A New Home for Halifax Blast Fragments
About a year and a half after large, rusting pieces of the Mont-Blanc were discovered during a dredging operation in Halifax Harbour, the fate of some of the historic pieces has now been determined. One of the largest pieces, about the size of a car and weighing 1,500 pounds, is set to be restored and put on display at the Halifax Maritime Museum.

During the Irving Shipbuilding Company’s expansion, more than 100 pieces of the Mont-Blanc were found among 100,000 tons of mud and debris dredged from the seabed. The pieces were from the area of ​​Pier 6 in 1917, where the Mont-Blanc was driven overboard and exploded after colliding with the Norwegian ship Imo.

Cultural and historical significance of the pieces
Marilyn Davidson Elliott, a North Halifax resident whose father was blinded by the blast at the age of two and a half, says the pieces are an important part of the city’s history and identity—even if they are reminders of a bitter day. For her lectures, she received an 82-centimeter piece of steel and two rivets from Mont-Blanc; the ripples in the pieces reflect the unprecedented intensity of the blast—the largest man-made explosion before the atomic age.

Museum display and educational use
The Halifax Maritime Museum, which was home to a relief hospital at the time of the disaster, will install the largest piece ever discovered outdoors. The museum’s director says the massive piece will help visitors better understand the destructive power of the 1917 blast and Halifax’s vital role in supporting World War I.

Research Plans and the Fate of the Remaining Pieces
The province of Nova Scotia has announced that 3D scanning of the pieces will be done by the NSCC and the Nova Scotia Museum. While museums and institutions have been contacted for educational or display use, the sheer volume of the pieces could mean that a large portion of them will be returned to the depths of the harbour—something Elliott hopes will be done with a respectful ceremony.

He also hopes that one of the key pieces will be installed at the Halifax Explosion Memorial Tower in Fort Needham Park, where it will symbolically keep the memory of the victims alive. But the city has yet to provide a clear answer on the matter.

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