent a message to a train arriving in Halifax to stop immediately and not arrive due to the danger. He died in the explosive, but his death saved the lives of 300 people on that train.
That final part reminded me of when the Chelyabinsk meteor
exploded over Russia in 2013. Most injuries there were actually due to glass windows exploding in peoples faces. The meteor explosion created a bright light outside, so people would go to the window, to see what was going on, only to be hit by the intense shockwave shortly after (shockwaves travel WAY slower than light).
Allow me to indulge you with some additional information related to the Halifax Explosion: One of the over 1,900 people who died when the explosion occurred was Vince Coleman, the railway dispatcher who sacrificed his life to save 300 people aboard a train coming into the city that morning.
You ought to do a video on the Texas City Explosion. It also started with a French ship on fire that exploded which in Turn detonated several nearby refineries and chemical plants and I believe killed more people than this one. I’m told it was the worst manmade disaster in US history.
I was born on the 25th anniversary of the Texas City explosion.
Can you do a video on Vincent Coleman, the wireless radio operator that stopped a train from arriving in Halifax before the explosion and saved 700 people?
Wow, hadn't heard of him before. Based on what's on the wikipedia page, he is definitely worth of that.
He single handedly prevented so many more that could have been wounded/killed. Also the news spread based on his message that rescue/recovery efforts were already underway much sooner.
Not only he saved many lives while continuing to warn the incoming train, instead of leaving its work and escape to get a shelter, but he lost his own life doing so. A true hero.
Well done Sam, growing up in Halifax I got to see where parts of the ship landed as well as hear about the disaster from my Grand Parent's. I also know a lot of my family on my dad's side were lost that day.
One hero from that day was Patrick Vincent Coleman a dispatcher for the Canadian Government Railways who remained at his post sending Morse to all inbound trains telling them to stop, one of which was an incoming passenger train.
He lost his life in the explosion doing so. But saved many lives. A true hero.
There's a Heritage Minutes episode that features him. ua-cam.com/video/rw-FbwmzPKo/v-deo.html&ab_channel=HistoricaCanada
How powerful was this explosion, really? My grandmother was a school girl in central Prince Edward Island, about 250 miles away at the time. It rattled the windows in their school house and the dishes in some people's kitchens.
Adding even more misery to this event were the firestorm that followed the explosion and the snowstorm later in the day. Mostly all the homes in the area were simple, wood frame construction with coal, oil or wood stoves in the kitchens. When the explosion blew apart most of the Richmond neighborhood, many of these stoves were knocked over and the debris from the blast created the conditions for a firestorm which spread well beyond the area and killed many more.
Later in the day, a severe winter storm settled over the area bringing heavy snow and bitter cold creating even more misery for the victims and massive challenges for rescuers. Trains sent from outside the area with people and supplies for the rescue effort were delayed because of the weather.
It was a true triple whammy!
Interesting
I heard when the snowstorm came and dropped 16 inches of snow it put out some of the fires
@@alexwest2573 No doubt it probably did but it still added far more to the suffering and misery than it took away.
@@hughjass1044 yes I’m sure it did not negatives than positive
It isn’t the explosion that gets you, it’s the bloody shockwave that follows.
💯
It is like saying it is not the the gun that killed someone, it's the bullet. It is true, indeed, but it is also playing with words.
@@alainrobillard4300 yep, just like speed hasn’t really killed anyone, the problems occur when you suddenly go stationary, that’s when the laws of physics get you 🤪
Ya but it’s the explosion that causes the actual shockwave
For a more recent comparison, the Halifax blast was between 3 and 6 times the size of the Beirut explosion on 8/4/2020.
And I thought Beirut was a massive blast. Imagine a LPG tanker exploding in a harbour city.
Good video! Further stories about this was the hero railway man who went back to the telegraph to warn an oncoming passenger train to stop. This was his last message: “Hold up the train,” he tapped. “Ammunition ship afire in harbor making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys.” I also read that the explosion exposed the bottom of the harbour.
Why have I never heard of this before?! Sam, I needed you as a history teacher in uk!
This explosions was explained a little bit in a vlogbrothers video from years ago called the Top 10 Biggest Explosions of All Time.
I keep telling him he should teach he's amazing!!!
