A city destroyed: The Halifax Explosion, 100 years later in 360-degrees

CBC News Interactives has recreated the city of Halifax as it existed in 1917 to show how the Halifax explosion unfolded and its effects on the people who lived there.
To see more: cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion
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[@BIGBLOCK5022006]

The casualties from the Halifax explosion could've been worse had it not been for a brave man that sent out a message saying "Ship on fire in harbor. Stop all trains. This is my last message. Good bye, boys.".

[@janbadinski7126]

Bless him. Part of the casualties were people running to the harbor in order to help.

[@racer927]

@@janbadinski7126 Some were probably just watching and thought it was a typical tanker fire. I think I have a new saying called "Watching the Mont-Blanc" when you're watching something dangerous at a safe distance but it turns out a lot more dangerous than you think. An example of my saying would be this one story of these two armed robbers that got locked in a phone store after the employees shut the gates. The employees and patrons were laughing but I had this "Watching the Mont-Blanc" feeling that could've gone a lot worse if the robbers had a firearm with their melee weapons.

[@janbadinski7126]

@@racer927 I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the new term for my vocabulary. May all of those killed in this horror rest in peace.

[@janbadinski7126]

@@racer927 Thank you for your intelligent post. I'm sure you are familiar with the other kind of posts. I think a lot of people were going towards the port to see if they could help. They didn't understand the French trying to get the people to go to a 'safe' distance, away from the imminent disaster they were facing. They knew would come but no one understood French. So the English speaking residents went to the harbor put the fire out.

[@steelersrock4392]

He probably knew even if he tried to get away he stood no chance based upon how many explosives and explosive materials the ship was carrying

[@attsealevel]

In response, Boston sent a relief train plus a ship full of supplies, doctors, nurses and support staff. In return, Nova Scotians now send a tremendous spruce Christmas tree to the city of Boston every year. Its arrival is always a big story in Boston local news - and the tree lighting is attended by the mayor and thousands of grateful citizens (I'm one of em). Thank You Nova Scotia!

[@seanmeisner3190]

As a Nova Scotian, I say "Thank you, Boston!"

[@crruan1142]

Thank YOU, Boston!

[@OffGridInvestor]

I heard this from someone from halifax

[@tytanium3719]

“I say thank you Boston. I had a blast. -Larry bird

[@CopiousJohn]

@@seanmeisner3190 Sean, that's what friends do. Tehran, 1979. Thank *you*, Canada.

[@theguyrocks1]

My father's mother (my grandmother) was a young girl that lived in Halifax. She was there when the ships exploded. Beatrix Hay (my grandmother) was a young petite teenager. After the explosion, my grandmother climbed through the massive destruction in the wreckage of the shops and homes looking for survivors and to locate bodies. Years later, when I was about twelve year olde my grandmother told me her whole story. Years later when I am in my late fifties in age I saw a dramatization on the internet. WOW! She passed away at the age of 99. eleven months and just a day or so before her 100th birthday. She was a wonderful and kind lady. I do love her greatly.

[@mctthw]

May she rest in peace❤️

[@callumking8940]

Rip

[@tarantulacanada3591]

wow RIP

[@michaelrmurphy2734]

Do you know where they lived? What street?

[@nathanh3975]

Sorry for your loss

[@OutXider]

I was 4 minutes into the video when I realized I could rotate the view.

[@jefftompkins6202]

Did not know till you said something.

[@MrPetepeeters101]

Lol cool. I read this 3 minutes in

[@taffythegreat1986]

OutXider weird isn’t it. First time for me

[@hemeo3015]

I watched the whole video without knowing that. Thought it was weird sense of graphic design

[@harrylebastard]

Same here, i thought i was drunk.

[@MrHandss]

"halifax is buzzing with life" *shows less than 5 people on the streets*

[@jackr4009]

MrHandss that’s Halifax for you buddy.

[@Sam-pr9rr]

The homeless cannoli not at all if you actually seen it there

[@jackr4009]

sammyc when all the cruise ships are there yeah,but in winter time....

