RMS Empress of Ireland sank near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in Canada following a collision in thick fog with the Norwegian collier in the early hours of 29 May 1914. She had just begun its 96th voyage, departing Quebec City and heading to Liverpool.
Although the ship was equipped with watertight compartments and, in the aftermath of the sinking of the RMS Titanic two years earlier, carried more than enough lifeboats for all aboard, she foundered only 14 minutes after the collision. Of the 1,477 people on board, 1,012 died, making it the worst peacetime maritime disaster in Canadian history and one of the worst of the 20th century.Cd. 7609, p. 25.
Despite being one of the worst disasters of its time, the sinking of the Empress of Ireland was ultimately overshadowed by the prior sinking of the RMS Titanic and the later sinking of the RMS Lusitania as well as the events leading to and the outbreak of World War I a few weeks after the tragedy occurred. In the 21st century, however, commemorations have been held and memorials have been erected in Canada to mark the tragic sinking and the wreck of the Empress was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 2009.
Sinking
On 28 May 1914, Empress of Ireland departed Quebec City for Liverpool at 16:30 local time (EST). It was manned by a crew of 420 and carrying 1,057 passengers, roughly two thirds of her total capacity. Henry George Kendall had been promoted to captain of Empress of Ireland earlier that month, and it was his first trip down the St. Lawrence River in command of her.
The ship reached Pointe-au-Père in the early hours of 29 May 1914, where the pilot disembarked. She resumed a normal outward bound course of about N76E (076 degrees) and soon sighted the masthead lights of SS Storstad, a Norwegian collier, on her starboard bow at a distance of several miles. Likewise, Storstad, which was abreast of Métis Point and on a virtually reciprocal course of W. by S. (259 degrees), sighted Empress of Irelands masthead lights. These first sightings were made in clear weather conditions, but fog soon enveloped the ships. The ships resorted to repeated use of their fog whistles. At 01:56 local time Storstad crashed into Empress of Irelands starboard side at around midships. Storstad remained afloat, but Empress of Ireland was severely damaged. A gaping hole in her side caused the lower decks to flood at a rate alarming to the crew. Captain Kendall shouted to the crew of Storstad with a megaphone to keep her engines at full power and plug the hole, but Empress of Ireland continued her forward motion, and the current of the St. Lawrence shoved Storstad away after about five seconds, allowing of water per second to begin pouring into Empress of Ireland.
In the ship's wireless room, Marconi operators Edward Bamford, who was on watch at the time, and Ronald Ferguson, the chief operator who had just turned in, were put on alert by the collision. Receiving permission from the Chief officer to send a distress call, they did so immediately and contacted the Pointe-au-Père Marconi station: "May have struck ship... listing terribly." They notified rescuers on shore of their position twenty miles from Rimouski.
Empress of Ireland lurched heavily to starboard and began settling by the stern.Marshall, L. (2019). The Tragic Story of the Empress of Ireland, and Other Great Sea Disasters. Czechia: Good Press. There was no time to shut the watertight doors. Water entered through open portholes, some only a few feet above the water line, and inundated passageways and cabins. Most of the passengers and crew located in the lower decks drowned quickly. Those berthed in the upper decks were awakened by the collision and immediately boarded lifeboats on the boat deck. Within a few minutes, the ship's list was so severe that the port lifeboats could not be launched. Some passengers attempted to do so but the lifeboats just crashed into the side of the ship, spilling their occupants into the frigid water. Five starboard lifeboats were launched successfully, while a sixth and seventh capsized during lowering.Cd. 7609, p. 19.
The lights and power on Empress of Ireland eventually failed five or six minutes after the collision, plunging the ship into darkness. Ten minutes after the collision, the ship rolled violently over her starboard side, allowing as many as 700 passengers and crew to crawl out of the portholes and decks onto her port side. The ship lay upon her side for a minute or two, having seemingly run aground. Shortly afterwards at 02:10, about 14 minutes after the collision, the bow rose briefly out of the water and the ship finally sank.Flayhart, W. H. (2003). Perils of the Atlantic: Steamship Disasters, 1850 to the Present. United Kingdom: W.W. Norton. Hundreds of people were thrown into the near-freezing water. The disaster resulted in the deaths of 1,012 people.
Passengers and crew
There were only 465 survivors: 4 children (of 138), 41 women (of 310), 172 men (of 609), and 248 crew (of 420). The fact that most passengers were asleep at the time of the sinking (most not even awakened by the collision) also contributed to the loss of life when they were drowned in their cabins, most of them from the starboard side where the collision happened.
In first class, the list of passengers was relatively small, with only 87 booked passages. Second class saw a considerably larger booking at just over half capacity with 253 passengers, owed greatly to a large party of Salvation Army members and their families, numbering 170 in all, who were travelling to attend the 3rd International Salvation Army Congress in London.
Third class saw the largest booking, which with 717 passengers was nearly filled to capacity. This complement reflected greatly the typical mix of steerage travellers seen on eastbound crossings aboard Empress of Ireland and her running mates on the North Atlantic which paralleled that seen on westbound crossings from Liverpool. While on westbound crossings third class passengers were predominantly diverse mixes of immigrants, eastbound crossings saw equally diverse blends of former immigrants from both Canada and the United States returning to their native countries in Europe. Many were returning to visit relatives, while others were in the process of re-emigrating and resettling.
