“Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys.”
-Vince Coleman, Train Dispatcher
December 6th 1917
On that cold day in December, the Halifax Harbour and surrounding communities were ripped apart by a massive explosion.
Homes and buildings were flattened.
Windows shattered everywhere.
The Mi’kmaq village of Turtle Grove was destroyed.
The SS Imo collided with the explosive laden SS Mont Blanc in the Harbour, killing around 2,200 people and injuring more than 10,000.
Despite so much heartache and tragedy, innovation was born from this disaster. After so many people were blinded and harmed from shattered, flying glass—the Canadian National Institute for the Blind was created, and new procedures were developed.
Photo: “Wrecked Houses in Dartmouth, Opposite scene of explosion”
Nova Scotia Archives
‘A Vision of Regeneration’
Nova Scotia Archives V/F vol. 260 no. 32