[@jackr4009]

sammyc PS i live in middle Sackville Halifax NS

[@Sam-pr9rr]

The homeless cannoli I live in Dartmouth

[@davewalker3561]

My infant mother and my grandmother had left Halifax on a train just hours before.

[@ramrao9328]

and that is why you are here

[@bastogne315]

And that is another lie...

[@Cassxowary]

Adolf Galand unless they’re elderly. And you didn’t spell his name right, it’s two l’s not one.

[@rudaleru]

Dave Walker if the train got delayed you probably wouldn’t even exist today

[@Cassxowary]

Reliable Excavation & Demolition well, not as this self anyway

[@freakyflow]

You can still find pieces of metal in the older trees around Halifax today

[@Fireglo]

It's almost as though metal doesn't decompose...

[@billtomson5791]

How spooky, and I mean that with respect for the dead.

[@gkess7106]

Wasn’t the anchor found five miles away?

[@obliviousotterI]

@@gkess7106 That's the _Grandcamp_

[@keithsy75]

same here in Bklyn, NY. A UAL DC8 dropped in Brooklyn. No one lived. To this day, residents of Sterling Pl. still find parts in their backyards.

[@curbmassa]

As horrific as the explosion was, things got much worse. The explosion virtually emptied the narrow harbor of water causing a tsunami. It was breakfast time so every house had a stove (coal or wood) going so fires broke out all over the city. Many people were blinded by shattered windows a mile away. The area was then hit by a blizzard preventing any assistance reaching the city by railroad. This was an amazing event in history. It was the largest man-made explosion until nuclear weapons were developed.

[@davidplumb9549]

the Halifax explosion of December 6, 1917 feels a lot like Beirut Lebanon on August 4, 2020

[@doitfordale7068]

*There is a guy in the window of that green house.* *He got vaporized*

[@sorosaltgaming]

My god, that is a really be explosion.

[@seththomas3418]

@@sorosaltgaming The ship detonated with a yield of three kilotons.

[@Mimiczeylon]

@@sorosaltgaming I mean if you're close to the shockwave from the explosions, the impact can even break bones and rupture your organs

[@FirebombFritzz]

@@seththomas3418 the same as beirut

[@madmax2069]

@@FirebombFritzz there was also pepcon plant, and the explosion in Texas.

[@siddhm3911]

Who is here after the Beirut blast

[@JostVanWair]

Me

[@niveenalosman2005]

Me

[@Anthony-op7xz]

Me

[@xtronaut5824]

Me

[@redstaplerguyforlifepastpr5763]

Me

[@BvousBrainSystems]

I didn't realize it was a 360 video and thought it was the worst thing in the world... Now I see that's it's just a video with dated 3D graphics.

[@horizontoday7874]

BvousBrainSystems omg. It creeped the hell out of me when I paused it

[@alanhowitzer]

So cool!

[@THEGREATMEMEWIZARD]

tbh Gmod vids from 2009 have better 3d quality then this

[@Kni0002]

lmao i didnt even know that it was 360 till i read this comment... thought camera angles were wired

[@kairon156]

@@Kni0002 Same here.

[@anormalcommentor9452]

Fun (well not fun this is serious) fact: The SS Imo was originally called SS Runic and operated by the White Star Line. This means the top 3 ship disasters closest to Halifax were: 1871 RMS Atlantic operated by WSL 1912 RMS Titanic operated by WSL 1917 SS Imo, once operated by WSL

[@connerrolofson1585]

True.

[@destroier920]

Also ironically, Samuel Cunard the founder and original owner of the Cunard Line that was the main competitor of the WSL, was from Halifax.

[@lynx2179]

Wait did the Titanic happen near Halifax?

[@TimCan144]

@Cody Taylor it was a mine not a torpedo.

[@pointlessescape4356]

Turtle not really, off the coast of Newfoundland is where it happened, but it isn’t terribly far from Nova Scotia

[@truneilson]

Would have been more understandable if viewed from above.

[@jessemed22]

Look down when your watching the video lol

[@truneilson]

jesse Thank you, this was the first video I've ever seen like this. I wonder what it looks like on a stationary computer?

[@firnen_]

You can drag the view with the mouse.

