SS Imo[1] was a merchant steamship that was built in 1889 to carry livestock and passengers, and converted in 1912 into a whaling factory ship.

On 6 December 1917 she was involved in a collision in Halifax Harbour with the French cargo ship Mont-Blanc, which was carrying munitions.

The resultant fire aboard Mont Blanc caused the historic and catastrophic Halifax Explosion, which levelled the Richmond District in the North End of the city.

"Due to the combined effect of transverse thrust and the length, and depth of SS Imo's hull, and its keel, she was difficult to maneuver".

[7] Imo met a US tramp steamer, SS Clara, being piloted up the wrong (western) side of the harbour.

[12] Soon afterwards, Imo was forced to head even further towards the Dartmouth shore after passing the tugboat Stella Maris, which was travelling up the harbour to Bedford Basin near mid-channel.

Horatio Brannen, captain of Stella Maris, saw Imo approaching at excessive speed and ordered his ship closer to the western shore to avoid an accident.

[17] While the damage to Mont Blanc was not severe, it toppled barrels that broke open and flooded the deck with benzol that quickly flowed into the hold.

A fire started at the waterline and travelled quickly up the side of the ship as the benzol spewed out from crushed drums on Mont-Blanc's decks.

Surrounded by thick black smoke, and fearing she would explode almost immediately, the captain ordered the crew to abandon ship.

Three of the four personnel on her open bridge were killed: Captain From, Pilot William Hayes and R. Albert Ingvald Iverson, the First Officer.

Four other crewmen were also killed: Harold Iverson (seaman), Oscar Kallstrom (fireman), Johannes C. Kersenboom (carpenter) and Gustav Petersen (boatswain).

Charles Jost Burchell, a prominent Halifax lawyer, represented Imo's owners as he did in the lengthy civil litigation.

The inquiry initially held Imo's crew blameless, and put the entire responsibility for the collision on the Mont-Blanc.

Renamed Guvernøren ("The Governor") in 1920, she was a whale oil tanker until 30 November 1921, when the man at the helm collapsed drunk after celebratory drinking, leaving nobody at the wheel.