There have been many tragedies that have happened throughout Canada. During these tragedies, many innocent people been wounded or, sadly, died. From these tragedies, many lessons have been learned that have all helped to form Canada's identity or heritage. The Halifax Explosion is one of the biggest tragedies in Canadian history.
On the dark day of Dec 1. 1917 at 11:00pm a ship set sail. The ships name was Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc slipped out of gravenond Bay in New York harbor witch was owned by Compagnie Generale Transatlantique or known as The French Line. The ship was 330 feet long and 40 feet wide. The cargo she cared was very dangerous of volatile explosives like 2300 tons of wet and dry picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 10 tons of gun cotton, and 35 tons of benzol witch was very dangerous. In total the ship weighed at about 1140 tons but with the cargo it was 3685 tons. What she had for her defense was a 90-millimeter gun forward and a 95-millimeter one astern. Some of the shells were fired, but more than 300 live rounds still remained on board. Some on deck while others in the lower compartments. All of the cargo was for the French government. It was all intended to get there safely.
The Mont Blanc was sailing peacefully until it collided with another ship called Blgianrelief. This caused the Mont Blanc to go into flame fast. The people in Halifax were just standing outside in the blizzard watching. Then a boy told a man called Vincent Coleman that there was explosives on the ship so he risked his life to stop a train coming from Boston and to get everyone to evacuate the area. But then out of nowhere the Mont Blanc EXPLODED. In the 10 seconds it happened it caused a massive tidal wave. It was so loud that it could be heard in Truro. The small city of Truro is located in Nova Scotia, Canada. The population is 11,765.
After the explosion was over, it left 9000 people wounded and killed 2000 people including Vincent Coleman, the dispatcher. The people on the ship on the deck were killed but the people below deck all survived. Also it destroyed 1/5 of the city. The 9000 people that survived were terrified and they still were terrified when they heard loud noises or seen fire.
On Dec 1, 1917, Railway Dispatcher Vincent Coleman left to work at the Richmond Railway Station. His work was a short five blocks away. He lived on Richmond, Russell Street of Halifax. He had a wife named Frances and a two year old daughter named Eileen at home. His job was to control the massive rail traffic generated by the crowded wartime crowds of World War 1. He worked for the Intercolonial Railway or ICR but it was renamed Canadian Government Railways in 1916. He was a rank above ordinary telegraph operators in most stations.
The Halifax Explosion of 1917, is one of Canada's worst tragedies. The Mont Blanc was 330 feet long and 40 feet wide and was carrying 2545 tonnes of explosives when it crashed into the Blgianrelief, another large boat. It exploded and killed 2000 people and wounded 9000 more. Vincent Coleman, a local town man that worked at the Richmond Railway Station risked his life to stop a train to save 700 people on board. How many people would of got killed if Vincent Coleman did not make the call to the train? He's a true Canadian hero!!!
