Silvertown explosion

The Silvertown explosion occurred in Silvertown in West Ham, Essex on Friday, 19 January 1917 at 6.52 pm. The blast occurred at a munitions factory that was manufacturing explosives for Britain's First World War military effort. Approximately 50 long tons of trinitrotoluene exploded, killing 73 people and injuring 400 more, as well as causing substantial damage in the local area. This was not the first, last, largest, or the most deadly explosion at a munitions facility in Britain during the war: an explosion at Faversham involving 200 long tons of TNT killed 105 in 1916, and the National Shell Filling Factory, Chilwell, exploded in 1918, killing 137.

The factory was built in 1893 on the south side of North Woolwich Road by Brunner Mond, a forerunner of Imperial Chemical Industries, to produce soda crystals and caustic soda. Production of caustic soda ceased in 1912, which left part of the factory idle. Two years into the war, the Army was facing a crippling shell shortage. The War Office decided to use the factory's surplus capacity to purify TNT, a process more dangerous than manufacture itself, although the factory was in a highly populated area. Despite opposition from Brunner Mond, production of TNT began in September 1915. The method used was invented by Brunner Mond's chief scientist F. A. Freeth, who believed the process to be "manifestly very dangerous". The plant continued to purify TNT at a rate of approximately 9 long tons per day until it was destroyed by the explosion.

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