Every seaport has a tale to tell. The fateful morning of December 6, 1917, changed history forever. The Halifax Explosion is the largest man-made explosion except for the atomic bomb. Halifax, Nova Scotia, was a bustling wartime port city during the First World War. Thousands of Canadian, American, and British Empire troops passed through Halifax Harbour. They boarded ships bound for war or were returning home from the war.
A war raged overseas. The Mont-Blanc was a French munitions ship that was leaving Halifax harbour to set sail overseas and assist with the war effort, but it never made its voyage. The Imo, which hailed from Norway, was leaving New York to get supplies for the Belgians and was leaving Halifax Harbour.
At 7:30 am, the French freighter Mont-Blanc and the Norwegian ship Imo both weighed anchor from the Bedford Basin, heading for the Narrows and points beyond. The Mont Blanc was heavily loaded with a volatile mix of wet and dry picric acid, TNT, gun cotton, and benzol, bound for the European arena. The officers and pilots of both ships signalled to each other and tried to avoid each other. At approximately 8:40 am, they collided as the Imo struck the bow of the Mont Blanc.
The Boston Daily Globe (newspaper of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., 1917), Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsFire On The Imo in Halifax Harbour
Fire broke out immediately on the Imo. The captain and crew wasted no time escaping on lifeboats. They rowed to the Dartmouth side of the harbour. The Mont-Blanc burned for twenty minutes and came to rest by Pier 6 of Halifax’s north end. Curious onlookers, unaware of the deadly danger they were in, stopped to observe. The ship disintegrated and exploded into fragments, decimating the population and properties. Over two thousand people died, over four thousand were injured, and sixteen hundred and thirty buildings were reduced to rubble, and twelve thousand were damaged. The explosion was powerful enough to be felt in Cape Breton, two hundred forty miles away. People of all ages were killed, blinded by falling glass, wounded, and lay shivering from the cold on the snowy ground.
See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsThe devastating explosion caused a tsunami. A cannon aboard the Mont Blanc, weighing about twelve hundred pounds, was hurled in the air, landing two kilometres away in Dartmouth. The anchor shank of the Mont-Blanc was later found three kilometres away in Armdale. The shockwave of the explosion was so powerful that it was felt in Truro, seventy-seven kilometres away. These are a few examples of the devastation caused by the blast.
Ever since the Halifax Explosion, the silhouette of a man’s head in a window of St. Paul’s church, the oldest Protestant church in Canada, has been seen. The window has been changed many times to banish the shadowy image, but it is a grim reminder of the horrors of the explosion. No one knows precisely how the man died, but the silhouette is there to this day. It is believed that Halifax is still recovering from the explosion.
The Five Fishermen Restaurant
A 194-year-old structure, the oldest building in Halifax, located at 1740 Argyle Street, overlooks Halifax Harbour. It presently houses the Five Fishermen restaurant, known for its fine dining and macabre reputation. The building’s history would chill your blood.
The building began its life as a schoolhouse for children before it was converted into a mortuary. In 1883, the Snow family turned it into the John Snow and Co. funeral home. Shortly after that, the mortuary would play a part in two of the world's most devastating disasters: the Titanic and the Halifax Explosion. The stories of the restless ghosts that haunt the Five Fishermen restaurant are tragic and heartbreaking.
The Snow Funeral Home eventually became the Five Fishermen restaurant in 1975. The restaurant has a wonderful ambiance and an old-world feel to it. The employees of the restaurant do have an eerie tale or two to tell of the otherworldly sort. Given its history, it should come as no surprise that it is haunted. The staff now take it for granted that at times, cutlery goes flying or doors open and close on their own. They see apparitions of ghosts dressed in clothing from another time that scare the employees. The employees have reported feeling cold spots or an eerie sensation on the back of their necks. They want to maintain their restaurant’s reputation as a ghostly haunt. It’s good for business.
True Stories
The following are true stories of the employees’ experiences with the mischievous ghosts at the Five Fishermen restaurant.
The restaurant has two floors. The private dining room on the second floor is one of the most haunted rooms in the whole building. Mediums and psychics visit and dine at the restaurant. However, the staff won’t let the mediums cleanse the place. The restaurant has a private dining room, the Captains’ Quarters, where a waiter overheard two people arguing, but the room was empty.
Halifix Harbour Ghosts In The Area
An employee was working alone by the salad bar at the restaurant one night. The employee saw someone enter a room, which is called the Captain’s Quarters. Thinking that she had locked all the doors and so had not supposedly locked the only remaining customer in, she inspected the Captain’s Quarters – but no one was there. The entrance is the only exit.
A ghost knocked down an ashtray when a male employee was setting up the salad bar at 3 pm. He knelt to retrieve the ashtray. As he did, he gazed into a mirror and saw an old man with long, grey hair, wearing a black coat. The ghost walked away, and when the younger man looked back, the reflection disappeared. The male employee shrugged it off. Years later, he would get his answer when another employee confirmed seeing the same ghost.
One night, two employees were locked in a room by a ghost who confined them to a “fear cage”. Another employee tried to free them. The ghost tossed an undisclosed object at their heads to stop the employee from helping them escape. It injured them in the demonic instance.
“We say you can stay late but never alone,” says Fraser, the restaurant manager.
Misty gray shadows seen in windows fade when you approach. Employees hear heavy footsteps at night. One employee claimed a ghost slapped her in the face.
Author’s Experience
I dined at the Five Fishermen restaurant to learn about the ghosts for myself. A waiter gave me a tour of the building on his break. I sensed spectral presences that evening. The energy of the ghosts was strong in the wine room. The ghosts hovered around me, delighted to have a clairsentient person present.
In April 1912, the ship RMS Titanic sank six hundred forty kilometres off the Newfoundland coast. Halifax was the nearest port for the rescue operations. Fifteen hundred people died in total from the tragedy of the Titanic. John Snow boarded the cable repair ship Mackay Bennett along with a hundred coffins, embalming fluid and iron to weigh down bodies buried at sea. One hundred sixteen bodies were buried at sea. Two hundred bodies were taken to the mortuary, some of them the wealthiest victims of the Titanic.
The first-class victims of the Titanic were buried in coffins. The second-class and third-class passengers were buried in canvas bags. The Halifax-based Cable Ships Mackay-Bennett and Minia recovered 317 victims. One hundred fifty victims of the Titanic who died came to Halifax. The White Star line covered the costs of the headstones. Their bodies are buried in three different cemeteries. The Titanic disaster continues to inspire our minds today.
Halifax’s spooky history is a testament to endurance and fortitude in the face of hardship and tragedy. Halifax was rebuilt from the ashes of those tragic disasters. We celebrate our history with monuments commemorating disasters in museums. On a cold night, when the wind blows off the harbour, it brings the ghosts from the disasters to Halifax.