An Explosive Cargo

Dockworkers load cases of the high explosive TNT into the hold of a freighter in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Looking down into the ship's hold from one of the hatches on deck, the photograph shows cases being lowered by a crane and steadied by workers (right), while others (top and bottom left) move the crates into place and use planks of wood to help secure the cargo and keep it from shifting while the ship was at sea. Merchant ships carried explosives and a wide variety of other cargoes essential to the war effort, including weapons, equipment, and food supplies.

George Metcalf Archival Collection
CWM 19810649-094