A Look Back 100 Years
On the morning of Dec. 6, 1917, the outgoing Norwegian relief vessel Imo collided with the incoming munitions vessel the Mont-Blanc in the Halifax harbour. The Mont-Blanc, with its cargo of benzol, picric acid, TNT and gun cotton, caught fire. After burning for 20 minutes, the volatile cargo exploded, causing a blast unsurpassed in human history until the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945.
Halifax was devastated. Approximately 2000 people were killed in the explosion or died shortly thereafter from their injuries. About 9000 people sustained injuries. Partial or total loss of sight was widespread, as the windows to which people had been drawn to watch the fire blew inward, sending shards of glass into faces and eyes. The records of St. Joseph’s Orphanage show a sharp increase in admissions and hundreds of children were left completely orphaned or with only one living parent. Many Archdiocesan properties were affected, including St. Joseph’s Church, which was destroyed. St. Mary’s Cathedral, further away from the explosion, fared better, though a bell was cracked and the stained glass windows shattered.
As we mark the 100th Anniversary of the Explosion, we present a few items of interest, drawn from the Archival holdings of the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth, and other sources.
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Knights of Columbus Halifax Council 1097 and Dec 6, 1917 Explosion (pdf) Knight Ervin John Doak was kind enough to share some of the results of his research into the involvement of the Knights of Columbus in recovery efforts following with the explosion. Many thanks to Mr. Doak! |
†McCarthy-Damages list (pdf) This list, in Archbishop McCarthy’s handwriting, shows the estimated dollar value of the damage to Archdiocesan properties. According to an online inflation calculator (in Canadian dollars) $1000 in 1917 would equal roughly $15,700 today. The damages in 1917 totalled over $2,300,000. That amount would total over $36,134,939.76 today. |
Sermon (pdf) What follows is the homily preached at the funeral of Msgr. Charles McManus, at St. Mary’s Cathedral on January 18, 1940 by Rev. Dr. Charles Curran. Rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral when he died, Fr. McManus had been the pastor of St. Joseph’s Church on the day of the Halifax Explosion. He worked tirelessly to minister to the dying and injured in the immediate wake of the explosion, and to his devastated congregation in the weeks, and months that followed. This homily speaks of that experience. |
Over the summer two students worked in cemeteries providing assistance to families searching for relatives as well as tours of the cemeteries with a focus on the victims of the Halifax Explosion. Each yellow stake in both cemeteries indicates the resting place of an explosion victim.
To provide more information to visitors to the cemeteries five new interpretive signs have been placed in Mount Olivet and Holy Cross. These signs were made possible thanks to a grant provided by the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Four of the interpretive signs are found in Mount Olivet and can be found in the following places:
- near the entry to cemetery indicating the history of the Explosion and the purpose of the yellow stakes
- near the grave of one of the firemen killed in the Explosion which tells the stories of the five firemen buried in Mount Olivet
- in Section Two near the grave of Vincent Coleman and many others that perished in the Explosion
- in Section Three which mentions the unidentified dead, members of the military, and others buried in the section
The fifth sign is located in Holy Cross near the Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel. It highlights three firemen who were killed in the Explosion.
Halifax Explosion victims buried in our cemeteries.
CTV video clip about Our new book "Gone But Not Forgotten" and some stories of the victims.
Click here to view story.
Archives Contact
Sharon Riel
Archivist - Halifax Office
Archdiocese of Halifax - Yarmouth
P.O. Box 1527
Halifax, NS B3J 2Y3
(902) 429-9800 ext 314
