Editing Halifax Explosion (section)

==Investigation==
Many people in Halifax first thought the explosion to be the result of a German attack.{{sfn|Glasner|2011|p=123}} The [[The Chronicle Herald|''Halifax Herald'']] continued to propagate this belief for some time, reporting, for example, that Germans had mocked victims of the explosion.{{sfn|MacMechan|Metson|1978|p=143}} While John Johansen, the Norwegian helmsman of ''Imo'', was being treated for serious injuries sustained during the explosion, it was reported to the military police that he had been behaving suspiciously. Johansen was arrested on suspicions of being a German spy when a search turned up a letter on his person, supposedly written in German.<ref>{{cite news|title=Helmsman of ship that hit Mont Blanc, held as spy|date=14 December 1917|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/hartford-courant-helmsman-of-ship-that-h/167847787/|work=[[Hartford Courant]]|page=1}}</ref> It turned out that the letter was actually written in Norwegian.{{sfn|MacMechan|Metson|1978|p=143}} Immediately following the explosion, most of the German survivors in Halifax had been rounded up and imprisoned.{{sfn|Armstrong|2002|p=113}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Elements still scourge desolated city of Halifax, 1050 bodies at morgues; all Germans being arrested|date=10 December 1917|work=[[The Gazette (Montreal)|The Gazette]]|page=1|volume=CXLVL|issue=295|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette-elements-still-scourge-desol/167847961/}}</ref> Eventually the fear dissipated as the real cause of the explosion became known, although rumours of German involvement persisted.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society|title=The Halifax Explosion and the spread of rumour through print media, 1917 to the present|author1=Graham, Gayle |author2=MacDonald, Bertrum |year=2014|volume=17|page=92}}</ref>

A [[judicial inquiry]] known as the Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry was formed to investigate the causes of the collision. Proceedings began at the [[Halifax Court House]] on 13 December 1917, presided over by Justice [[Arthur Drysdale]].{{sfn|Flemming|2004|p=71}} The inquiry's report of 4 February 1918 blamed ''Mont-Blanc''{{'}}s [[Captain (naval)|captain]], Aimé Le Médec, the ship's [[maritime pilot|pilot]], Francis Mackey, and Commander F. Evan Wyatt, the Royal Canadian Navy's chief examining officer in charge of the harbour, gates and anti-submarine defences, for causing the collision.{{sfn|Flemming|2004|p=71}} Drysdale agreed with Dominion Wreck Commissioner L. A. Demers' opinion that "it was the ''Mont-Blanc''{{'}}s responsibility alone to ensure that she avoided a collision at all costs" given her cargo;{{sfn|Johnston|Rawling|Gimblett|2011|pp=525–526}} he was likely influenced by local opinion, which was strongly anti-French, as well as by the "street fighter" style of argumentation used by ''Imo'' lawyer Charles Burchell.{{sfn|Armstrong|2002|pp=113–114, 122}} According to Crown counsel W. A. Henry, this was "a great surprise to most people", who had expected the ''Imo'' to be blamed for being on the wrong side of the channel.{{sfn|Armstrong|2002|p=187}} All three men were charged with [[manslaughter]] and [[criminal negligence]] at a preliminary hearing heard by [[Stipendiary Magistrate]] Richard A. McLeod, and bound over for trial. A [[Nova Scotia Supreme Court]] justice, [[Benjamin Russell (Canadian politician)|Benjamin Russell]], found there was no evidence to support these charges. Mackey was discharged on a [[writ]] of ''[[habeas corpus]]'' and the charges dropped. Because the pilot and the captain were arrested on the same warrant, the charges against Le Médec were also dismissed. Commander Wyatt, charged on a separate warrant, was the only one of the three who was indicted.{{sfn|Zemel|2016||p=303}} On 17 April 1918, a jury acquitted Wyatt in a trial that lasted less than a day.{{sfn|Armstrong|2002|pp=196–201}}

Drysdale oversaw the first civil litigation trial, in which the owners of the two ships sought damages from each other. His decision (27 April 1918) found ''Mont-Blanc'' entirely at fault.{{sfn|Flemming|2004|p=71}} Subsequent appeals to the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] (19 May 1919), and the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] in London (22 March 1920), determined ''Mont-Blanc'' and ''Imo'' were equally to blame for navigational errors that led to the collision.{{sfn|Flemming|2004|p=71}}{{sfn|Armstrong|2002|p=187}}<ref>{{Cite journal|journal=Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society|author=Kitz, Janet|title=The Inquiry into the Halifax Explosion of December 6, 1917: the legal aspects|volume=5|year=2002|page=64}}</ref> No party was ever convicted for any crime or otherwise successfully prosecuted for any actions that precipitated the disaster.<ref name=canen />