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The Halifax Explosion was a disaster that occurred in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the morning of 6 December 1917. SS ''Mont-Blanc'', a French cargo ship fully loaded with wartime explosives, collided with the Norwegian vessel SS ''Imo'' in the Narrows, a strait connecting the upper Halifax Harbour to Bedford Basin. A fire on board the French ship ignited her cargo, causing a cataclysmic explosion that devastated the Richmond District of Halifax. Approximately 2,000 people were killed by debris, fires, and collapsed buildings, and an estimated 9,000 others were injured. ''Mont-Blanc'' was under orders from the French government to carry her highly explosive cargo from New York via Halifax to Bordeaux, France. At roughly 8:45 am, she collided at slow speed, approximately one knot (), with the cargoless ''Imo'', chartered by the Commission for Relief in Belgium to pick up a cargo of relief supplies in New York. The resulting fire aboard the French ship quickly grew out of control. Approximately 20 minutes later (at 9:04:35 am), ''Mont-Blanc'' exploded with tremendous force. The blast was the largest man-made explosion prior to the development of nuclear weapons, releasing the equivalent energy of roughly 2.9 kilotons of TNT. Nearly all structures within a half-mile (800 m) radius, including the entire community of Richmond, were obliterated. A pressure wave of air snapped trees, bent iron rails, demolished buildings, grounded vessels, and carried fragments of the ''Mont-Blanc'' for kilometres. Hardly a window in the city proper survived the concussion. Across the harbour, in Dartmouth, there was also widespread damage.〔 A tsunami created by the blast wiped out the community of Mi'kmaq First Nations people that had lived in the Tuft's Cove area for generations. Relief efforts began almost immediately after the explosion, and hospitals quickly became full. Rescue trains began arriving from throughout eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, but were impeded by a blizzard. Construction of temporary shelters also began soon after the disaster to house the many people left homeless. The modernized North End now includes several memorials to the Halifax Explosion. The initial judicial inquiry found the ''Mont-Blanc'' to be at fault for the disaster, but a later appeal determined that both vessels were to blame. == Background == The community of Dartmouth lies on the east shore of Halifax Harbour, while Halifax is on the west shore. Halifax and Dartmouth thrived during times of war; the harbour was one of the British Royal Navy's most important bases in North America, a centre for wartime trade, and a home to privateers who harried the British Empire's enemies during the American Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. The completion of the Intercolonial Railway and its Deep Water Terminal in 1880 allowed for increased steamship trade and led to accelerated development of the port area, but Halifax faced an economic downturn after the British garrison left the city in late 1905 and early 1906. After 1906, the Canadian Government took over the Halifax Dockyard (now CFB Halifax) from the Royal Navy. This dockyard later became the command centre of the Royal Canadian Navy upon its founding in 1910. Just before the First World War, the Canadian government began to make a determined, costly effort to develop the harbour and waterfront facilities. The outbreak of the war brought Halifax back to prominence. As the Royal Canadian Navy had virtually no seaworthy ships of its own, the Royal Navy assumed responsibility for maintaining Atlantic trade routes by re-adopting Halifax as its North American base of operations. In 1915, management of the harbour fell under the control of the Royal Canadian Navy under the supervision of Captain Superintendent Edward Harrington Martin; by 1917 there was a growing naval fleet in Halifax, including patrol ships, tugboats, and minesweepers. The population of Halifax/Dartmouth had increased to between 60,000 and 65,000 people by 1917. Convoys carried soldiers, men, animals and supplies to the European theatre of war. The two main points of departure were in Nova Scotia at Sydney in Cape Breton and Halifax. Hospital ships brought the wounded to the city, and a new military hospital was constructed in the city. The success of German U-boat attacks on ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean led the Allies to institute a convoy system to reduce losses while transporting goods and soldiers to Europe. Merchant ships gathered at Bedford Basin on the northwestern end of the harbour, which was protected by two sets of anti-submarine nets and guarded by patrol ships of the Royal Canadian Navy. The convoys departed under the protection of British cruisers and destroyers. A large army garrison protected the city with forts, gun batteries, and anti-submarine nets. These factors drove a major military, industrial and residential expansion of the city, while the weight of goods passing through the harbour increased nearly ninefold. All neutral ships, bound for ports in North America, were required to report to Halifax for inspection. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Halifax Explosion」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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