Well, here we are, still studying World War One. Unlike previous blogposts though, this blogpost doesn’t focus on the action in Europe, and thankfully it isn’t a Puppet Show. On December 6th, 1917, two ships collided in Halifax’s harbour, the Norwegian Imo, and the French Mont Blanc, and the result was disastrous for the entire city.
The Mont Blanc was on its way into the harbour, and would later be on a due course for the western front, where it would supply firepower to the ammunition-starved allies. On its way out of the harbour, it was rammed by the Imo, which was travelling extremely fast and on the wrong side of the harbour. After the collision, the Mont Blanc caught fire and the panicked crew members began to swim away from the ship. The Mont Blanc was now emitting a plume of black smoke and crowds were gathering on the docks to watch the horrifying spectacle. Not many people knew about the Mont Blanc’s dangerous cargo, apart from the crew, so they saw no reason to evacuate the area. Some members of the Mont Blanc’s crew attempted to warn the civilians, but since the crew spoke only French, the people did not generally understand.
Finally, after nearly 20 minutes, the ship blew up, and the explosion was massive. In fact, it was the largest man made explosion ever (until the atomic bomb in 1945). Around 2000 people were killed, and 9000 were left injured. Most of the North end of Halifax was levelled by the explosion, and subsequent tsunami that washed through the city. This caused buildings to collapse, which sparked fires that raged through Halifax. During the explosion, windows were shattered with such force that glass shards were sent flying, injuring many and even decapitating some citizens. The explosion could even be heard in Prince Edward Island, a few hundred kilometres away. The explosion left Halifax devastated for a very long time.
To illustrate this event, I created a news report (set on the day of the explosion) with 3 other classmates (Tom, Chris, and Nash). We filmed our report in front of a green screen, and then found appropriate backgrounds to paste ourselves in front of.
Well, here is our news report, set in Halifax, 1917:
https://youtu.be/sxOG_EWulN0