Guy Fawkes' Explosion Would Have Devasted London

Anonymous Coward writes "Experts at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth have worked out for the first time the true extent of the damage Guy Fawkes would have caused if his daring deed had not been foiled on November 5, 1605. " Sorry - history geek/major in me coming out, but this is definitiely one of those major points in history when things Could Have Gone Differently.

Comments

Re:Wasn't he framed?

[martinthebrit]

Some of us Brits object to the American import of Halloween overshadowing our own pyrotechnic traditions.

Very funny diatribe about 20 minutes into last week's Now Show (radio 4 comedy programme) about this very matter.

Gunpowder != TNT

[Tsu Dho Nimh]

"what's the general difference between gunpowder and TNT? I mean, both are a pure form of salt peter and whatnot, basically a normal explosive."

Not even close. TNT is "tri-nitro toluene", is a pale yellow crystalline, aromatic hydrocarbon compound that melts at 81 C. It is way more stable than nitroglycerine (not related to gunpowder either). The specific combustion energy of TNT is 4.6 MJ/kg. I'm not sure what gunpowder formula Fawkes used, but I doubt that it could have been as effective as TNT.

Halifax Explosion

[Irishman]

An explosion of this magnitude (over 2.5 kilotonnes of TNT) did explode in a city back in 1917. Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada was devestated by an explosion of a munitions ship on its way to Europe. The explosion killed almost 2000 people, injured over 9000 and rattled dishes about 300 km away. The explosion was so large, it was actually studied by Oppenheimer and his crew as a model of how to deliver the atomic bomb. From this, they determined that damaged is greatly enhanced when the bomb is exploded above ground. If you want to find out more, just go here.

Re:Halifax Explosion

[nautical9]

On the cool clear morning of December 6, 1917, the munitions ship Mont Blanc, already on fire from a collision in Halifax Harbour with the Belgian relief ship Imo, glances off pier 6 in the north end of Halifax sparking a fire in the dockyard. West Street firemen were the first to arrive at the pier 6 fire. For all but one of them, it would be their last alarm. At 9:04:35 am the Mont Blanc explodes with a force of 2.9 kilotons. The Halifax Explosion killed between 1600 and 2000 people, wounded another 9000, and left 25,000 people homeless.

From http://www.halifaxfiremuseum.org/

Re:I don't get it.

[riggwelter]

We have a national day (it's not actually a holiday) in the UK (well, England certainly) on the 5th of November to celebrate the fact that Guy Fawkes, and his fellow conspiritors we prevented from commiting a major act of what was essentially religious-inspired terrorism, namely the assisnation of the monarch and parliament.

That's why effigies of Mr Fawkes are burnt as part of the celebrations.

Of course, given that Mr Fawkes represented the oppressed (at the time) Roman Catholic community, was he a terrorist, or a freedom fighter?

Huge Difference

[Detritus]

Gunpowder, or black powder, is a low explosive. It doesn't detonate, it deflagrates, which means that it burns very quickly, producing large quantities of gas.

TNT, or tri-nitro-toluene, is a high explosive. It detonates, producing a violent shock wave.

High explosives are more violent in their effects than low explosives. That's why they are so popular with the military. They do a better job of breaking things.

Child's play

[Illserve]

Back in WW2, the RAF had a huge ammo depot called the Fauld.

On November 27, 1944, there was an accident and it blew up.

This is the supposedly the largest non-nuclear explosion in recorded history.

3670 tons of bombs went up in an explosion that was seismically recordable in Casablanca

The crater was half a mile across.

78 people killed.

A photo:
http://www.historicairphotos.com/g_uk/imag e2_lge.j pg

Some informative links with other photos:

http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/faul dc rater.htm

http://freespace.virgin.net/kehla.barnes/disaste r. htm