[@Peterincan]

Search "Halifax Explosion: Minute by Minute". It gives a clearer view of everything

[@teriridley3393]

Tru Neilson is

[@SanidhyaKPatel]

KZbin: Let's recommend this after the Beirut explosion

[@kuromckuen2730]

omg so tru like legit none of this stuff was on my recommended and then this poped up

[@Sahadi420]

they were bringing up SNL "Black Jeopardy" videos right after George Floyd as well.

[@kuromckuen2730]

@The Cornfield if u dont understand what hes saying then just be quiet

[@MrBeastW]

u did everyone elses comment but using ur brain nice

[@buckarooski8998]

this aged well

[@AndyHappyGuy]

The Imo survived the explosion and was thrown onto the Dartmouth harbor. It was restored and continued sailing until it ran aground at the Falkland Islands where it still remains today. That means that you can still visit the ship that was one of the leading causes of the Halifax explosion.

[@artilleryfire6576]

what part of the islands?

[@anormalcommentor9452]

@@artilleryfire6576 the one near the sea

[@koitorob]

@@anormalcommentor9452 🤣🤣🤣

[@randomuser9883]

@@artilleryfire6576 a bit late but it lies somewhere in the Falkland islands

[@amsmuh]

​@@artilleryfire6576 At Cape Carysfort. The ship is underwater, not too much. But no one got interest diving there, the only picture is the anchor.

[@hebneh]

After reading about this disaster a number of times over the years, this finally has made it clear to me where things were and why so much of the city was damaged or destroyed.

[@eunicechang8329]

Beirut Lebanon explosion brought me here. R.I.P to all the victims of 1917 Halifax and 2020 Beirut explosion 😔

[@cleomadra1829]

This is an amazing use of the 360 technology. Could still use some work but it was informative and interesting!

[@kingcobra7183]

Xbox 360 technology

[@Infact77]

@@kingcobra7183 was that supposed to be funny?

[@koitorob]

Yeah, except everytime i tried to move the view it paused the video.

[@medusa8617]

@@koitorob That's your problem. It worked fine for me.

[@TheGravityShifter]

@@koitorob You can just use your Arrow Keys after clicking the movement icon. No need to drag the screen n stuff.

[@tommcdonald1873]

We do not think of it, but the thousands who died and were casualties at Greater Halifax due to the explosion were another part of the high price Canada paid in WWI and in its growth as a nation.

[@MickCanada]

Tom McDonald Amen 🙏 Some could of been my distant family. 😕💩...still to this day you will find parts of them 🚢 ‘s throughout Halifax. Bones not so much

[@t.k.kirkland7906]

dead memes He did type WWI

[@xxwalhalaxxmozza7415]

Justin Y. Yes you are correct

[@janbadinski7126]

Thank you, I didn't know that.

[@RealCristianoPenaldo]

@Justin Y. why are you here? I see u everywhere lol

[@WhipMemes]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="5">0:05</a> *ARE YOU READY, KIDS???* *_AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!!_*

[@ichhabhungerhabtihrwaszues7168]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@desktorp]

truly amazing

[@randomthings4705]

XD😂😂

[@oh_no_no_no]

*I CAN’T HEAR YOU!* *_AYE AYE, CAPTAIN!!!!_* *OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*

[@russellh6152]

Whip lol

[@bIametheniIe]

My grandfather told me about this that happened when he was a young boy. He was like 8 or 9 when it occurred and lived in the area. In the 1992 or 1993, he took me to Halifax and told me about what he recalled and then went to other areas he grew up in before he moved to the DC area.

[@seltonk5136]

My grandfather went to a Bonnie Raitt concert, I have his drawings

[@SatsMate]

Well presented! I loved this I kept spinning around in my living room. Well put together!

[@roshill2010]

I was moving my mouse left to right was fun too :D

[@jdog2230]

Im glad they referenced this in the new Oppenheimer movie! I feel like so many people have never heard of this yet it being the largest non nuclear explosion in history

[@kevinquinlan786]

Was just googling some info, so fyi approx. Beirut 1kt Halifax 3kt Hiroshima 15tk Nagasaki 20kt Conventional nuke today 500kt Tsar Bomba 50,000kt ..and when you see the Beirut footage, these figures are insane.

