The Halifax Explosion and the Royal Canadian Navy: Inquiry and Intrigue

Jason Hawrelluk is an undergraduate history student at Laurentian
University who has a keen interest in the Royal Canadian Navy.

Armstrong’s detailed account of the Halifax explosion revisits one of
the darkest chapters in the history of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). On
December 6, 1917, the Imo and the Mont Blanc collided in Halifax
Harbour. The horrific explosion that resulted left over 1600 people dead
and another 9000 injured. Armstrong provides a gripping description of
the heroism that members of the RCN, together with their counterparts in
the Royal and United States navies, displayed in responding to the
largest manmade explosion that the world had ever seen.

The reader is allowed only to glimpse the impact that the explosion had
on the civilians of Halifax before being drawn into the more sinister
arena of pragmatic politics. Armstrong does an excellent job of bringing
to life the flamboyant, often arrogant individuals who played key roles
during the biggest public-relations crisis in RCN history. He guides us
through the network of seemingly all-powerful politicians and officers
who were connected to, and damaged by, the catastrophe. His intriguing
book brings to light evidence that suggests all was not as it appeared
to be on that terrible day and on the days that followed.