Tragedy in Fourteen Minutes - The Sinking of the Empress of Ireland

One its first outboard journey of the 1914 season, the Empress of Ireland was leaving its Quebec City port in the late afternoon. The temperature was quite mild and the Salvation Army band, that was making its way to Britain for a conference, was on board playing music as the passengers embarked the ship. Following a delicious meal, many passengers were out on the deck admiring the twinkling lights that dotted the St. Lawrence River's banks. Many passengers were tired after their full day of getting to the ship and went to bed early. Slowly the Empress made itself down river and proceeded to pick-up and drop off the harbor pilot at Father's Point (Pointe au Pere) where the last of the mail was gathered for its trip to England. At approximately 2 am, while tacking into the deep channel in fog, the Empress was struck on the starboard amidships and between the funnels by a Norwegian collier named Storstad. The Storstad had an ice-breaking, reinforced bow that literally melted the steel plating of the Empress like a hot knife in butter. Immediately the Empress heeled-over and she was mortally-wounded while sinking fast. Captain Kendall tried all that he could to keep Storstad in the wound but to no avail. Kendall had the Marconi radioman, Ferguson give a distress call and to have the pilot boat return for assistance. Unfortunately, nothing could be done and the Empress of Ireland sank in FOURTEEN MINUTES with the loss of more passenger lives than both Titanic and Lusitania. Overall, more than one thousand lives were lost on this ship with over 800 bodies still entombed on the ship. We treat this lady with a lot of dignity and respect while considering this ship a grave site.

Comments

[Terry Blankenship]

Is this story true and is it about the Empress of Ireland?

Perhaps the best illustration of how this truth can affect us is found in the sinking of the ship named Express of Ireland. As the ship began to sink in the cold Atlantic Ocean it was discovered that there were not enough life belts on board for all the passengers. On that ship were 130 Salvation Army officers—109 were drowned and not one body that was picked up had on a life belt. The few survivors told how the Salvation Army Christians took off their own belts and strapped them even upon strong men, saying, “I can die better than you can” and from the deck of that ship was demonstrated what it means to live with this revelation in our hearts.(From: Paul Lee Tan, ed. , Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations (Rockville, Maryland: Assurance Publishers, 1979) p. 1177)