Omg I was thinking bout that he should be a history teacher
Yeah I live in the uk 🇬🇧 too but I knew about this
I'm from the UK and I have a caravan in Leysdown/Sheepy Island and there is a shipwreck called the ss Richard Montgomery that is just off the shore still to this day packed with explosives and you can literally swim to it
Fun fact: the SS Imo was once called The Runic, A White Star Line Vessel :)
DAMMIT WHITE STAR-
Even more remarkable, she was salvaged and, after repairs, returned to service with a different company.
That was wild and I’ve never even heard of the Halifax explosion.
Here’s a suggestion, do a video on the Texas City explosion at a ship yard in 1947.
My grandfather was a first responder and my dad said it was the only time he ever remembered seeing his father cry.
Very well done, Sam. Your topic was correctly informative. And something 'different', for a change. I remember reading a comment, on 'HISTORIC TRAVELS', about a young girl (11ish.), who's backside of her families ancestral house, still bore the scars, of the blast! The institute for the blind, that was formed, I believe was the C.I.B., (Canada's institute for the Blind). I learned of this 'sea tale', when I was 7 or 8 years old. Either school or home, and always been with me!! And what's unbelievable, is through the years, I've met several Canadians, who never heard of this, until I told them, wow! The second biggest manmade explosion I think was 20 or so years ago, in the Nevada desert, when a very large amount of ammonium nitrate (where they were storing large amount), leftover from Morton Thiacol (spelled right?), the space shuttles' rocket boosters fuel. I remember that from the news on t.v., but gratefully, no one was injured.
As I recall, Mont Blanc was supposed to have entered the channel the night before and would have been safely docked by morning, but the channel was blocked at night (perhaps a submarine net?) during the war to prevent the harbor from being infiltrated by night. She didn't arrive soon enough to be in the harbor and had to wait until morning to transit the channel.
I live here in cape breton 5 hours away and they felt the Explosion here, theres some great stuff in the maritime Museum of the Atlanta in Halifax about it. You would love that place sam
Hello Sam, thanks for sharing the story of the Halifax Explosion with your audience. I'm not orginally from here, but I have lived here for 2 years now. It's probably the single most important event in the last 100 years plus of Halifax and Nova Scotia history. Luckily, the city was able to rebuild and become what it is now. There are some heartfelt monuments to the tragedy around the area. The explosion gave birth to Canadian Institute for the Blind, which is the school you mentioned.
Your sympathy and empathy shines through in your telling of this tragedy. I have learned so much from you. Thank you sweet pea, I’m a big fan.
You should do a video on the Great Molasses Flood in Boston. Disproving the slower than Molasses line!
Sam, please do another informative video on the sunken pirate city of Jamaica. It was a city decimated by a tsunami, and there are still sunken buildings near the beach to this day. Very interesting situation.
Thank you so much for that video and the respectful manner you are talking about the victims of that tragic day!
It would be cool to have a video about the explosion of Fort York during the war of 1812.
E
Fascinating Horror also covered this blast recently, I'd not heard of it before that (and I have always had something of a morbid interest in disasters, so not sure how this one flew under my radar.)
As others have said, very similar to the Beirut harbour explosion last year, although fortunately the loss of life and extent of the damage there was much lower. In England there is a sunken WW2 Liberty ship called the SS Richard Montgomery in the Thames estuary which is packed with munitions. It is being closely monitored but as the years go on it is growing increasingly unstable and if it ever explodes, could level much of the surrounding area fuel to the quantities aboard.
In Halifax, I wonder whether the crew of the Mont Blanc, having realised there was no hope of fighting the fire, would have had time to open the sea cocks and scuttle the ship? It might have extinguished the fire and in doing so prevented the bulk 8f the munitions going up, or at least, had she exploded on the bottom, the water would have absorbed some of the energy of the blast. I guess we'll never know.
Luckily the Olympic wasn't in Halifax harbour that day! Imagine the loss of life if she'd been caught in that.
If I remember correctly from a different documentary I watched, the crew attempted to scuttle the ship, however the fire was so widespread they simply could not reach the area.
I think that more people could've been pulled alive from the rubble if the explosion hadn't been followed by a blizzard. The Maritimes have some of the worst weather and they got hammered, that evening.
You ought to do a video on the Port Chicago Diaster in Ca in ww2
Thank you so much for putting a level of perspective on events like this. You're right, while there may be nobody alive today who experienced that tragedy first-hand, their children and grandchildren certainly are, and those people were hugely shaped by those events.
