THE HALIFAX EXPLOSION: 1917 (Nova Scotia)

[syscom3]

The one youre thinking of was the "port Chicago" incident in 1944.
"On the night of 17 July 1944, two transport vessels loading ammunition at the Port Chicago, California naval base were suddenly engulfed in a massive explosion. The blast destroyed everything within a one-mile radius, including the two ships, the pier and the dock. It killed 320 men on the base, and injured nearly 400 more, most of whom were black. Also almost completely destroying the town of Port Chicago 1.5 miles away, it was the worst home-front military disaster of World War II."

http://www.portchicagomutiny.com/

[102first_hussars]

OH

[ollieholmes]

The first incident mentioned i first herd of was on i think uktv history last year. Very tragic they both are.

[trackend]

I know this is and Old thread but I found these pictures recently of the Halifax Explosion taken from 13 miles away and a panorama of the devastation and thought it would be worth adding them.

[johnbr]

I so film of that on tv some years a go it was in color to.

[rogthedodge]

Hadn't seen this thread before.

I think it is known about but people don't really have a grasp of the scale of it.

We were in Halifax last summer and saw that panoramic photo, it's amazing when you see it enlarged and can grasp the scale of the destruction. I can't recall the grim facts now but the relics & stories were pretty harrowing.

RAF Fauld bomb store was the largest explosion in WW2 apart from the nukes (4,000 tons of bombs), some still claim it's the biggest non-nuclear explosion.

It's a moot point and may indicate ignorance of the Halifax explosion.

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