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@Deborah Behan: Quite a few of these accidental explosions have happened down the years – due to the somewhat US-centric nature of Wikipedia, I remember reading an “on this day” article about the Texas City Disaster of 1947 (ship containing 2,100 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded), which I had also never heard of – almost as powerful as the Halifax one mentioned here.
Coleman was even more of an hero than is reported here. He actually was leaving with his boss having heard the news of the presently exploding ammo ship and turned back into his office, 750 yards from the epicenter of the blast, to send his warning telegram not only to one train but to all the trains and stations along the Intercolonial network. His wife and children at home were injured badly in the blast, he was killed, and his destroyed watch which along with his telegraph key and warped pen were donated by his widow to a museum, bears testimony to the terrible forces that must have borne down on him. His sacrifice saved hundreds of lives and alerted the world to what had happened.
Was in Halifax a few years ago and they tell this story on the harbour tour. They also tell it in Boston at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The people of Nova Scotia send a Christmas tree to Boston every year as a symbol of gratitude as the first external help to arrive in Halifax were the fishermen from Boston.
@Andy Sinclair:I remember reading about this incident too – I’m glad the Journal decided to highlight it, and that they included the story about the railway dispatcher.
Big and all as it was, a similar accidental explosion on a ship started the Spanish American war in 1909. There is a fantastic free naval museum in Madrid which outlines the event complete with a scale model of the ship and cutaway diagrams. Worth visiting Madrid for a weekend on its own to see.
@Ian Moloney: Not really on the same scale, at that period many of the Navies had the same issue due to changing to new powder mixtures, the Royal Navy had a Battleship blow up in harbour as well around the same period, and even by WW2 the Japanese had a Battleship blow up in port as well.
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