ignore the dangers. The
Mont Blanc
âs lifeboats continued toward Dartmouth. The
Stella Maris
continued toward the
Mont Blanc
.
Crowds of spectators all along the shoreline started to gather and watch.
A shopkeeper whose Richmond premises faced the harbour saw the burning ship crash into the nearby Pier 6. As flames spread to the wooden pilings he raised the alarm, and within minutes dozens of firemen arrived at the dockside and began to unroll their fire hoses. Meanwhile, crowds of spectators all along the shoreline started to gather and watch. Husbands were on their way to work, wives on their way to the shops, children on their way to school. In houses and on balconies overlooking the harbour more people stopped what they were doing to view the excitement.
The crew of the
Stella Maris
began spraying the
Mont Blanc
with their fire hose. Other boats also came to help.Left unchallenged this long (almost 20 minutes), the fire had consumed the top deck of the
Mont Blanc
and now raged furiously, flames leaping into the air through the thick black smoke. The heat was so intense that none of those fighting the flames, both from the
Stella Maris
and from the shore, could look directly at the inferno.
What Captain Brennan did next suggests that he and his crew had indeed understood the warnings the
Mont Blanc
âs crew shouted from their lifeboats, and had then decided to try and fight the fire regardless. When their attempts at dousing the flames proved ineffective, Brennan ordered his men to stop and prepare the hawsers instead. The
Stella Maris
was not designed to fight ship fires; she was designed to tow other, bigger vessels in and â more importantly now â out of harbour. That is what they would try to do, if there was still time.
To a limited degree, word had also spread on shore about the nature of the
Mont Blanc
âs cargo. Naval officers who knew the ship sent sailors ashore to warn as many people as they could about the risk of an explosion. One ran into Richmond Station, based at the freight yards less than 750ft (229m) from Pier 6, and told everyone about the munitions ship burning out of control in the harbour. When the sailor ran out again, everyone in the station followed.
But then one stopped. Vincent Coleman, a 45-year-old dispatcher who lived only five streets away with his wife and two-year-old daughter, remembered that a passenger train from St John, New Brunswick, was due any minute. It would stop at North Street Station, which was even closer to Pier 6 than Richmond Station. Coleman turnedround and hurried back to his telegraph machine. As quickly as he could he tapped out a message in Morse Code, warning of the
Mont Blanc
and demanding the St John train stop immediately. He then signalled a farewell to the other telegraphers. Whether he expected to lose his life, or whether he simply expected his workplace â let alone his job â to be obliterated, will never be known.
By not running, Vincent Coleman saved over 300 lives. Some 4 miles (6.4km) from downtown Halifax the St John train came to a halt, and behind it all the other incoming trains also stopped. Before the disaster even occurred, word was spreading across Canada that something terrible might be about to happen in Halifax. When all contact with the city suddenly ceased, the telegraph cables having been severed, it didnât take long for the outside world to work out why.
The crew of the
Stella Maris
were still trying to attach the hawsers to the burning ship. The firemen on shore were still trying to douse the flames. The crowds were still continuing to gather all around the harbour. Meanwhile Aime Le Medec, Francis Mackey and the rest of the
Mont Blanc
âs crew had reached the Dartmouth shore. They ran up into the woods and took shelter. All but one of them survived.
The fireball rose over 6,000ft (1,800m) into the air. A dense mushroom cloud of white smoke towered up to 20,000ft (6,000m).
At 9.04am, less
Mont Blanc
âs lifeboats continued toward Dartmouth. The
Stella Maris
continued toward the
Mont Blanc
.
Crowds of spectators all along the shoreline started to gather and watch.
A shopkeeper whose Richmond premises faced the harbour saw the burning ship crash into the nearby Pier 6. As flames spread to the wooden pilings he raised the alarm, and within minutes dozens of firemen arrived at the dockside and began to unroll their fire hoses. Meanwhile, crowds of spectators all along the shoreline started to gather and watch. Husbands were on their way to work, wives on their way to the shops, children on their way to school. In houses and on balconies overlooking the harbour more people stopped what they were doing to view the excitement.
The crew of the
Stella Maris
began spraying the
Mont Blanc
with their fire hose. Other boats also came to help.Left unchallenged this long (almost 20 minutes), the fire had consumed the top deck of the
Mont Blanc
and now raged furiously, flames leaping into the air through the thick black smoke. The heat was so intense that none of those fighting the flames, both from the
Stella Maris
and from the shore, could look directly at the inferno.
What Captain Brennan did next suggests that he and his crew had indeed understood the warnings the
Mont Blanc
âs crew shouted from their lifeboats, and had then decided to try and fight the fire regardless. When their attempts at dousing the flames proved ineffective, Brennan ordered his men to stop and prepare the hawsers instead. The
Stella Maris
was not designed to fight ship fires; she was designed to tow other, bigger vessels in and â more importantly now â out of harbour. That is what they would try to do, if there was still time.
To a limited degree, word had also spread on shore about the nature of the
Mont Blanc
âs cargo. Naval officers who knew the ship sent sailors ashore to warn as many people as they could about the risk of an explosion. One ran into Richmond Station, based at the freight yards less than 750ft (229m) from Pier 6, and told everyone about the munitions ship burning out of control in the harbour. When the sailor ran out again, everyone in the station followed.
But then one stopped. Vincent Coleman, a 45-year-old dispatcher who lived only five streets away with his wife and two-year-old daughter, remembered that a passenger train from St John, New Brunswick, was due any minute. It would stop at North Street Station, which was even closer to Pier 6 than Richmond Station. Coleman turnedround and hurried back to his telegraph machine. As quickly as he could he tapped out a message in Morse Code, warning of the
Mont Blanc
and demanding the St John train stop immediately. He then signalled a farewell to the other telegraphers. Whether he expected to lose his life, or whether he simply expected his workplace â let alone his job â to be obliterated, will never be known.
By not running, Vincent Coleman saved over 300 lives. Some 4 miles (6.4km) from downtown Halifax the St John train came to a halt, and behind it all the other incoming trains also stopped. Before the disaster even occurred, word was spreading across Canada that something terrible might be about to happen in Halifax. When all contact with the city suddenly ceased, the telegraph cables having been severed, it didnât take long for the outside world to work out why.
The crew of the
Stella Maris
were still trying to attach the hawsers to the burning ship. The firemen on shore were still trying to douse the flames. The crowds were still continuing to gather all around the harbour. Meanwhile Aime Le Medec, Francis Mackey and the rest of the
Mont Blanc
âs crew had reached the Dartmouth shore. They ran up into the woods and took shelter. All but one of them survived.
The fireball rose over 6,000ft (1,800m) into the air. A dense mushroom cloud of white smoke towered up to 20,000ft (6,000m).
At 9.04am, less
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