SS Mont-Blanc

Mont Blanc in 1899
History
France
NameMont Blanc
NamesakeMont Blanc
Owner
Port of registry
BuilderSir Raylton Dixon & Co, Middlesbrough
Yard number460
Laid downMarch 23 1899
LaunchedMarch 25, 1899
CompletedJune 1899
Maiden voyageNovember 1900
Identification
Fatecollision and explosion, December 6, 1917
General characteristics
Typecargo ship
Tonnage3,279 GRT, 1,919 NRT
Length97.5 m (320.0 ft)
Beam13.7 m (44.8 ft)
Depth4.7 m (15.3 ft)
Installed power247 NHP
Propulsion
Armamentin WW1: 2 × naval guns

SS Mont-Blanc was a cargo steamship that was built in Middlesbrough, England in 1899 for a French shipping company.[1] On Thursday morning, December 6, 1917, she entered Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada laden with a full cargo of highly volatile explosives. As she made her way through the Narrows towards Bedford Basin, she was involved in a collision with Imo, a Norwegian ship. A fire aboard the ship ignited her cargo of wet and dry 2,300 tons of picric acid, 500 tons of TNT, and 10 tons of guncotton. The resultant Halifax Explosion killed approximately 2,000 people and injured about 9,000.

  1. ^ "French Lines". Archived from the original on 21 January 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013. "The History of Mont-Blanc" from the French Lines website.