[@a.a.1245]

​@@kevinquinlan786The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs - 100.000.000.000kt

[@juanmotovlogs3654]

Lebanon explosion brought me here

[@FiLipinoTitAnic]

same

[@jameso6007]

Sadly

[@tetzy3882]

Same

[@ChewyLampShade]

same. hoping for the best :(

[@Hypestrike1]

There are a lot of similarities.

[@olbradley]

Halifax residents did not see themselves as "free from danger." Halifax was a strategic city for ships and supplies to Europe and would be a potential target for German U-Boats which is why Halifax had anti-submarine nets and temporary blackouts during the night to lessen the chance of being attacked. Edit: Rest of the video is pretty good though and I enjoyed it anyways.

[@SRS_-wu3gx]

anyone else here cause of what happened in beirut?

[@niveenalosman2005]

Me

[@markperacullo7541]

Damn you got first😑😑

[@MarkoGh]

The explosion in beirut was also about 3kilotons like this one.... Hs

[@elizabethsohler1847]

Not particularly, but I can understand why that might come about.

[@gkess7106]

No.

[@arohk1579]

It's one thing that happened that one won't forget. I grew up in Halifax and just walking around the city you can see parts of the Mont-Blanc and even to this day there are interesting things pertaining to the explosion. There is the church with a cameo of a person on the window where he was blown through and no matter what they do it never goes away, you can find parts of the Mont-Blanc where they landed some nearly 5 Miles from the ship. If you visit Halifax you will be amazed at the amount of history you will find. There are over One hundred victims of the RMS Titanic buried there as well.

[@TechnologicallyTechnical]

Larry Gillis Speaking of Titanic, Titanic's sister ship (Olympic) transported tons of troops to/from Halifax during WWI and a garden was made in Olympic's honor in Halifax.

[@Rendpullman]

Larry Gillis I would like to visit Halifax so bad, but it's expensive af to travel from Belgium. I can't find a picture of the "monk" cameo in the church, I think there's also a piece of the Mont Blanc in the entrance of this church and I can't manage to find pictures of that either... Do you have a link you could send me?

[@arohk1579]

It's a beautiful city that's for sure, I always wanted to visit where you are as well as the UK but same issue not cheap. I have a link here for you, there are a few places where parts of the ship landed which when seeing the distance from the harbour it kind of gives an idea just how powerful the blast was. The church with the cameo is called Saint Paul's Church I have seen both the inside and outside of the area of the window. One thing that is really odd is every time they tried to replace the window the image comes back. I lived in Halifax from the age of 6 to 20 and seen the window removed and replaced and after a few days or so back it comes it's pretty freaky. Here's the link for you www.tripadvisor.ca/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g154976-d155418-i35811202-St_Paul_s_Church-Halifax_Halifax_Region_Nova_Scotia.html

[@arohk1579]

That's right I forgot about that, there is so much history there one forgets where places got their name's. The one your referring to is the The Olympic Hall Community Centre, or simply the Olympic Gardens. Lot's of people from the Titanic are also buried in Halifax.

[@gpoop23]

This makes me feel a little bit better about scuffing the rims on my dad's car.

[@cole33]

gpoop23 lol

[@Gamerafighter76]

Yeah, cause it's nothing compared to two ships colliding and one of those ships is a literal bomb.

[@veerchasm1]

Go to your room and no Xbox for a month

[@levelwithz3779]

*"You scuffed my rims!"* *"Yeahhh, buttt, have you heard of the Halifax Explosion??"*

[@travis5125]

Yes, it could have been much worse had the curb been packed full of TNT.

[@Bogie3855]

My wife has a pendand made from a small piece of melted glass found on the shore where the ship exploded. She is originally from that area in Pictou. She was quite delighted.

[@auggieeast]

We sent lots of help from Boston, which is why Halifax still sends us a nice big Christmas tree every year.

[@jimbroaudio]

The fact that this blast was STILL bigger than the explosion in Beruit is crazy to me.

[@MusicodeMierda]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="314">5:14</a> I heard that sentence on the voice of Bruce Dickinson and then woooooo ooo ooo uuu ooo ooo ooo uuuooooooooo!!

