Halifax explosion
Aftermath of the Halifax Explosion, December 6, 1917. Library and Archives Canada, C-003624B
1917
During the First World War, the port of Halifax was a very busy place, being an important staging area for transatlantic convoys: the movement of troops and supplies to the battlefields of France. On the morning of December 6, 1917, a French munitions ship, the Mont-Blanc, collided with the relief ship the Imo. Loaded with explosives, the Mont-Blanc created one of the largest explosions in human history. The city was devastated. Over 2.5 kilometres of its north end had been flattened by the blast and the subsequent tidal wave and fires. Over 1,600 people were killed, 9,000 were injured and 20,000 were left homeless.
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