Mont Blanc Gun

Canada / Nova Scotia / Halifax /
 monument, explosion site, cannon, interesting place
 Upload a photo
The forward 90 mm gun from the SS Mont-Blanc, the ship that collided with the SS Imo and subsequently blew up in the 1917 Halifax Explosion, landed here. It had been blown 3.5 miles (5.6 km) away from the point of detonation.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   44°41'0"N   63°34'47"W

Comments

  • I don't think, this coordinate is correct. The explosion took place at Pier 6 on the Halifax waterfront near the foot of Richmond street. The coordinates should be about 44° 40' 09''N 63° 35' 50''W. The distance to the given coordinates for the barrel is only 2.1 km and not 5.6 km. So the barrel must have landed more East.
  • I don't think the exact location is known. All the accounts just say "One of the ship’s gun barrels was found 3.5 miles away at Albro Lake in Dartmouth". The top end of Albro lake is only 1.9 miles from the point of the explosion.
  • I think the gun was moved to this location in 1992 as an article on CBC News dated 6th November 2000 stated:- The Mont Blanc cannon was blown from the stern of the ship three kilometres across the harbour and landed near a lake in the north end of Dartmouth. Eight years ago it was placed on a street corner and Wednesday morning a stone marker explaining the significance of the cannon was unveiled. An annual ceremony of remembrance at the Mont Blanc marker will now be held on the explosion anniversary to remember Dartmouth's experiences.
This article was last modified 10 years ago