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(This new feature on North American wrecks will be maintained as time permits. Suggestions for future features appreciated). Vessel: EMPRESS OF IRELAND (with loss of 1,012 to 1,078 lives) (more info. appreciated) Date: May 30th, 1914. The steel Canadian Pacific Railway propeller-steamer EMPRESS OF IRELAND had departed Quebec City on May 29th enroute Liverpool, UK. with 1,057 passengers on board. While still in the St. Lawrence River (and about 100 miles downstream from Quebec City) she collided in fog with the up-bound 6,028-ton Norwegian steamer STORSTADT close to 2:00 am. at about 2 miles northeast of the Cock Point buoy, off Pere Point (Father Point), near Rimouski. The vessels had sighted each other but the fog patches quickly obscured their vision, and resulting signal blasts were of little success. The EMPRESS OF IRELAND was stuck on the starboard side between the funnels. The boiler rooms quickly flooded as the STORSTADT backed away leaving a huge hole in the EMPRESS OF IRELAND's side unobstructed. Due to a resulting heavy list, only a few life boats were launched. Within minutes the EMPRESS sank. Beside the enormous loss of live, the vessel loss was estimated at $2,000,000. Also of interest is the remarkable story (later to be known) that one of the survivors, a crew member (possibly boiler man) had previously escaped the loss of the TITANIC (April 14th, 1912 - loss of 1,503 lives), and then later, the loss of the LUSITANIA (May 7th, 1915 - loss of 1,198). In fairly recent years, some the artifacts, including instruments from the Salvation Army Band on board, were recovered by local divers and donated to local museums. Note: The depth, current, darkness of the water, plus the high probability of fog, make this dive site very hazardous. Tonnage: 14,191 / 8,070. Place Built: Glasgow, Scotland. Year Built: 1906. Builder: Fairfield Shipbuilding Co. Dimensions: 548.9 x 65.7 x 36.7 feet. Port of Reg: Liverpool, UK. Captain: Henry G. Kendall. Approx. Site: 48 30' North./68 30' West. Depth of Site: 114 feet approx. Loss of Life: 1,012 to 1,078 (of 1,477?). References: 1. Dictionary of Disasters at Sea... - 1824-1962, by Charles Hocking 2. Canadian Govt. Sessional Papers - Annual Report of Marine & Fisheries Branch, 1916. 3. Transport Canada records. 4. Musee De La Mer, Pere Point, Quebec. More information on Northern Maritime Research's NORTHERN SHIPWRECK DATABASE can be found on my www site listed in the signature block below. Yours, Dave Barron *- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -* | David N. Barron 44 41' N./63 40' W. | | Northern Maritime Research (research project name) | | Northern Shipwrecks Database (61,000+ records) | | Box 48047, Bedford, N.S. | | Canada. B4A 3Z2 | | e-mail <ad514@ch*.ns*.ca*> | | Our `NEW' (as of Oct. 1st) www (FAQ) site can be found at... | | http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~ad514/Profile.html (use capital `P') | *- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -*
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