SS Mont-Blanc

The SS Mont-Blanc was a freighter built in Middlesbrough, England in 1899 and purchased by the French company, Société Générale de Transport Maritime (SGTM). On Thursday morning, 6 December 1917, she entered Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada laden with a full cargo of highly volatile explosives. As she made her way through the Narrows towards Bedford Basin, she was involved in a collision with the Norwegian ship, . A fire aboard the French ship ignited her cargo of wet and dry picric acid, TNT, and guncotton. The resultant Halifax Explosion levelled the Richmond District and killed approximately 2,000 people.