[@hawkwardfairy]

I was told this story by my great grandmother when I was young. Even when all hope seemed lost for Halifax, our small city responded sending aid to our northerly neighbors. And every year since, we receive a beautiful Christmas tree as thanks. I hope to visit someday. Much love from the little city of Boston

[@emerybonner7973]

If you ever visit Halifax, and walk around the city, there are several monuments that mark where pieces of the Mont Blanc landed. Some of those monuments are not close to the harbor at all, which goes to show just how big the explosion was. Also, there is a ship called the CSS Acadia that somehow survived the explosion with little damage. Today, the Acadia is docked in Halifax and is part of a museum.

[@lillianlidberg2696]

I live here and just now knowing what happened makes me great full that I wasn't there. But also it's just sad 😕

[@CrankyPantss]

Excellent job on that video of such a tragic event. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[@Danny_Boel]

they should have named that ship "Mon Dieu" instead

[@Danny_Boel]

maybe it was too soon back then ? :-)

[@sandtrap175]

Danny Boel what does mon dieu mean?

[@Danny_Boel]

it' how the French say "my god"

[@sandtrap175]

Danny Boel oh, nice joke.

[@Danny_Boel]

Zachary Ricks thanks😁

[@nicreel-peel4743]

Amazing use of technology, please make more. I look forward to seeing this in schools

[@dzikraaksa527]

just realize that beirut explosion is more powerful than helifax. And it was captured on camera from many angles. So now we know exactly what it looks like without needing to see this animation

[@Ed-pn9id]

Great job. Thanks for a very interesting video.

[@BeeboTheCool]

I watched this in school yesterday

[@xxwalhalaxxmozza7415]

Anon I played this while I was still at school in 1992

[@luketutolo]

Research "mud flood " my friend you will be suprised at what you uncover about what you have been getting taught. This explosion was all a lie . They destroyed all the technology and architecture of the previous civilization they took over. Like i said you will be suprised at how in this time line all over the world i mean everywhere citys were catching on fire and burning down ....... good day to you anyway friend

[@thelaniakean7597]

How did you watch a 3D video on a projector?

[@anormalcommentor9452]

@@luketutolo what

[@MyName_Jeff]

@@luketutolo U r aids

[@scottishguy399]

It’s a 360 video u can move the screen

[@loraxdavewalters2696]

This is an amazing video! Except that I didn't know it was a 360 video, so I watched again and was more amazed! The animation, editing, and script all come together to present a bite sized piece of history. Please make more of these, and give them their own KZbin channel. KZbin marketing and Patreon can turn work like this into a revenue stream.

[@CridGames]

Well done on this video. Really engaging. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@0megacron]

For those who aren't familiar with 360-degree videos, you can face different directions by using the arrows in the upper left corner of the video. It works like Google Street View. I didn't catch that it was a 360 video, despite the title, and kept wondering why they were just showing empty sea at parts.

[@trappinglife1850]

That was a very terrible day but it was really cool being able to see the disaster take place in 360* view

[@hailst5744]

I'm glad I was in my office chair so I could spin around to see what was happening lol

[@nay2d2]

They left out the unfortunate part that nature threw to Halifax the following days when nobody had homes, a record breaking blizzard.

[@RealTipzy]

the Halifax explosion was the equivalent of 5 kilotons of TNT where the Beirut explosion was only 1.5 kilotons. I live near Halifax I had people in my family that got turned to ash from the heat wave caused by the explosion.

[@killerkram1337]

I really like these 3d interactive videos. To present them educationally and put you there is really cool. Especially in WW1 times.

[@peterdarr383]

POST WW1

[@florjanbrudar692]

@@peterdarr383 This was in 1917 so during ww1

[@guystudios]

This is a harrowing lesson from the past that reminds us today that actions and decisions can have serious consequences, and to make the best choices we can all the time.

[@l_w6041]

First I’ve ever heard of this is when I visited Halifax in the navy. It still is such an interesting topic to me

[@leemorgan8725]

There was also a similar ammo ship explosion in Mumbai Harbour during WW2, the blast and shockwave sank loads of smaller ships, and levelled an area of the port. Gold bullion on board the ammo ship was scattered around the area.

