Heroes of the Halifax Explosion

The Royal Canadian Navy’s role in Canada’s worst unnatural disaster

The explosion

The citation for the Albert Medal for Acting Boatswain Albert Charles Mattison and Stoker Petty Officer Ernest Edmund Beard:

From the London Gazette – 18 February 1919

The King (is) pleased to approve the posthumous award of the Albert Medal for gallantry in saving life at sea to:

Mr. Albert Charles Mattison, late Acting Boatswain, Royal Canadian Navy, and Stoker Petty Officer Edward S. (sic) Beard, late Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve.

The following is the account of the services in respect of which these decorations have been conferred:

On the 6th December, 1917, the French Steamer “Mont Blanc” with a cargo of high explosives, and the Norwegian Steamer “Imo” were in collision in Halifax Harbour. Fire broke out on the “Mont Blanc” immediately after the collision, and the flames very quickly rose to a height of over 100 feet. The crew abandoned their ship and pulled towards the shore. The commanding officer of H.M.C.S. “Niobe”, which was lying in the harbour, on perceiving what had happened, sent away a steamboat to see what could be done. Mr. Mattison and six men of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve volunteered to form the crew of this boat, but just as the boat got alongside the “Mont Blanc” the ship blew up, and Mr. Mattison and the whole boat’s crew lost their lives. The boat’s crew were fully aware of the desperate nature of the work they were engaged on, and by their gallantry and devotion to duty they sacrificed their lives in the endeavour to save the lives of others.

The story is well known, and still terrifying to this day. On December 6, 1917, SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship loaded with high explosives, collides with the Norwegian ship SS Imo in the Narrows, between Halifax Harbour and Bedford Basin. Mont-Blanc catches fire and her deadly cargo ignites, causing an immense explosion that flattens nearly every structure within an 800-metre radius. Some 2000 people are killed and another 9000 injured in the largest human-caused explosion at the time, to be eclipsed only by the atomic bomb detonations of the 1940s.

The RCN was there

The Royal Canadian Navy was just seven years old at the time of the Halifax Explosion, still a relatively small force used mainly for coastal defence, but the history of the RCN and the Halifax Explosion are forever linked. One story can’t be told without the other: there were acts of bravery by our sailors, and the explosion’s death toll reached many navy households.

HMCS Niobe and its role

HMCS Niobe was the very first warship of Canada’s fledgling navy to arrive on our shores, the reason that Niobe Day is celebrated every year on October 21 to mark the ship’s arrival in Halifax Harbour on that day in 1910.

During the early months of the First World War, Niobe, a Diadem-class protected cruiser, patrolled the St. Lawrence approaches and the east coast of America, chasing and intercepting German ships. In July 1915 it returned to Halifax and served as a docked depot ship, hosting enlisted sailors, trainees and the Canadian naval headquarters. This is what Niobe was doing on the morning of December 6, 1917.

When he spotted the fire on Mont Blanc, Niobe’s Acting Boatswain Albert Charles Mattison volunteered to jump into the ship’s pinnace (a small steamboat), leading a team of six other volunteers. They first attempted to tow the burning ship, which had been abandoned by its crew, away from populated areas. When that effort failed, they tried to fight the fire. Despite their best efforts, Mont Blanc exploded and the seven men were killed instantly.

Decorated for heroism

For their heroism, Acting Boatswain Mattison and Stoker Petty Officer Ernest Edmund Beard were posthumously awarded the Albert Medal for Gallantry in Lifesaving at Sea. They were named and recognized in Parliament, along with the other five men:

Leading Seaman Charles McMillan
Ordinary Seaman Freeman Burnley Nickerson
Able Seaman Albert Saunders
Wireless Telegraph Operator George Veals
Stoker George Roley Yates

Many Navy families devastated

In addition to the seven who perished trying to prevent the disaster, 14 other Canadian navy personnel died as a result of the explosion. And just as the loss of life was felt throughout the city, more than 30 family members of Canadian Navy sailors were killed.

Postscript: the Niobe anchor is found

HMCS Niobe was damaged by the explosion but the ship survived. It was repaired, and continued as a depot ship until being sold off as surplus in 1920 and later scrapped.

Fast-forward to October 17, 2014, when a 900-kilogram anchor believed to be from Niobe was discovered in Halifax Harbour during the renovation of a jetty warehouse. The anchor and chain were buried beneath a demolition site. Fittingly, the anchor was found right before the official proclamation of October 21 as Niobe Day.

“The discovery of one of HMCS Niobe’s anchor in Halifax Harbour just a week before proclaiming October 21 to be known and celebrated in the RCN as Niobe Day is astonishing,” said Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, Commander of the RCN at the time. “This is a true blessing and a rare opportunity to connect the dots between our forefathers and the next generations of sailors of the RCN.”

The anchor has been restored and refurbished and will soon be on permanent display in the new Naval Seamanship Training Facility at CFB Halifax. The display will also feature two large panels: a life-size photo of the first Niobe crew and a photo of the ship in Halifax Harbour circa 1910. The Seamanship building is the ideal location for the anchor display because it will allow the newest members of the RCN to make a personal connection to the rich history of their navy while training at the facility.