100th Aniversary of Largest Man Made Explosion. The Halifax Explosion

[Cutlass]

Halifax Explosion at 100: A devastating disaster that left a lasting mark
About 2,000 people were killed and 9,000 injured in the intense blast and resulting wave that hit the shores
By Jon Tattrie, CBC News Posted: Dec 06, 2017 6:00 AM AT

A century ago, Halifax's great harbour sloshed itself against the shores as the city awoke for another day.

By 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 6, 1917, the late fall sun was high enough to erase the night. A brisk day dawned under blue skies.

Officials with the Royal Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and civilian authorities checked their schedules to ensure harbour traffic flowed smoothly to feed the Great War taking place across the ocean. Healthy soldiers arrived from across Canada to join the European theatre. Broken men returned through the same port.

• Complete coverage of the Halifax Explosion at 100

• INTERACTIVE | Experience the Halifax Explosion in 360° video

In the harbour, warships hulked over the three small ferries shuttling people between Dartmouth and Halifax. Fishing boats and pleasure crafts sailed amid the giants. The rules of the harbour were familiar: keep right (starboard), signal your intentions and pay attention to other ships.

That system had worked for three long war years. And while the city of 50,000 dove into another busy morning, some 2,000 would not live to see sunset that night.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-explosion-100-anniversary-main-1.4413663


This was a tragic accident which occurred during WWI. Worth a remembrance.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Here's a picture of Halifax after the explosion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion

 

[Perfection]

Spoiler sweary :

 

[EgonSpengler]

According to local legend, the explosion was heard in Boston, 400 miles away. The Washington Post says it was the largest man-made explosion until the atomic bomb. There's a memorial made from an 1,100-lb piece of the Mont Blanc's anchor that flew 2.5 miles.

 

[Zkribbler]

According to Richard Clarke, former US cyber warfare czar, the largest human-caused, non-nuclear blast occurred as follows.
The US embedded a trojan horse into its own software for controlling gas pipelines.
The Russians stole the software and installed it in their own natural gas pipelines.
US operatives accessed the trojan horse, turned the pumps at one end on fulled, and closed the valves at the other end.
The pipes ruptured and the gas exploded.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Maybe this isn't the thread for **** measuring contests?

This was an epic tragedy.

I heard about a train switch operator that turned away trains headed toward the port and put out the alarm to recall trains that were already on their way. He died at his post in the explosion, sending warnings until the very end.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Maybe this isn't the thread for **** measuring contests?

This was an epic tragedy.

Agreed. How about knocking off the mockery and puns and tacky videos, okay? That's just rude.

I heard about a train switch operator that turned away trains headed toward the port and put out the alarm to recall trains that were already on their way. He died at his post in the explosion, sending warnings until the very end.

He was the subject of one of our Heritage Minutes, a series of short educational films:

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I remember that Heritage Minute used to scare me terribly when I was younger.

 

[red_elk]

According to Richard Clarke, former US cyber warfare czar, the largest human-caused, non-nuclear blast occurred as follows.
The US embedded a trojan horse into its own software for controlling gas pipelines.
The Russians stole the software and installed it in their own natural gas pipelines.
US operatives accessed the trojan horse, turned the pumps at one end on fulled, and closed the valves at the other end.
The pipes ruptured and the gas exploded.

It's an urban legend. In 1982 gas pumping stations in USSR didn't use SCADA or digital control systems yet.
The described attack could be technically possible only after end of 90-s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At_the_Abyss

 

[FriendlyFire]

O__o Ivan is crazy !
It was Russians not following safety procedure and then it exploded by two passenger trains passing by at the same moment.

The explosion occurred near the town of Ufa in what was then the Soviet Union and was the result of poor judgment by pipeline workers. They were aware that the pressure in the pipeline dropped significantly on June 3—a sign of a possible leak. However, instead of following standard procedure and checking for leaks, they instead pumped more and more natural gas through the line to keep the pressure up. The gas continued to leak and spread through the nearby area, mostly settling in a low area near the rail tracks about a mile from the pipeline.

As this was happening, two trains were approaching on the Trans-Siberian Railway, passing each other near the gas leak. Suddenly, the natural gas ignited, causing a massive fireball to erupt and flames to spread over an area a mile in length. The force of the explosion knocked several train cars right off the tracks. Hundreds of trees in the surrounding forest were instantly incinerated by the extreme temperatures.

The explosion and derailment caused tremendous casualties on the trains. Just over 500 people lost their lives (a precise count could not be made) and many others suffered horrible burns. Helicopters were flown in to evacuate the burn victims quickly to area hospitals.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/natural-gas-explosion-kills-500-in-russia

 

[Timsup2nothin]

O__o Ivan is crazy !
It was Russians not following safety procedure and then it exploded

The remarkable thing there, to me, is how much the events mirror a refinery explosion in California during the same era. They were filling a tank with crude and failed to vent it properly until pressure built up. Pressurization means heat, and the heat caused naphtha to boil out of the crude increasing the pressure even faster. So when they got it venting to hold the pressure down they were venting not just air, but naphtha, and since they kept filling the tank they were replacing the naphtha as fast as they vented it off. The naphtha collected in a low pocket and was ignited either by a passing train or the guy in a car that was waiting at the railroad crossing. The fireball only destroyed the train, the car, and the refinery, and wasn't big enough to be famous internationally, but it was a big deal in Bakersfield.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Stupidity knows no borders...

 

[FriendlyFire]

Stupidity knows no borders...

If it was the explosion in the same year then it wasnt covered extensively because only 1 person was killed the poor guy in the car
Of course it could have been much worse

 

[Timsup2nothin]

If it was the explosion in the same year then it wasnt covered extensively because only 1 person was killed the poor guy in the car
Of course it could have been much worse

I wasn't there at the time, but seeing the ruined refinery a couple years later it seems almost miraculous if it didn't get at least a few of the workers as well.

 

[red_elk]

Gas explosion near Ufa in 1989 was a real tragic accident, caused by workers mismanagement.
The "CIA trojan horse" was a separate event, allegedly happened in 1982.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

@red_elk

FWIW I had immediately blown off the whole CIA conspiracy theory part of the discussion.

I saw something recently...somewhere...fiction nonsense on TV probably...anyway...

The concept illustrated in the story was that people have a natural tendency to want things to have happened "for a great reason." Explanations like "an employee that just wasn't thinking didn't open a valve far enough" are just not satisfying, so we look for (and if necessary, construct) more. The company training program is inadequate...maybe intentionally as a corner cutting cost saver. The guy was drunk, probably because he was having problems at home. Enemy agents rigged the valve. Whatever. Anything to insulate us from the grim reality that if stuff just happens, it might happen to me.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Gas explosion near Ufa in 1989 was a real tragic accident, caused by workers mismanagement.
The "CIA trojan horse" was a separate event, allegedly happened in 1982.

Oh seems that Siberia explosion 1982 soviets reported no casualties but it was measured at 3 megatons and spotted by Saterlites from space
I think it reasonable it was worker construction problems rather then Soviet stealing sabortaged tech.given the state of Russia by that time

 

[red_elk]

Oh seems that Siberia explosion 1982 soviets reported no casualties but it was measured at 3 megatons and spotted by Saterlites from space

Nope, the only huge explosion was in 1989 near Ufa, which caused ~500 casualties.
In 1982 there were no major accidents. The story about "CIA sabotage" and "3 megaton explosion" is a fake.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

None of the atomic/nuclear tests or actual usages were bigger than this?

 

[red_elk]

That was the largest non-nuclear explosion, of course. Only 3 kilotons of TNT, comparing to 50 megatons of the largest hydrogen bomb test.