Picric acid was only one component of the Mont Blanc's 2653-tonne loading. It also carried rather a large amount of TNT (200 tons of the stuff, which, surprisin

Picric acid was only one component of the Mont Blanc's 2653-tonne loading. It also carried rather a large amount of TNT (200 tons of the stuff, which, surprisingly, has a 1:1 TNT equivalence) and guncotton (10 tons) as explosives, along with benzol (which seems to have been the "detonator"). There was also considerable shock wave reinforcement due to the shape of the harbour bottom and location of the explosion.