> Bullshit, the Halifax explosion of 1917 AFAIK remains the largest non-nuclear explosion ever;
>Although the ships drew apart without much damage, the Mont Blanc was carrying a devil's brew. In its hold there was 2,335 tons of picric acid, 203 >tons of TNT (ie. 400K pounds) and 10 tons of gun cotton.
>Quinault Victory. The holds
>were packed with high explosive and incendiary bombs, depth charges,
>and ammunition - 4,606 tons of ammunition in all. There were sixteen
>rail cars on the pier with another 429 tons. Working in the area were
>320 cargo handlers, crewmen and sailors.
I may stand corrected, as would a lot of historians around the Great White North, but I think it's worth noting that the Port Chicago cargo was not all TNT, what proportion was and how you would convert all the rest into TNT force is beyond me. I'm just happy I wasn't around either one when it went off!
I think my point stands though, the Beirut suicide bombing, although devastating, was not the biggest things non-nuke thing to go kaboom. Claiming that it was is sheer judicial parochialism.
PC
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