Halifax, NS Ship Explosion Catastrophe, Dec 1917

MANY ARE DEAD IN HALIFAX EXPLOSION.

MUNITION SHIP BLOWS UP; MANY HUNDREDS KILLED; THOUSANDS ARE INJURED.

Montreal, Dec. 6. -- It was estimated in Halifax that the dead will be around twelve hundred, though this total, it is explained by the telegraph company receiving the information, is said to be quite unofficial. The greatest damage done is in the wholesale and residential districts. The explosion rocked the business buildings and broke much glass, but the casualties in this section were small. The fires all over the north end of the city were caused by stoves overturning.
The damage done will be many millions, but no correct estimate is possible at this time. Direct telegraphic connection with Halifax was established this afternoon and it was then learned that the explosion was caused when the cargo of a French munitions ship exploded after the vessel had been rammed by a Norwegian boat carrying foodstuffs.

LATEST FROM HALIFAX.
Halifax, N.S., via St. John, N.B., Dec. 6. -- The fire was brought under control this afternoon. Richmond is destroyed. Several hundred persons have been killed and the wounded number thousands. Not a house in the city escaped damage. Pieces of iron and shrapnel have been found three miles from the waterfront.

St. John, N.B., Dec. 6. -- Communication with Halifax was established by the Canadian Pacific Telegraph company this afternoon. It was learned that as a result of the explosion of the American munitions ship this morning nearly one half of the north end of the city is flat, that a great fire is raging, that the dead are lying thick in the streets and that all the hospitals are full to overflowing, so that many injured are compelled to walk about untreated.
A number of Canadian Pacific railway operators are reported injured.

SEVERAL HUNDRED KILLED.
Truro, N.S., Dec. 6. -- Reports reached here this afternoon that it was feared that several hundred people lost their lives when the railway station at Halifax collapsed. Twenty-five railway workers were killed on the track near Richmond.
This afternoon word from Halifax gave the number of dead from the munition ship explosion at 300.
The ship that collided with the munition vessel was a Red Cross liner.

MANY HUNDRED INJURED.
Truro, N.S., Dec. 6. -- (2:30 p.m. Atlantic time). -- Three hundred dead and many hundred injured was the estimate this afternoon of the casualties resulting when a large American munition ship rammed a passenger liner near the piers at Halifax today.

FIRST STORY.
Amherst, N.S., Dec. 6. -- Scores of people have been killed, hundreds of buildings destroyed, and a portion of Halifax set on fire by an explosion which occurred following the collision of an American ammunition ship and another vessel at Rockingham, according to telephone messages reaching here this morning. The explosion was so terrific that it destroyed the installation in the telegraph and telephone offices for thirty miles around Halifax, while it was heard at Truro, N.S., sicty-one miles distant.
Messages for fire engines and fire fighting apparatus, doctors and nurses, hospital supplies, etc., were received by a number of localities in Nova Scotia from Halifax. Special trains were made up with everything required that could be secured.
At Truro, Windsor and here the city councils met this morning and decided to render aid to the afflicted people of Halifax. It is understood that large quantities of food were destroyed, and that the citizens of Halifax may soon be in danger of starving. It was decided that carloads of food must be dispatched at once. The damage done to the Western Union and Canadian Pacific Telegraph Companies and Nova Scotia Telephone Company is so complete that it will be days before wire communication with points outside Halifax can be restored.

COMMUNICATION OFF.
Montreal, Dec. 6. -- Reports reaching telegraph companies here indicate that the explosion near Halifax had affected their dynamos. All wire communication with Halifax and outside points was severed.
According to reports reaching here a number of people were killed when the explosion occurred in Halifax this morning.

CUT OFF.
New York, Dec. 6. -- Halifax has been cut off from all communication with the rest of the world, either by wire or cable, according to officials of the Western Union Telegraph Company in this city. All land lines are down and the plant of the United States Cable Company at Halifax has been so damaged by the explosion that it cannot be operated.

SEIZE WIRES.
St. John, N.B., Dec. 6. -- It is announced here that the censor has taken charge of all wires at Halifax in connection with the explosion there this morning.

NO TRANSPORT.
Winnipeg, Dec. 6. -- The Free Press has the following from its Ottawa correspondent:
"From advices received at militia headquarters today there were no Canadian military units for embarkation purposes in Halifax today; neither is it believed there were any Canadian transports. Certain signalling units which left recently are believed to have already sailed, while an Ottawa and Kingston unit which was expected to be in Halifax is still an Windsor.

NOT YET IDENTIFIED.
Washington, Dec. 6. -- Late today neither the army nor the navy had any advices whatever on the explosion at Halifax, and nothing by which to identify the American munitions ship.

NO TROOPS AT HALIFAX.
Ottawa, Dec. 6. --No troops were waiting at Halifax for embarkation, according to officials of the militia department. Special inquiries made by Col. Osborne, military secretary, elicited the information that the signallers who left Ottawa a few days ago were not at Halifax today. The men of the 73rd battery, artillery, are still, it is understood at Windsor, N.S.
Mayor Fisher has sent a message to the mayor of Halifax offering help from Ottawa and requesting to be informed as to what is required from this city.