Total numbers saved and lost The exact numbers of passengers and crew of the sunken ship who either died or were saved was not established until the inquiry. This was because of discrepancies in the names of the passengers shown on the manifest (particularly in regard to the continentals) and the names given by the survivors. As a consequence, initial reports in the newspapers were incomplete.
+Number of people on board and death tollDetailed Empress figures. Royal Alberta Museum.Persons on boardNumbers on board Percentage by total onboardNumbers lostPercentage lost by total onboardNumbers savedPercentage saved by total onboardPercentage survival rate per group Crew 420 28.4% 172 11.6% 248 16.8% 59.0% Passengers 1,057 71.6% 840 56.9% 217 14.7% 20.5%Total 1,477 100% 1,012 68.5% 465 31.5% –Passengers by class1st Class 87 5.9% 51 3.4% 36 2.4% 41.4%2nd Class 253 17.1% 205 13.9% 48 3.2% 19.0%3rd Class 717 48.5% 584 39.5% 133 9.0%18.5%Passengers by age and sexGirls 73 4.9% 70 4.7% 3 0.2% 4.1%Boys 65 4.4% 64 4.3% 1 0.1% 1.5%Women 310 21.0% 269 18.2% 41 2.8%13.2%Men 609 41.2% 437 29.6% 172 11.6%28.2%
Rescue operations and survivors
Storstad, which remained afloat, lowered her own lifeboats and began to rescue the survivors in the water. The radio operator at Pointe-au-Père who picked up the emergency signal from Empress of Ireland notified two Canadian government steamers: the pilot boat Eureka at Pointe-au-Père Wharf, which left the wharf at full steam at 02:30; followed by the mail ship Lady Evelyn at Rimouski Wharf which left at 02:45.John Willis, Empress of Ireland:Canada's Titanic, Canadian Museum of History (2014), p. 86"Great Shipping Disaster." Times [London, England] 30 May 1914: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 14 October 2013. Eureka was first on the scene at 03:10 and rescued about 150 survivors from the water. She brought the survivors first to Pointe-au-Père, but was redirected to Rimouski Wharf where doctors and relief supplies were waiting. Lady Evelyn arrived at the site of sinking at 03:45. No survivors were left in the water but Lady Evelyn collected the 200 survivors rescued by Storstad, as well as 133 bodies, and arrived to join Eureka at the Rimouski Wharf about 05:15.John Willis, Empress of Ireland:Canada's Titanic, Canadian Museum of History (2014), p. 87 Storstad was damaged but not severely, so her captain continued on to Quebec.
One of the survivors was Captain Kendall, who was on the bridge at the time of the collision and quickly ordered the lifeboats to be launched. When Empress of Ireland lurched onto her side, he was thrown from the bridge into the water, and was taken down with her as she began to go under. Swimming to the surface, he clung to a wooden grate long enough for crew members aboard a nearby lifeboat to row over and pull him in. Immediately, Kendall took command of the small boat and began rescue operations. The lifeboat's crew successfully pulled in many people from the water, and when the boat was full, Kendall ordered the crew to row to the lights of Storstad so that the survivors could be dropped off. He and the crew made a few more trips between Storstad and the wreck site to search for more survivors. After an hour or two, Kendall gave up, since any survivors who were still in the water would have either succumbed to hypothermia or drowned by then. Upon first boarding Storstad, Kendall stormed to the bridge, and levied an accusation at Captain Thomas Andersen: "You have sunk my ship!"
Amongst the dead were the English dramatist and novelist Laurence Irving and his wife Mabel Hackney; the explorer Henry Seton-Karr; Ella Hart-Bennett, the wife of British government official William Hart-Bennett; and Gabriel J. Marks, the first mayor of Suva, Fiji, along with his wife Marion. Lieutenant Charles Lindsay Claude Bowes-Lyon, a first cousin of the future Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother survived the disaster, but died in combat only five months later on the Western Front near Ypres.
The passengers included 167 members of the Salvation Army. These travellers, all but eight of whom died, were members of the Canadian Staff Band who were travelling to London for an international conference.Empress of Ireland – The Salvation Army Connection The Salvation Army International Heritage Centre.Great Tragedy of the Sea The War Cry, 13 June 1914. One of the four children who survived was 7-year-old Grace Hanagan, who was born in Oshawa, Ontario, on 16 May 1907, and was travelling with her parents, who were among the Salvation Army members who did not survive.1914: Empress of Ireland sinks in the St. Lawrence and interview with Grace Martyn (née Hanagan). The Fifth Estate, Broadcast 23 September 1986. CBC Digital Archives. Grace was also the last survivor of the sinking and died in St. Catharines, Ontario, on 15 May 1995 at the age of 87.
"I was travelling second-class with three others in my cabin. I was sure something was wrong when the blow occurred. When I heard the vessel’s siren blowing I jumped up in my bunk, took a lifebelt from the rack over me, and threw the others to the girls. They did not want them at first. I was serious and made them put them on, and as a result they are saved.