I've seen videos about this before but yours is the best. Your attention to detail is astounding keep up the good work
A story I heard is Halifax's train dispatcher had trains coming in, when the Mont Blanc was coming, the dispatcher told all trains stop and back away from the city, and he even noted himself saying that he would not survive.
Yeah. That is true. Vincent Coleman's last message was:
"Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys."
It is sad to read that message but I cannot even imagine what it was like to hear the message. Those other dispatchers must have been horrified to hear Coleman's message
One of the cannons is on display where it landed from the explosion, a few blocks away from my house! Pretty neat to see our local history on your UA-cam channel! Great video!!
This was a very tragic event. Thank you for doing a video on it.
This is about six hours from me but yet I’ve never heard of this before...very interesting!
Hey Sam, Really excellent job on the video! Learned something new today. I've never heard of this story before so thanks so much for the edification!
I live in Halifax and had a family member involved with the recovery operations for casualties of the Titanic. (CS Mackay-Bennett) And I worked in one of the few buildings in the Downtown core that survived the explosion. (there were a select few in the blast radius)
The worst part was the blizzard that happened the next day that caused many of the survivors to die of exposure. And the Christmas tree that's sent to Boston every year for their aid in our time of need is a HUGE deal here, to this day.
Brilliant video! Thanks for taking the time to teach us all 🤘🏻❤️
I didn’t hear about this past the name (so thank you for covering it:) but I had previously thought the largest man-made explosion was done during WW1 and literally reshaped the landscape by filling a hill with TNT and lighting it up😂
In a world where the largest boom came from a couple of sticks of TNT or a Cannon it was an epic watch.
Hi Sam, can you do a video on the Piper Alpha disaster?
Love your channel Sam! Keep up the good work bro!
Thanks for presenting this story.
I’m surprised at how little people know about this outside of Canada I live 4 hours from Halifax in the neighbouring Province of New Brunswick. I’d also really recommend anyone reading this to check out the Canada heritage minute video on this it’s on youtube
I am always amazed by how captivating you explain these subjects. You are really good at what you do. Well done.
I have never heard of this Sam😱 Thanks of the great information!!!
I missed the live premier..but still amazing.. .thank you as always Sir
Nice to see more on "unknown" and forgotten events.
Sam, there's a DVD by Pentrex called "Train Wrecks, Crashes, and Disasters 1934-1955". You should give this a watch. This shows actual footage from some of the most devastating rail disasters in the U.S.
People immediately started to save people from under the debris but then there was a massive snow storm during the night, and all those still struck under debris died from exposure.
Yes i’ve been waiting a long time for this
Much thanks from a Canadian viewer for covering this story. I don't know how well the Halifax explosion is generally known in the States and other countries.
It is one of Canada's greatest tragedies, and Patrick Coleman is definitely considered a hero for all the lives he sacrificed his own life to save. He was a train dispatcher who stayed at his post in order to warn trains coming into Halifax that there was a ship on fire and an explosion was imminent. Because of his warning, 300+ people aboard an incoming train were saved because the train had time to stop outside the blast radius of the explosion. Coleman was killed in the explosion, but not before taking action that saved hundreds of lives.
Perhaps you could do a follow-up video on Coleman?? His story is heartbreaking and inspiring.
Hello bro love ur channel .!
Wow! I had never heard of this tragedy. Thanks for your videos. I enjoy the history very much. I can’t imagine that level of force at that time in history.
My grandmother was there watching that day, but luckily was in a hurry to get back home and so was far enough away to escape injury when the explosion happened . It's mind boggling to think that had she not left dock area she would have been another casualty and then my dad would never have been born 2 years later. You never know when a seemingly small decision will have such a huge impact on your life!
Lots of love to u Sam and stay cool. Love from Turkey 🇹🇷
If you want to get away from sea-faring disasters, you might want to look into covering the Soviet's failed N-1 moon rocket that was supposed to compete against the United States' Saturn 5 during the Space Race in the 1960s. Each time this massive rocket exploded, including on the launch pad at approximately 1 kiloton.
Thanks again for the content
Crazy how the blast even pummeled the town with a TSUNAMI afterwards 😦 🌊
Yes
Thanks for the lecture it really helped I did not know about this
I had a chance to visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. After I started crying halfway through their Titanic exhibit, I went down to the ground floor and started walking through the Halifax Explosion exhibit. After reading through Vince Coleman's story where his final message ends in good-bye, I started sobbing all over again. The museum was fantastic and I highly recommend a visit, but bring tissues.
