Overshadowed by the Titanic – The Empress of Ireland Disaster

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It was a sad anniversary that returns each April. Early on a Sunday morning, ninety three years ago, the RMS Titanic sunk in the North Atlantic Ocean after it’s collision with an iceberg. Most are familiar these days with the events that took place on that fateful night on the ship, thanks to James Cameron and his ‘Hollywood version” of the tragedy. I believe he took certain liberties with the plot, but all in all, the portrayal was basically correct. Strange how there is so much interest in the story even after all these years. Stranger still, with all the history and disasters and yes, even maritime disasters that have happened since, how much interest still lies in the story of this tragedy. Perhaps it is the fascination with the people on the ship (the Titanic had more than its share of the then rich and famous). One such forgotten maritime disaster is the sinking of the RMS (Royal Mail Ship) Empress of Ireland. This ship sunk in the fog shrouded lanes of the St. Lawrence River during the late spring (May 29) of 1914. Although nothing like the Titanic in either size, elegance or the well known names it carried that particular trip, however, the 14,191 ton liner was the pride of the Canadian Pacific steam ship lines during that time. It was on a familiar run between Quebec and Liverpool, England on that particular evening and was winding its way up the St. Lawrence River after leaving Quebec. Most of the passengers and crew were sleeping as the drama unfolded during the early hours of the morning of May 29th, unaware of the disaster about to happen. The Empress of Ireland came from the same Line as the Empress of Brittan and set sail for her maiden voyage in 1906. Her maiden voyage became the run she would follow for the rest of her days, from Liverpool to Quebec and then back. Although not as richly appointed as the Titanic, First Class rooms were nice in their own right. The Empress was under the command of Henry Kendall, who had seen 25 years of sea duty and 12 years on the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railyway), he was new to the Empress. The ship sailed east on the St. Lawrence on what had been previously a clear night. She had just dropped her pilot off and was hugging the shore. Suddenly the River was completely engulfed in an all encompassing fog. It shrouded everything in the Empresses’ path making navigation almost impossible. The two ships noticed each other at 2:00 am on that fateful morning. Traveling down the St..Lawrence River was the Norwegian ship Storstad. The Storstad had been close to shore also, planning to pick up its pilot for its run into Montreal. The ship was full of coal which it was dropping off later that day. Prior to radar, navigation was done by humans. Following the Titanic disaster, safety conditions had greatly improved, which included more life boats, the latest in underwater iceberg detection, plus more life jackets. Passengers on the Empress numbered 87 in First Class, 253 in Second Class and the 717 in Third, the number being 717. And as most of us know from the Titanic movie, the Third Class passengers were usually relegated to the bowels of the ship. While there were not many notable passengers on board the Empress, there were a few. Traveling in First Class were Lawrence Irving, a well known actor of the time along with his wife, Mabel Hackney and Sir Henry Seton Kerr, a wealthy British gentleman returning from a hunting trip in Canada. In Second Class, there were no passengers of note, but traveling to England for a conference were 170 Salvation Army members. Third class, while better than most ships, included a diverse group of people from 300 temporarily laid off Ford workers from Detroit, to a handful of failed immigrants returning to their homeland. The Empress Captain gave 3 blasts on his whistle indicating that he would go full astern, but suddenly he saw the Storstad’s lights coming towards his ship. Unable to avoid a collision the Storstad plowed into the Empress, the steel slicing like butter. Although the two ships stay connected for a short period of time, the strong current forced the two ships apart. The Storstad remained afloat and was not taking on water. But, water entered the ship so fast that the it sank in a mere 15 minutes. (The Titanic sank in approximately 2 and half hours). Knowing that his ship was doomed, Captain Kendall ordered the bulkhead doors shut and the stewards to wake passengers persuading them to put on their life jackets and man the lifeboats. Shortly after the accident, the ship began listing. Some passengers awoke due to the list and the water coming into their berths. Although a few boats were launched, most people ended up in the cold river because just a mere 10 minutes after the collision. The Storstad proceeded to pluck survivors from the water, along with other ships that appeared. The survivors were transferred to the shore town of Rimouski, Quebec. The ship sank in about 150 feet of water. The passengers aboard numbered 1,477 and 1,012 lost their lives, including 840 passengers (8 more people than had died on the Titanic). The official blame was placed on the Storstad’s captain but the Empress’s captain blamed the collision on the fog till his dying day. Sadly, this marine disaster was overshadowed by the start of the First World War which began a few short months later. Although it seems that much energy is still focused on the Titanic disaster, other marine disasters have happened since which are of no less importance and should definitely not be forgotten. Copyright 2007