On this morning, Norwegian ship ''Imo'', on its way to New York to pick up relief supplies for war-torn [[Belgium]], and going faster than it should've, as well as passing to the left of oncoming ships, rather than the customary right, met the French ''Mont-Blanc'', which was carrying explosives for the [[First World War]]. After a series of miscommunications between the two ships, the ''Imo'' struck the ''Mont-Blanc'' on the starboard bow. This generated sparks, lighting benzol on the ''Mont-Blanc'''s deck, which seeped into the holds, causing a fire that raged for 20 minutes. Citizens stared out their windows at the black smoke rising into the air, and firefighters tried to put the fire out.
Vincent Coleman, an engineerrail dispatcher, was one of the few who realized an explosion was imminent after being warned by a Navy officer.He stayed at his post, managing incoming and outgoing rail traffic, and contacting officials, warning them to stop any trains coming in. Among them was the 8:55 A.M. train from Saint John, [[New Brunswick]], which carried hundreds of passengers. Coleman's message to the train, minutes before his death, was: "Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Goodbye boys." The explosion caused both fires and a tsunami, levelling 2.5 square kilometres of northern Halifax. The blast shattered windows 100 km away in Truro, and could be heard as far as [[Prince Edward Island]]. Of the 50 000 population, nearly 2000 died and 9000 were injured. Property damage was estimated to be $35 million.<ref>"Halifax Explosion," The Canadian Encyclopedia, http://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/halifax-explosion/</ref>