Title The Halifax explosion and the Royal Canadian Navy : inquiry and intrigue / John Griffith Armstrong

Published Vancouver : UBC Press, ©2002

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Description 1 online resource (viii, 248 pages) : illustrations, maps, portraits Series Studies in Canadian military history, 1499-6251 ; 1 Studies in Canadian military history ; 1. 1499-6251 Contents Introduction : through sailors' eyes -- The RCN in Halifax: December 1917 -- Towards the unthinkable -- Halifax tide -- Through the grim day -- Reaction and recovery -- Of sailors, lawyers, goats, and newspapers -- Goats to the slaughter -- Covering the tracks Summary The Halifax Explosion of 1917 is a defining event in the Canadian consciousness, yet it has never been the subject of a sustained analytical history. Astonishingly, until now no one has consulted the large federal government archives that contain first-hand accounts of the disaster and the response of national authorities. Canada's recently established navy was at the epicentre of the crisis. Armstrong reveals the navy's compelling, and little-known, story by carefully retracing the events preceding the disaster and the role of the military in its aftermath. He catches the pulse of disaster response in official Ottawa and provides a compelling analysis of the legal manoeuvres, rhetoric, blunders, public controversy, and crisis management that ensued. His disturbing conclusion is that federal officials knew of potential dangers in the harbour before the explosion, took no corrective action, and kept the information from the public. As a result, a Halifax naval officer was made a scapegoat and the navy received lasting, and mostly undeserved, vilification. This is a provocative read not only for military and naval devotees but for anyone who wants to understand one of the events that shaped Canada in the twentieth century Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-238) and index Notes Print version record Subject Canada. Royal Canadian Navy -- History -- 20th century SUBJECT Canada. Royal Canadian Navy fast Subject Explosions -- Nova Scotia -- Halifax -- History -- 20th century Explosions -- Nova Scotia -- Halifax HISTORY -- Military -- World War I. Explosions Seehafen Schiffskollision Explosion Explosies. Zeemacht. Geschichte 1917. SUBJECT Halifax (N.S.) -- History -- 20th century Subject Halifax (N.S.) -- History -- Explosion, 1917. Nova Scotia -- Halifax Halifax (N.S.) Genre/Form Electronic books History Form Electronic book ISBN 0774850205 9780774850209 077480890X 9780774808903 0774808918 9780774808910 1283129698 9781283129695

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