[@violinplayer952]

I can't imagine what that must have been like. Everything over in a split second.

[@cheshirecatastrophe9089]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="300">5:00</a> woman in the window watching the explosion in the green house in the right. Top floor.

[@MyName_Jeff]

That was my ant

[@spiderextreme1522]

MyName Jeff this is stop motion....

[@MyName_Jeff]

@@spiderextreme1522 and that was my ant

[@MyName_Jeff]

@@spiderextreme1522 My great-great ant I might add

[@ericlove7321]

10 siblings and my great grandmother only lost my great uncle Gord. Annie Driscoll was 9 months along with my grandmother when her house on Duffus St was leveled. Both survived and my wonderful grandmother Doris Dunsworth (nee Driscoll) was born January 3, 1918.

[@seansky2721]

Now I better understand what Stan Roger's song was about. God rest him.

[@AtlasNL]

Did Stan write a song about this? Which one?

[@seansky2721]

@@AtlasNL My Apologies. "Fire and Flame" by The Longest John's. Not dear ol' Stan after all.

[@AtlasNL]

@@seansky2721 No problem mate, Fire and Flame is a great song, though :)

[@asheer9114]

What crew of the ammunition ship should do was to immediately SCUTTLE the ship (instead of running away from her deck) by flooding her inside compartment since it was plenty of time from the moment of collision to explosion to open every single water ports within ship's hull (I presume that in ship of Mount Blanc size it would take max 20 minutes to complete whole operation). In successful case scenario, ship would sunk and cargo lost, but city itself would be spared when in worst case scenario, explosion could still happen but with less devastated effect than it becomes in reality, when majority of the cargo would be already neutralized by water...

[@chriswatson7965]

Scuttling the ship would not have neutralised the picric acid in any way, as it would have already been stored wet.

[@asheer9114]

@Dave Smith: Perhaps, but still, scuttling would prevent overall detonation of the other explosive materials on board... And by the way, flooding ammunition chambers was (and I think still is) pretty standard procedure on warships during WW I and WW II in case of large fire on board... and what happen with ship if crew fail to do such I don't need to said...

[@chriswatson7965]

Asheer - the picric acid in this accident made up 90% of the explosive capacity of the cargo. Scuttling the ship would have been suicide for the crew with the net result of small potential reduction in the explosion. Flooding of ammunition chambers happens on warships in order to save the the ship. The ammunition makes up a small proportion of the total volume of the ship, and hence can be flooded without sacrificing the ship, and is done on the basis of the types of explosives used. The Mont-Blanc was a fully laden cargo ship. Picric acid is a superior explosive but difficult to handle. It was abandoned for less optimal but easier-to-handle explosives such as TNT. I checked the picric acid on the Mont-Blanc. It records it as being both wet and dry, but I can't find the proportions. Under the circumstances I would imagine that the vast majority was wet.

[@veerchasm1]

But then we wouldn’t have this cool video! 👎🏻

[@ReallyBigBadAndy76]

Dave Smith a giant explosion under water would have done a lot less damage to the city than a giant explosion above the water.

[@nycsguy]

Could only see a green screen with nonfunctioning navigation tool in upper left.

[@michaelc8826]

Very cool and informative to watch in VR. The map at the bottom could have been a little bigger. Did part 2 ever get published?

[@diontaedaughtry974]

Great video, very insightful 👍👍

[@airving8316]

