MY FIRST POST

[NARSES2]

Whoops. Still it's probably 5 hours away by plane, which is probably how long it takes to get to Halifax (W Yorks) by rail over here at the moment what with all these rail "improvements" going on !

Wasn't Halifax NS where the ammo ship blew up in 1917 ? Largest man made explosion until a similar incident in California in 1943 ish.

Chris

[Gary]

Whoops. Still it's probably 5 hours away by plane, which is probably how long it takes to get to Halifax (W Yorks) by rail over here at the moment what with all these rail "improvements" going on !

Wasn't Halifax NS where the ammo ship blew up in 1917 ? Largest man made explosion until a similar incident in California in 1943 ish.

Chris

Yeah, we got blowed up reeeeel good.

A French munitions ship from NY banged into another ship and the boom flattened the waterfront and about 2 miles, in radius, of the city. If not for the hill in the center of the city the blast would have been worse.

The harbour was blown dry. I don't know about the Calif. boom, but Halifax held the record for the largest Non-nuke blast up until about a decade ago when the US was doing some testing and set off a huge blast to simulate a nuke.

It's a big deal here. It seems that every 20 or thirty years or so we go through something like this. The Ammo dump overlooking the Bedford basin has blown up twice. Hmmm, maybe I should think about moving again.

[Skorpio]

The Germans blew up the Clan Frazer at Pireus in 1941 when Hajo Herman's Ju 88 driopped a load onto it - the ship had over 250,000 tones of high explosive on board.  I think that was a pretty big bang.

The largest film use of explosives was during the Airwolf episode To Snare a Wolf, where Hawke has to fly through a simulated B52 raid.  That was in 1984, so it may have been broken.

[Gary]

That would have been a big'un
however

"Around eight that morning, the Belgian relief ship Imo left its mooring in Bedford Basin and headed for open sea. At about the same time, the French ship Mont Blanc was heading up the harbour to moor, awaiting a convoy to accompany her across the Atlantic. A convoy was essential; this small, barely seaworthy vessel was carrying a full cargo of explosives. Stored in the holds, or simply stacked on deck, were 35 tons of benzol, 300 rounds of ammunition, 10 tons of gun cotton, 2,300 tons of picric acid (used in explosives), and 400,000 pounds of TNT."

The whole story is available online. A basic search on Google. I'm actually from Newfoundland, however, around these parts the true Bluenosers tend to get quite emotional about the explosion. A bunch of years back when I was a much younger man I was helping a friend put a roof on his grandfather's brownstone in the city. We discovered a bunch of shattered timbers in the roof. We were going to replace them but the old guy got really upset and started crying and being quite steadfast that we keep things as they were. The timbers had been smashed to pieces when sections of the dock that had been blown to bits came down and some very large chunks came through the house. The old guy bought the house knowing the roof was not really structurally sound, but his memories prevented him from ever having it fixed properly.

[nev]

This is triggering something in that dusty ole brain of mine about an explosion at an oil refinery in texas, post-war IIRC.  That was meant to be a big ole bang.

And locally there was the explosion @ Flixborough in the 70s.  Something went badly wrong at a chemical plant.  The bang could be heard for 50 miles.  Killed a lot of people     People who were alive at the time still talk about it in hushed tones.  It was a real watershed for safety in the chemical industry in the UK.

[Radish]

Looking good.
"Tidy" is fine.
I start tidy but often disintigrate.
Real things are good for discipline too.
Lots of nice things waiting to be built as well. Very impressive.
 

[elmayerle]

This is triggering something in that dusty ole brain of mine about an explosion at an oil refinery in texas, post-war IIRC.  That was meant to be a big ole bang.

And locally there was the explosion @ Flixborough in the 70s.  Something went badly wrong at a chemical plant.  The bang could be heard for 50 miles.  Killed a lot of people     People who were alive at the time still talk about it in hushed tones.  It was a real watershed for safety in the chemical industry in the UK.

I know the explosion was at some docks in, if I recall correctly, Baytown, TX.  A whole shipload, at least, of ammonium nitrate went up.  I believe it was in 1947.

Edit:  I mis-recalled, it was Texas City, TX.

[Nick]

But the largest conventional explosion during both World Wars happened in Fauld, Staffordshire, near Burton-on-Trent. On 27th November 1944 an accident happened at an underground bomb store where 3500 tons of high explosives detonated destroying local hills and buildings, leaving a crater 300 feet deep. The site has never been fully cleared of UXBs and is still under MoD control.
Fauld Explosion

This was not the only UK bomb depot to have problems, the Llanberis depot collapsed in 1941 burying 20% of the RAF's ammo supply. Secret Underground Cities - scroll down and click on the Llanberis button.

Nick B)  

[Mairfrog]

Hmm, Fauld Crater.

It's still a bloody big hole in the ground. There's the occasional huge rock in the surrounding fields too. A very sobering place to visit, especially when you see the memorials to those who perished, including an entire farm that simply disappeared.

[F-32]

That picture of the crater is mad.  The destruction must have been unbelievable.

[Aircav]

I remember talking to a guy a few years back and he was telling that just after the war he was working at Heathrow doing building work. One day they where lifting manhole covers looking for something and came across a underground arms store, full of Sten guns, Lee Enfield rifles, ammo and grenades so all they did was put the cover back down and carry on and as far as he knows they are still there.
Make you think just how much stuff is still underground.

[Ollie]

The Germans blew up the Clan Frazer at Pireus in 1941 when Hajo Herman's Ju 88 driopped a load onto it - the ship had over 250,000 tones of high explosive on board. I think that was a pretty big bang.

250 000 tons??? Aren't you carrying it a bit Wooksta??  That's a bit much for a WW2 ship!!!

Almost as big as a super tanker and heavier than two Nimitz class carriers!!

 

[Ollie]

Found this on Google :

Clan Fraser (3) 1939 1941 bombed at Piraeus while unloading ammunition and exploded. 7,529

So it was a 7 529 tons ship, normal for the time.

250 000, eh?    

[Gary]

I had never heard of the English Ammo dumps. I reread some of the stuff on a bunch of different sites and they keep referring to the Halifax Explosion as the largest manmade explosion untill the New Mexico nuke tests before the end of WW2. Clearly some folks need to do a bit more research. I have a friend who is a curator at a museum here and I'll pass on the web site. The last friggen thing we need is a museum with inaccurate information.  

Next their will be some museum claiming the furst super cruise fighter is the F-22
(Sorry, had to put that dig in for those like me who love the BAC Lightning)

[Ollie]

Mind you, I flew a MiG-29 in LOMAC the other day and I was supercruising around at 15 000' at 1150 km/h.  10 000 RPM on the RD-33.  It was sweeeeeeet!!!