Grade 10 History – World War 1 Assignment
On 6 December 1917, the French munitions ship Mont-Blanc collided with a Belgian ship in the
Bedford Basin of Halifax Harbour. An explosion occurred and much of Halifax was destroyed.
The explosion was the largest man-made explosion to date (...the WW2 nuclear bomb at
Hiroshima was (...will be...) larger).
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Task
You are a reporter for a newspaper. You are assigned to cover the explosion and provide a
“Who-What-When-Where-Why-How” news report of the event.
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Research the explosion at the CBC web site www.cbc.ca/halifaxexplosion
OPTIONAL - Watch the 2003 CBC documentary:
You may want to keep notes during the showing.
City of Ruins: The Halifax Explosion .
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Research other sites is needed including
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www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_explosion_
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www.halifaxexplosion.org
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www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual
Read the background information sheet
Collect information (Optional – Review a newspaper to determine format)
Write a news report (one-page, 1.5 line spacing) providing more details about the explosion. Your report could include the following information.
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How it occurred.
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What happened after the explosion (e.g., number of deaths)?
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How Halifax and Canada responded (e.g., emergency services)?
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The post-explosion trial (e.g., Who was blamed?)
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Prepare a news report that is one page in length (double spaced). Include in your news report, quotes from various people (e.g., Mayor of Halifax, an eyewitness to the explosion, a survivor, Prime Minister of Canada, firefighter, doctor on the scene). Some
“real quotes” can be found on the CBC site. You can make up people and quotes for
“on-the-scene” people. Your report should Include an eye-popping headline, general information (e.g., time of explosion, initial reports on the cause, suspected number of deaths), quotes from eyewitnesses, etc.
Due – Monday, 23 September
Post-assignment, be prepared to discuss in class the following questions.
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Should there be any restrictions on images or impacts?
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Can reporting a disaster be too difficult for a reader to understand?
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Should reporters go into a disaster area to get a story?
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Should the reader view pictures and receive disaster report information in the midst of the disaster?
A Rubric is attached. Please review the rubric to ensure you News Report is complete and meets your expectations.

Student Name:
Criteria
Knowledge /
Understanding
Level 0
No information provided
Halifax Explosion Rubric
____________________ Overall Achievement Level:
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Student displayed limited knowledge and understanding of the events of the Halifax
Explosion
Student displayed some knowledge and understanding of the events of the Halifax Explosion
Student displayed good knowledge and understanding of the events of the Halifax Explosion
Written
Communication
No information provided
Written work was completed with limited clarity and ineffective news reporting style
Written work was completed with some clarity and some news reporting style
Written work was completed with considerable clarity and good new reporting style
_______
Level 4
Student displayed considerable knowledge and understanding of the events of the Halifax
Explosion
Written work was completed with a high degree of clarity and accurate news reporting style
Task
Completion
No information provided
$ An insufficient number of project sections were completed
$ An insufficient amount of text was provided
$ Overall presentation format (e.g., layout, reporting style) was limited in effectiveness
$ A limited number of project sections were completed
$ An adequate number of project sections were completed
$ All project sections were completed, plus additional ideas were presented
$ Some text was provided, but it did not effectively describe the project
$ Sufficient text was provided and the project was effectively described
$ Overall presentation format was somewhat effective
$ Overall presentation format was effective
$ Text and project description were optimal
$ Overall presentation format was very effective, highly informative and creative
Thinking /
Inquiry
No information provided
Analyses showing events was presented with limited exploration and examined with limited depth of inquiry
Analyses showing events was presented with some exploration and examined with some albeit insufficient depth of inquiry
Analyses showing events was presented with good exploration and examined with an effective depth of inquiry
Analyses showing events was presented with considerable exploration and examined with highly effective depth of inquiry

Grade 10 History
– World War 1
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By 1917, three years of war in Europe had made Halifax a boomtown.
Factories and mills surrounded the harbour. With a population of about
50,000 people, Halifax was the largest city in Atlantic Canada.
 Harbour management…and boat traffic control…was shared by three groups: civilians, the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy. Collisions between ships in the harbour were frequent because no one group was in charge.
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On 6 December 1917, the French munitions ship Mont-Blanc collided with the
Belgian relief ship Imo . The Imo was empty, but the Mont-Blanc was carrying over 226 kilograms of explosives, over 2 million kilogram of acid and over 223 kilograms of benzol fuel. The Imo was heading out to sea while the Mont-
Blanc was heading into harbour.
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The Mont-Blanc flew no flags warning of its cargo; ships laden with explosives would be a prime target for German attack.
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The Imo was traveling too fast within the harbour. The Imo was also traveling on the “wrong side of the road”. The Mont-Blanc signaled the Imo to correct its position, but the Imo stayed in the wrong channel to avoid a tugboat.
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At the last moment, the Mont-Blanc turned left while the Imo reversed its engines.
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The Imo struck the Mont-Blanc opening holes in the areas carrying the benzol fuel and the acid. A fire started almost immediately.
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Mont-Blanc ’s crew abandoned ship. They thought the ship would blow up in minutes and that there was nothing they could do.
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The blazing ship drifted deeper into the harbour and struck Pier 6.
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Two attempts to tug the Mont-Blanc away from the pier proved unsuccessful.
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People began gathering along the shoreline the watch the fire. The Halifax
Fire Department arrived and preparations to fight the blaze began.
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At 9:04:35 Mont-Blanc exploded with a force stronger than any manmade explosion before it.