Hey Sam, another great video and I`m hoping you could do a video on the Oceanos cruise ship whose story is very unknown and greatly resembles the Costa Concordia with the crew leaving first leaving the passengers to cope with only the entertainment crew to save them!!
Great Video you’re a great history teacher.
Sam, very VERY interesting video. I was watching your Pompeii video when I saw this one come up. I know you (likely) won't cover the Atomic Bombs because the weren't a disaster. But here's an idea that you haven't covered yet: Tambora. Tambora was a volcanic eruption that makes Vesuvius look like a fire cracker. We know that Vesuvius didn't effect global history (in terms of changing the course of history for an ENTIRE continent) but Tambora did. It was erupting during Waterloo. I think it is the perfect topic for a video.
Have you thought about doing the Eastland in Chicago. It happened on the Chicago River in 1915
Did an essay on this in jr high school, great video..
Keep up the great work
Another awesome video. I like the way you tell the Stories. Good job.
Do you consider making a video about topics like: the Bismarck or the Yamato?
Thank you, Sam! This got me thinking about the Beirut explosion.
I was about 60 years old before I knew this story. I live in Massachusetts about 60 miles south of Boston and I used to wonder why Boston got a tree from Nova Scotia every Christmas, as there are plenty of fir trees in New England. Then in 1995 I drove to Nova Scotia to visit Oak Island, and someone up there told me about that.
A great breakdown at the end to really help put things into better perspective. I love your videos man! I found your channel a few days ago what with all this submersible mess. It thankfully reignited my interest in naval history and shipwrecks. I felt like a kid again when I was watching your breakdown of the Titanic sinking. Since then I have watched about 10-15 of your videos covering various wrecks like the Edmund Fitzgerald, Carpathia, Coasta Concordia, etc. Being from Milwaukee Wisconsin I always see the vast expanse of Lake Michigan and it has always fascinated me even as a kid. That's a lake? Not an Ocean? Lol
Anyways I appreciate your passion for the subject and your thorough approach to breaking these chaotic and tragic events down for us viewers to easily understand. You're doing good work retelling history from an impartial standpoint. Respect!
I didn't know about the eyes injuries, what a horrible thing to go through.
Great video Sam, as expected, very well explained, and I like that you dedicated it to the people afected by the explosion, not just tell the story and done.
Also, question, was the Emo at some point a White Star Line ship? I think I heard that in a video somewhere, can't remember
Yes, the SS Imo was originally operated by the White Star Line as SS Runic (1889-95). She then changed hands several times between freight lines and a whaling supply company. During the war, she was chartered by the Belgian Relief Commission.
Surprisingly, Imo survived the explosion (albeit with damage to her upper decks and the death of her captain and several crew members). She was repaired and returned to service for a couple of years until her helmsman passed out drunk and ran aground in the Falkland Islands.
@@danielbishop1863 thanks for the info man! So it's Imo, not Emo haha
By the way, being argentinian I can't call them falkland, it's Malvinas for us, a pride thing for our country, very sad story..
Thank you for your reply!
Shame you didn’t mention the rail dispatcher who sacrificed himself to stop the trains. Maybe a part two? Could also talk about how far the wreckage was blown. My mom inherited a seaman’s chest from someone who was on a ship in the harbour during the explosion.
Good video & I haven't seen this one before.
Keep up the good work
I wonder how different things might have gone if, when the Mont Blanc crew realized they couldn't put out the the fire, had they opened the sea cocks so the ship would sink in the harbor, before they abandoned it. Would it have sunk fast enough to put out the fire before the explosion occured? Would it have reduced the force of the explosion? Interesting idea to explore.
I like how Sam is talking about this but was adding ships in the vid too
Love your channel….think about improving your set….you knowledge is awesome 👏
Canada: ok, let me get this straight, this two random ships crashed and now one of our most important cities is decimated
Nova Scotia: yeah… something like that
Hi Sam can you make a video about the rms empress of Ireland plz
Great video
Not your typical video Sam but still excellent.
There is now one of the biggest shipbuilding operations in north america going on in halifax now
While thinking about those people who had their eyes removed, remember; your eyes are one of the only parts of your body with no natural anesthetic...
That shit would've HURT
Join me as we look into the Halifax Explosion.