The CBC was nice to add this to the site but they are incorrect in their reporting for the sake of the harbour master and those responsible for handling both ships. The Mt. Blanc was carrying cordite packs in her hold and some were in crates on deck. The Emmo was carrying rather discretely a shipment of fuses in crates, and they did collide in the harbour and the emmo hit hard enough to cause the mount blanc after she caught on fire, The skipper tried to put her to shore to save her crew, But it was way too little way to late.The little horn warning had taken place half way up the harbour and the collision took place at the narrowest point of the Entire harbour. Where the Mount blanc came ashore was in a little cove right where the old fort stood at the top of the hill. And the rail-men knew of a passenger train coming inbound through rockingham some four miles away so he got on the switches to warn them as it was loaded with soldiers for debarkation to the war they got the train stopped but they knew with the cordite on board that the two ships should never have been allowed in the harbour at the same point in time thus creating the false issue in this report. the explosion was the largest non nuclear explosion pre the Hiroshima bomb and the people building the bomb came here to study the effects due to the resemblance of both places in Japan. the explosion removed the fort all but on facade of a wall left standing to this day with the bell in the top. the anchor landed six miles away in the other side of the city on a little place called horseshoe Island which was a recreation spot in the area where the rotary is today. the northern portion of the city was flattened and some six thousand died here alone. In the rest of the city there were things like teams of horses standing dead where they were in the city. years later they located people who were pressed between building walls that were thrown against one another in the downtown area. And it created a winter storm from the blast which killed many more. I spoke with a man named Percy Conrod who had been working building the south rail outward where bayer's lake stands today. and he and I sat and had dinner every night and he always toasted thew men lost with his toddy of Rum before supper and one for the children and the town after supper and we spoke every night for years. he told his crew to remain on their jobs so he could go and see what took place as he stated to me and I quote" I heard this awful sound coming from the city then I saw this big black cloud of smoke rising over the city and when I got there there were people standing dead in their tracks and horses standing in place dead but still harnessed and there were people lying everywhere and that he worked for days trying to help anyone that was still alive but there were so few in the north end and the entire north east side of the city was JUST Gone" The captains were so stubborn and were fighting over access to the channel. not a mercy ship or it might have been a mercy ship but that mercy ship was carrying fuse for the guns to when loaded with the cordite from the other ship would help fight the war. I am glad to see that it is on here. The ship that was on watch for all convoys for both world wars was the HMCS Acadia which went under several prefixes in her days, she now sits outside the maritime museum at the ft of Duke St. In Halifax only south one block

[@dogetwinkie2225]

A Irving wonderful story you wrote m8, I almost mistook it for a youtube comment, silly me

[@theotherside931]

*Interesting. I'll read more about this.* *Never gotten much info on this story.*

[@garyschraa7947]

That was an amazing account of this and worthy of further writing by you A Irving . There may be plenty of books already written but the story still needs to be told and I would read yours gladly any day . Thank you

[@Hugmir]

I owe it to the comments for reminding me that this is one of those videos i can control the view in.

[@suemarie6032]

The preview on tv made it look like a better presentation. I didn't see the same thing here and IIalso was expecting more from the collision to the explosion. If it wasn't for the narration continuing, I would have thought it froze for quite a while.

[@The_Adam_Smith_Simp]

Some of my family died in that explosion. They went through hell in those days.

[@OldHoboManYouTube]

I'm reading a story works article on this

[@polishprincess9202]

I loved watching this is my class! Wonderful video!

[@jimmy_junk]

Very well done. Being in the middle of the explosion was very interesting.

[@GirthConfirmed]

Wow what an excellently made video for such a tragic event

[@Aracelerii]

Halifax: I have the largest non-nuclear explosion in history! Beirut: *check this out*

[@rileymacintyre9678]

Pretty sure this is bigger, the was around 3kt, Beirut was only around 1kt

[@PeterParker-ip6iw]

@@rileymacintyre9678 yes

[@IdleLancer]

Didn't the exploding munitions cause fires on the docks that ignited the fertilizer plants?

[@KS-qr1ry]

i think that was texas city

[@joshbreck3489]

Feel like i travelled back in time

[@clarencethomas5311]

My great grandfather died in this explosion, he was 32 years old and worked work for cp rail, my grandfather was only 1 yo

[@sasquatchycowboy5585]

This was a tragedy, but at least we learned from it. There's no way such a dangerous cargo would ever be handled so carelessly today.

[@julien.s2002]

SasquatchyCowboy Beirut : *Hold my 2750 tons of ammonium nitrate*

[@rogerhazen3664]

Amazing use of 360 tech. People, you can use your mouse and look around in this video. It is impressive.

[@Young_Heru]

Africville was right by the harbour.. they even found pieces of the ships anchor miles away in Dartmouth .

