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N0KFQ > TODAY 06.12.13 17:06l 44 Lines 1913 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 8213_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Dec 6
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<ON0AR<F1OYP<CT1ENI<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 131206/1535Z 8213@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.57
Dec 6, 1917:
The Great Halifax Explosion
At 9:05 a.m., in the harbor of Halifax in the Canadian province
of Nova Scotia, the most devastating manmade explosion in the
pre-atomic age occurs when the Mont Blanc, a French munitions
ship, explodes 20 minutes after colliding with another vessel.
As World War I raged in Europe, the port city of Halifax bustled
with ships carrying troops, relief supplies, and munitions across
the Atlantic Ocean. On the morning of December 6, the Norwegian
vessel Imo left its mooring in Halifax harbor for New York City.
At the same time, the French freighter Mont Blanc, its cargo hold
packed with highly explosive munitions--2,300 tons of picric
acid, 200 tons of TNT, 35 tons of high-octane gasoline, and 10
tons of gun cotton--was forging through the harbor's narrows to
join a military convoy that would escort it across the Atlantic.
At approximately 8:45 a.m., the two ships collided, setting the
picric acid ablaze. The Mont Blanc was propelled toward the shore
by its collision with the Imo, and the crew rapidly abandoned the
ship, attempting without success to alert the harbor of the peril
of the burning ship. Spectators gathered along the waterfront to
witness the spectacle of the blazing ship, and minutes later it
brushed by a harbor pier, setting it ablaze. The Halifax Fire
Department responded quickly and was positioning its engine next
to the nearest hydrant when the Mont Blanc exploded at 9:05 a.m.
in a blinding white flash.
The massive explosion killed more than 1,800 people, injured
another 9,000--including blinding 200--and destroyed almost the
entire north end of the city of Halifax, including more than
1,600 homes. The resulting shock wave shattered windows 50 miles
away, and the sound of the explosion could be heard hundreds of
miles away.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Using Outpost Ver 2.8.0 c42
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