*Cue the cheerful, happy tune.*
This just happened and the first thing I thought was 'holy Halifax!', but then I remembered it's similar to the Dona Paz as well :(
"(The) death toll has risen to 131, with 63 people hospitalised," Lamarana Bah, head of communications at the National Disaster Management Agency, told AFP.
On Monday, the tally was at least 115 dead and 91 injured.
The disaster happened when a lorry crashed into a fuel tanker on Friday in an industrial area of Freetown, Sierra Leone.
A crowd gathered to try to scoop up leaking fuel but the tanker then blew up, engulfing them in a fireball.
You missed the tsunami that drowned survivors in the rubble, then the giant blizzard that showed up to shut down recovery efforts. I think that's a part of what makes this event so insane.
This is like a Billy Mays commercial from hell lol just when you think it can't possibly get any worse, *But wait there's more!*
If the people in the populated area where the Mont Blanc drifted to won’t waste any time figuring out what’s happening, then many will survive the explosion.
One interesting thing I’d like to point out… SS Imo was originally built by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast and became the White Star Liner ‘Runic.’ She was later sold to the WIPS Line and later to the Leyland Line. That’s right, the Imo was originally a White Star Liner!
Thought it would be helpful to pass along a little info about picric acid. It is stable when under liquid, but if it dries out (such as, for example, when a fire drives away the liquid) it will explode with any force exerted on it. When I was at college they were checking supplies in the chemistry department, and discovered a jar of dried out picric acid. They called in the bomb squad and evacuated our dorm because it was close to the science building, in case it got dropped. For one small jar. The thought of 2300 tons of the stuff is mind-bogglingly terrifying.
A hero of this disaster is Vince Coleman. He desperately tried to radio to a train to stop before it arrived in Halifax. He succeeded but not before he was killed. Basically he was the reverse Jack Phillips and he was a true hero. One of my distant cousins was among those effected by the explosion. I can’t remember if he lost his eye or was partially deaf. Either way I can’t imagine how terrifying it was for him.
As a Canadian this is absolutely terrible. Nobody remembers this anymore either
Something very similar happened in my hometown (Santander) in 1893. A cargo ship named Cabo Machichaco caught fire while it was docked at the harbor. The cause is still unclear, but what everyone agrees on is that it began after a couple of bottles of sulfuric acid broke on the main deck.
Firefighters tried to put it out but it spread too quickly. Soon a lot of people gathered around the docks to see what was happening. A few minutes later the firefighters deemed the fire uncontrollable so they decided to tug her out into the bay and let her burn out before the fire spread to ships docked near by. But the fire was so wild that tugging was impossible, so city authorities and the firefighters had no other option but to sink the ship right there in the docks. What they didn't know was that the ship was smuggling a big shipment of TNT.
They got down to work, using hammers and crowbars to open up the hull and let the water into the cargo compartments, right where the TNT was. A funny thing that occurs to TNT when it gets wet is that it reverses back to nitroglycerin. You can guess what happened next. About 600 people died in the explosion. 2000 more were wounded. All firefighters, city governors, police officers and other authorities died or were so severely injured that it left the city in complete anarchy. But the worst part is that some of the near by warehouses caught fire after the explosion. Because there was nobody left to put the fires out, half of the city burned down.
But the story doesn't end there. A few months later, when they tried to clean up what was left of the wreck of the ship, they stumbled upon a section of one of the 3 cargo compartments. They tried to savage what they could but they were so unlucky that they hit another box of smuggled TNT and the ship exploded again. It only killed 15 workers that time but even today Cabo Machichaco is a name we all remember with sorrow.
Extremely well presented without resort to silly theatrics and exaggerated vocals. The same may be said about all your videos.
Thank you Sam
Furthermore, the city of Boston (MA) helped in the rebuilding efforts. As a token of thanks, Halifax sends Boston a Christmas tree every year since the disaster, and still to this day.
Yes Boston sent a train with medical personnel and supplies to help Halifax. 😃😃
@@nancymilawski1048 That's right, forgot what they did. I was surprised the tracks were usable to any degree.
@@georgef551 I think they repaired them enough to get close.
Thanks yes I never heard about this .. 😳 wow so sad and devastating ☹️
Hey, great video as always. Now that you mentioned the hiroshima bomb, will you be doing a video on the atomic bombings on hiroshima and nagasaki as well?
I love your vidddd
With these high risk ships, I wonder if they thought of a way to quickly scuttle them? If they were in deep enough water and could flood it in time they might have prevented or reduced the explosion.