HOW IT HAPPENED.
Truro, N.S., Dec. 6. -- The impact caused the ammunition in the hold of the munitions ship to explode setting the vessel afire. The flames spread to the piers and adjoining buildings, many of which had been wrecked by the explosion.
The explosion occurred about nine o'clock. The ammunition ship was backing from her pier preparatory to sailing. The force of the collision started a fire on the American ship. The crew was quickly called to quarters and an attempt made to extinguish the flames. This failed and as the fire approached the holds where the explosives were stored, the captain ordered the sea cocks opened. Before, however, the vessel had sunk, she drifted; toward one of the piers and a few moments later an explosion occurred, tearing the vessel to pieces.
When the decision was made to sink the ship the crew was ordered into their small boats and so far as known they escaped.
CONCUSSION TERRIFIC.
The concussion of the explosion was terrific. Houses were shattered and many completely demolished. Storage sheds along the water front were levelled and the damage is estimated at millions of dollars.
This afternoon relief trains are being rushed to Halifax from nearby points as fast as they can be made up. The trains carry firemen and fire apparatus and every physician and nurse available.
This afternoon a telegraph line was worked for a short time into Halifax, establishing the first communication with the city since the brief period that followed the explosion and before the telegraph and telephone wires were down. A message on this wire says half of the Richmond district off which the disaster occurred, was flat and the fire still raging there. Persons were said to be lying dead in the streets. The hospitals were filled with injured while scores unable to find accommodations in the hospitals though bodily injured, were wandering helplessly along the streets.
The disaster was said to be fully as great as first reported. The fire attacked the northern section of the city where the Canadian Pacific railway station was destroyed. In that section are located several large hotels, but nothing of their fate has been learned here.
A procession of automobiles is augmenting the service of the trains by carrying physicians and nurses and also great quantities of food.
Meagre reports are being brought back this way, though no one has been able to obtain a comprehensive idea of the situation. The telegraph wires are down from Bedford to Halifax, and except for the wire temporarily restored communication direct was still impossible this afternoon.

TERMINALS DESTROYED.
Montreal, Dec. 6. -- AMong the buildings destroyed at Halifax are the new deep water freight terminals of the Canadian government railways at the north end of the city. It was learned at the offices of the railroad here this afternoon. No report has been received about the ocean terminals, but it is expected they have not been affected. Sixty per cent of the city had gone, according to railway reports.

MANY BUILDINGS WRECKED.
Toronto, Dec. 6. -- Hon. J. D. REID, minister of railways, who is in Toronto, received the following message from Assistant Engineer DUFF, of the Intercolonial Railway, who is at present in Halifax:
"Every building north of the Queen's Hotel is totally wrecked. North street station is in ruins, as well as our plant at Willow Park, and there is just one mass of wreckage and dead bodies in the north end of the city. Special trains from Sydney, with doctors, nurses and hospital supplies are on their way. Am also arranging for food supplies and to send coaches to Halifax to take people away."
Hon. MR. REID also received the following message at 11:30 a.m. from MR. HAYES, divisional superintendent of the Intercolonial Railway at Moncton:
"Halifax city is on fire. Fire is spreading. We are sending special trains out of Moncton and every city with fire apparatus is also being called upon. We are also picking up fire apparatus between Moncton and Sydney and rushing it to Halifax. Situation bad."
On receipt of the news DR. REID sent a message to MR. HAYES to give every possible assistance that might be required in succoring the people.

NO NEWS AT OTTAWA.
Ottawa, Dec. 6. -- Authentic official advices as to the loss of life and extent of damage done at Halifax were still lacking at the capital up to 12:30 today. The department of railways and canals has received fragmentary messages from Moncton, but they do not add anything as to what is known of the details of the disaster. One message states that the boat was backing out of the dock when she was rammed by a boat coming in. The message does not state where the accident took place, and the department is unable to get into direct telegraph communication with Halifax.
Officials of the naval department were trying to get into touch with Halifax by wireless after the first news of the disaster was received but no further details had been obtained up to noon. It was stated at the department that the wireless stations are situated at some distance from the city itself, and the difficulty was in establishing communication between them and Halifax. If a boat can be secured to carry messages between the wireless station and the city, the department can, in all probability, get something through.
Advices of the disaster were also received at the militia department, but they contained nothing in addition to the meagre details obtained by the newspapers. The opinion was expressed in telegraphic circles that the early reports of the explosion were much exaggerated, the reason given for the paralysis of the telegraphic service was said to be that, following injuries to some of the operators through broken glass, the military authorities had stepped in and taken over the wires.

NOT RED CROSS SHIP.
New York, Dec. 6. -- The Red Cross line officials here said today that none of their steamers was in Halifax at the time of the explosion, and that the report that one of them had been in collision with the munition ship must be erroneous. The Red Cross liner Florizel, the officials said, was at Halifax earlier in the week but left on Tuesday and her arrival at St. Johns, Nfld., was reported yesterday.

EARLY THIS MORNING.
Amherst, N.S., Dec. 6. -- The vessels collided soon after 8:30 this morning and it is presumed that the munition ship was hit in the stokehold, because instantly flames were seen to pour from her. Her crew appeared to make an effort to get the fire fighting apparatus to work but the explosion occurred before anything could be done.
The berth of the cruiser Nioho was near the area affected, but no reports have reached here as to whether the ship or her crew were injured.

HALIFAX REPORT.
Halifax, N.S., Dec. 6. -- The City of Halifax has been seriously damaged and many people killed and many more injured as a result of a bad explosion of an ammunition ship which was in collision with a Belgian relief ship in the harbor this morning.
The Richmond district at the north end of the city had some fires which have been overcome. At Dartmouth the explosion damaged builidings all over the whole city. The business district particularly was seriously affected. The situation is well in hand.

The Lethbridge Daily Herald Alberta 1917-12-06

(Transcriber's Note: For a complete listing of the names of the killed in this most tragic disaster, please go to www.gov.ns.ca Nova Scotia Archives Records Management go to Halifax Explosion Remembrance Book. The total number of fatalities is listed as 1,950.)

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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!