The largest ship explosion in history, killing 2000 people, leveling seaports

Tens of thousands of windows were broken against the power of shock waves. The pieces of glass shot in people's faces. 37 people were completely blind, more than 250 people lost an eye.

On a winter morning on December 6, 1917, a French captain took the SS Mont Blanc ship into a canal leading to the Canadian port of Halifax . At about 8.30am, when the ship entered the narrow channel, also known as the bottleneck, the captain discovered something he did not expect: the Norwegian cargo ship SS Imo was heading straight at him.

Two giant ships blew their horns, trying to avoid each other in the 'bottleneck' but to no avail. The two ships bumped into each other, starting one of the most terrifying maritime accidents in the world.

According to the Washington Post, the ship Imo crashed was a 3,000-ton bomb. The Mont Blanc vessel was then filled with ammunition prepared for World War 1. The vessel's container was packed with 2,500 tons of TNT and picric acid. The deck is filled with gasoline barrels.

The SS Mont Blanc was then loaded with ammunition prepared for World War 1.

The collision created the largest artificial explosion in the pre-nuclear era, according to analysts. It devastated the bustling port city, killed more than 2,000 people and injured more than 5,000 people - nearly 12% of the population of the Halifax area.

The giant iron ship even disappeared, melting into pieces. Fragments fly into residential areas many kilometers away from the port.

And yet, the explosion created a tsunami up to 18m high, according to Live Science. The tsunami that landed on the shore in combination with shock waves flattened the residential area of ​​2.5 square kilometers. Buildings collapsed, crushed on the electrical system and continued to cause explosions, according to The Canadian Encyclopedia.

The Halifax explosion became 'standard' to assess the level of other explosions for decades, until the atomic bomb explosion in Hiroshima, Japan, replaced its leading position in 1945.

In the Halifax tragedy, the body lies on the rubble. This memory haunts the city to this day, the person in charge of marine history at the Nova Scotia Museum in Canada said."It's the same scene as New York after September 11, " said Marsters, the person in charge.

The video shows the scene of the fall in Halifax after the horrific explosion of 1917.

The catastrophe occurred in the golden age of the city of Halifax, where the population increased sharply during the war because it provided military vessels. During World War I, there were Canadian and British naval bases, major supply centers and a hospital for wounded soldiers. The Port of Halifax was crowded when the explosion took place. When Mont Blanc arrived in the canal, it received a number of dead cargo from Brooklyn, USA, ready to join a train to Europe.

Imo was on her way to New York to receive relief supplies for Belgium. Both ships have navigators to identify potential hazards.

But waterway traffic that day is very crowded. The Imo has just avoided a tugboat and a US naval ship meets Mont Blanc.

When the distance narrowed, both captains did what they could with their bulky ship. But at the last minute, Imo's captain desperately reversed the engine. His bow was horizontal and flat at Mont Blanc.

There was a spark.

Artwork of the Halifax explosion on December 6, 1917.

There was no special sign on the Mont Blanc train that it was carrying explosives. Almost nobody knows what's inside the ship, except for a few port crew and sailors. When the gas tank is turned on and starts to fire, sailors rush to the rescue boat.

Paddling like crazy, they reached the shore within minutes. They kept running, shouting warnings to all the people on the shore, but speaking French.

'Only a few people in Halifax know French at the time,' said Marsters. 'Many people are running towards the shore to see fire'.

Mont Blanc helplessly drifted towards the port with a column of high smoke. Halifax firefighters rushed towards the ship. Imo's water ship watches the fire right on their damaged ship. People stood by the window to witness the train fire.

A few minutes passed.

At 9:04, 35 seconds, Mont Blanc exploded.

Column of smoke rising high from the ship explosion.

The shockwave radiated to the surrounding buildings, including a crowded industrial park called Richmond and an old residential area. More than 1,600 houses were destroyed immediately, more than 12,000 houses were damaged.

Tens of thousands of windows were broken against the power of shock waves. The pieces of glass shot in people's faces. 37 people were completely blind, more than 250 people lost an eye.

Hundreds of fires started when buildings collapsed. Before long, the injured could hear the screams of the trapped people. Burns are the main cause of death.

Besides, pieces of iron scattered throughout the city also killed many people that day and caused injuries that many people died many months later in the pre-antibiotic period.

The scene dissolved in Halifax after the explosion.

More than 1,600 houses were destroyed immediately, more than 12,000 houses were damaged.

To this day, gardeners still occasionally dig up metal from the explosion. Recently, a family found the piece of the ship and brought it to the Maritime Museum.

Ironically, all sailors on Mont Blanc survived, except one who was stabbed by the debris. The entire ship of Imo was killed, including the captain and the navigator. The two dive crews at the bottom of the harbor survived while those who supported them on the shore did not.

In the following hours, thousands of military, sailor, plumber and other local people in Halifax flocked to the devastated area.

Military nurses, who were used to mass casualties, shook hands. Surgeons operate relentlessly in conditions other than anesthetic. George Cox, an ophthalmologist, removed 79 destroyed eyeballs within 48 hours.

Within minutes, foreign support forces from US and British naval vessels were also present. The explosion became top news worldwide and Halifax continued to be supported for several days.

One of the houses damaged by the Halifax explosion.

The initial investigation suggested that the fault was that of Mont Blanc, especially the captain and navigator Francis Mackey, because it was impossible to avoid dangerous collisions. But subsequent investigations say that the responsibility belongs to both ships.

After more than 100 years, there is only one survivor after the explosion is still alive today: a 106-year-old woman, according to Marsters. However, this event is always remembered by rituals or exhibitions in Canada and around the world.