WW1 – The Halifax Explosion By 1917, three years of war in Europe had made Halifax a boomtown. Factories and mills surrounded the harbour. Ship sailed to and from Great Britain carrying war supplies. With a population of about 50,000 people, Halifax was the largest city in Atlantic Canada.

WW1 – The Halifax Explosion Within the harbour, boat movement was very dangerous. Collisions between ships were frequent because no one group was in charge Boat traffic control was shared by three groups: civilians Royal Navy Royal Canadian Navy.

WW1 – The Halifax Explosion On 6 December 1917, the French munitions ship Mont-Blanc collided with the Belgian relief ship Imo inside Halifax Harbour. The Imo was empty, but the Mont-Blanc was carrying over 226 kilograms of explosives, over 2 million kilogram of acid and over 223 kilograms of benzol fuel. The Imo was heading out to sea while the Mont-Blanc was heading into harbour.

WW1 – The Halifax Explosion The Mont-Blanc flew no flags warning of its cargo. Why? ships laden with explosives would be a prime target for German submarine attack. The Imo was traveling too fast within the harbour. The Imo was also traveling on the “wrong side of the road”. The Mont-Blanc signaled the Imo to correct its position, but the Imo stayed in the wrong channel to avoid a tugboat. At the last moment, the Mont-Blanc turned left while the Imo reversed its engines, but it was too late.

WW1 – The Halifax Explosion The Imo struck the Mont-Blanc opening holes in the areas carrying the benzol fuel and the acid. The mixture of fuel and acid was lethal. A fire started almost immediately. Mont-Blanc's crew abandoned ship. They thought the ship would blow up in minutes and that there was nothing they could do. The blazing ship drifted deeper into the harbour and struck Pier 6.

WW1 – The Halifax Explosion Two attempts to tug the Mont-Blanc away from the pier proved unsuccessful. People began gathering along the shoreline the watch the fire. The Halifax Fire Department arrived and preparations to fight the blaze began. At 9:04:35, the Mont-Blanc exploded with a force stronger than any man-made explosion before it.

WW1 – The Halifax Explosion Your task You are a reporter…and this story has just happened. You rush to Halifax to report on the damage and learn more about the events that led up to the explosion. You will prepare a news report describing the event leading to and the destruction created during the Halifax Explosion (e.g., number of people killed, distance of damage, number of buildings destroyed). You can also “interview” witnesses to the event. You are a reporter on a strict deadline. You must submit your story in two days.

WW1 – The Halifax Explosion Step 1: Review the CBC website on the Halifax explosion www.cbc.ca/haliaxexplosion OPTION: Examine the other websites listed for more information Step 2: Collect information to prepare a news report. Step 3: Prepare a news report that is one page in length (double spaced). Include an eye-popping headline, general information (e.g., time of explosion, initial reports on the cause, suspected number of deaths, damage caused, quotes from eyewitnesses, heroic events). OPTION: You may wish to view a newspaper on the web to determine format, etc. (e.g., Whig Standard or Globe and Mail)

WW1 – The Halifax Explosion As well, you should consider the following questions for later class discussion… Should there be any restrictions on images or impacts? Can reporting a disaster be too difficult for a reader to understand? Should reporters go into a disaster area to get a story? Should the reader view pictures and receive disaster report information in the midst of the disaster?