On 6 December 1917, two ships collided and exploded in Halifax Harbour destroying many parts of the city, killing almost 2,000 people and injuring more than 9,000.
The accident occurred at 8:40 a.m. when the ships Imo and Mont Blanc collided in the middle of the harbour. Imo was heading out of the harbour while Mont Blanc was heading in. The Mont
Blanc was carrying 2,653 tonnes of heavy artillery, ammunition and other explosives.
The Imo was moving too fast and sailing in the wrong side of the harbour. The Imo’s captain was trying to avoid a tugboat. He did not see the fast approaching Mont Blanc. Both ships blew their whistles as a warning, but neither ship moved out of the way until the last second. The Imo crashed into with the Mont Blanc causing a fire. Knowing that they had all the heavy explosions on board, the French crew of the Mont Blanc abandoned ship. When they reached shore, the sailors tried to warn everyone but they could not speak English. Sailors from the ship Stella
Maris tried to put out the fire aboard Mont Blanc but they failed. The burning Mont Blanc floated deep into the harbour, struck Pier 6 and became stuck. Halifax firefighters arrived to fight the fire, and many more people stood around watching the spectacle. Thirty-five minutes later, the ship exploded causing the biggest artificial explosion ever.
The explosion destroyed the adjacent harbour facilities and killed most people in the immediate area. This area was soon engulfed in a fire that spread quickly to other buildings. The aftershock from the blast caused a tidal wave and a pressure wave which demolished more buildings, uprooted trees and tossed other ships. Buildings almost two kilometres away from the crash site were damaged.
Halifax was a booming city due to World War 1. Many soldiers left Canada from Halifax due to its water access. It was also a city for immigrants to come to from Europe.
Imo was in a rush because they were late for a pick up of supplies in New York. The previous night, Imo was set to depart at 7:00 p.m., but the coal supplier was late. The antisubmarine nets were deployed every night at 7:30, so they were stationed there until morning. Shortly after 7:30 the next morning, Imo was ready to depart. At the same time, Mont Blanc was just arriving.
“It was just horrible. There was an explosion loud enough to make people go deaf,” a local resident said. “I live about 15 kilometres from the crash site and all you could see was thick, black smoke.
I’m sure glad I live this far away.”
Over 1,600 people died immediately after the explosion, tidal wave and building collapses. 6,000 people had life-threatening injuries, while 3,000 did not. Over 13,630 houses were completely destroyed and 25,000 more building suffered minor damages. Damage costs are estimated at US
$35 million.
Emergency services are being provided, but supplies are limited. Dr. Smith of Halifax Hospital said, “We need food and hospital equipment. The situation is becoming extremely desperate for some survivors.”
This date, 6 December 1917 will never be forgotten, and those who were lost shall not be forgotten either.

Grade 10 History (Applied), September 2008
One of the worst man-made explosions occurred on December 6, 1917, at 9:06 am in the town of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Two thousand people were killed, 9,000 were injured. About three hundred and twenty-five acres were destroyed. What caused this devastation you may ask?
World War I was ongoing in Europe but Halifax was used as a jump off port for troops, supplies and munitions. A busy port with lots of people. That morning A
Belgian ship, the Imo was leaving the harbor, the French, Mont Blanc was arriving. It was filled with TNT, gun cotton, benzol and other flammable substances. Enough combustibles to blow up a city.
As a result of traffic in the channel the Imo was forced to the wrong side of the channel, misunderstood signals between the two ships resulted in a collision.
The crew of the Mont Blanc knew they were carrying explosives supplies. They immediately lowered their lifeboats and headed in the opposite direction of
Halifax. The damaged ship started to burn from sparks lit during the impact. The ship floated towards Halifax while most of the citizens watched in horror as it came towards them.
When it exploded much of the area was leveled. Then the fire started and burned a great deal of the city. Portions of the ship were found miles from the harbor.
Every year on December 6 at 9am, the Memorial Bells are rung in remembrance.