[@L3go_Man87]

Haven't really come across a vid like this yet on KZbin, it was good :)

[@PerodotTheCat]

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="671">11:11</a> my teatcher dropped her waterbottle and we flipped out

[@bee5648]

I still can’t belie that one boat was filled with explosives

[@tomemeornottomeme1864]

It was literally WW1.

[@okman7933]

^^^ Literally the first thing they said in the video was about WW1, you are like 5 Rose

[@mreese8764]

It's fascinating how often it is this long chain of tiny mistakes leading to disaster.

[@JVC7400]

I found out that you can rotate and zoom out on this video after the explosion.

[@Synystr7]

Simulated in Silent Hunter 4

[@xxwalhalaxxmozza7415]

Synystr7 is that hunter on the Amiga? came out around 1990-1991ish?

[@Trizon]

Just watch the map, it was a bit more understandable.

[@endsightgaming767]

The explosion showed in this video doesn't do it justice on how colossal it was.

[@LordKuzon]

I first heard of this story with Eric Walters’ book when I was a kid, I thought it was all fictional but man, this is sad

[@georggross1232]

That looks far worse than the MOAB...

[@kevinegan9520]

it was bigger in fact it was about in Com parison equivalent to a three kiliton nuke in its blast

[@humanrightsadvocate]

The soulless voice of the narrator frightened me more than the disaster itself.

[@jessemed22]

Very interesting..i wish there was more videos like this

[@kerryaarnoutse1209]

To add, the Imo was going about 6 knots, which was above the harbour speed limit.

[@flon57]

the worst of it, they weren't even Canadian ships

[@anormalcommentor9452]

Yep. Imo was Norwegian and Mont Blanc was French

[@thefrub]

This would be WAY better as just a static video, I missed a lot because it kept jumping behind the camera

[@rednovember2205]

Son of a Diddly There’s a Pause button for a reason...

[@sockeyezok]

hold still b'dude

[@dougsmith3960]

I down voted it for that reason.

[@booblast500]

Well it is 360 you can control the view.

[@wickwire9560]

Amazing Video ! I loved it !!!

[@Dulcimerea]

Amazing, thanks!

[@MrCubFan415]

They didn't reverse their engines? How dare they not reverse their engines?!

[@jeffdickey]

My bet is on some combination of "it's wartime", "we're on the clock", and sheer, inexperienced dumbfuckery. Spin the dials on each to taste.

[@TheZombieTroll]

is it bad it took me a till the end to figure out this was a 3d video lol

[@itzamia]

360 not 3D

[@TheZombieTroll]

@@itzamia semantics

[@HellboundHarry]

I just watched 4 and a half minutes of this and thought it was a terrible dramatization before I realized that it was a 360 degree video. Probably should've read the title!

[@TimSlee1]

Why the dislikes? This was well put together. How hard is it to not offend people now days?

[@sandtrap175]

Tim Slee people disliked it because its not "full hd" with extreme graphics.

[@veerchasm1]

There’s a difference between “dislike” and “offend”

[@yoshibutkagekira7899]

And to think this was stronger than the blast at beirut, Such horror.

[@mrtortoise3766]

Yoshi but kage Kira don’t even compare this to the Beirut explosion to this that’s pathetic it was raining ash halfway across the country from here

[@95alexanderk95]

@@mrtortoise3766 According to Wikipedia the Halifax explosion was a bit more then twice as big

[@95alexanderk95]

Both are tragic

[@yoshibutkagekira7899]

@@mrtortoise3766 dude the halifax explosion was litteraly the first non nuclear explosion that reached the explosive power of over 1 megaton or so.

[@mrtortoise3766]

Ok ey yes that is my point the Beirut explosion is nothing compared to the halifax explosion it’s way more than twice as powerful

[@lecjan22bay]

SS EMO was a suicidal ship full of razor blades

[@janbadinski7126]

It had issues.

[@liamcraddock9539]

Blew itself up because it's parents didn't buy it the latest apple morse code generator. And the other ships didn't constantly give it attention

[@mm2gameplay517]

Amazing to get to see what happened to my community a long time ago

[@lukeaskew5709]

Really Cool way to learn about stuff. Awesome