The Halifax Explosion

Halifax, Nova Scotia

In order to understand the full impact of the Halifax Explosion, it is important to have some background information about the city and its harbor. Halifax owes much of its existence to its natural harbor, which is one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbors in the world. Before Canada became a confederation, Halifax was one of the most important commercial ports on the Atlantic seaboard.

Travelling northwest through the harbor's narrows leads to the Bedford Basin, which played a significant role during both World War I and World War II. German submarines were used to disrupt Allied shipping during these wars, and the basin's strategic location near Europe made it an assembly point for Atlantic convoys bound for Europe. Because of the size of the Port of Halifax and its proximity to Europe, the basin was a vital staging area for hundreds of merchant ships assembling in relative security.

To protect these convoys, defences were built just outside of the only access point into the basin, a strait called The Narrows. Torpedo nets were also put in place to keep German submarines at bay, providing the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy a safe place to assemble their convoys in relative security. The Royal Navy was based just outside the entrance of the basin from 1759 to 1905, further emphasizing the importance of Halifax Harbor to the British Empire's naval strategy. To this day CFB Halifax is situation on the southern end of the narrows and continues to be play an important role for the Canadian Navy.