RMS Empress Of Ireland

RMS Empress Of Ireland

$1.00

Vol XCIII, No. 311

May 29th, 1914

Prior Constructions

At some points during her career, Empress of Ireland underwent minor renovations. Some of these included:

• On the 14 of October 1909 Empress struck a sunken vessel this may also have been an unknown submerged rock at the northern end of the St. Lawrence in Canada. Renovations were made to make Empress safe again.
• Safety changes were made, after the titanic had sank 2 years prior. This include 2,200 life jackets on board at all times. The crew carried out regular lifeboat drills, navigation, evacuation, and fire drills were also mandatory.
• They reformed the Empress so that if any two compartments flooded it would still float.

WHY THIS SHIP?

FACTS

The Story

Swallowed in 14 Minutes

Empress was first launched on the 26 of January 1906, on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Montreal, she proved herself as both reliable and fast.

• The ship had twin funnels, two masts, two propellers and an average speed of 37 km/h. She was designed with a passenger capacity of 1,590, with accommodations for 310 First Class passengers located in the middle of the ship
• There was nearly 758 Third Class passengers that were located forward, towards the bow
• Empress was considered a majestic ship (five foot ball fields in length.)
• Over $2 000 000 in just silver.

This was the collision that sank the Empress of Ireland in just 14 minutes.

In the early morning hours of May 29, 1914, the Canadian Pacific ocean liner, Empress of Ireland was cruising the St. Lawrence, headed for Liverpool.

Empress carried 1,477 passengers and crew, including 167 members of the Salvation Army. The ship had cast off at 4:30 p.m. Waving Union Jacks and shouts of good-bye were heard and seen throughout the area. The Salvation Army band struck up the hymn "God Be With You Till We Meet Again." as they set off.

Empress had left the docking station and was now traveling on a new journey, little did passengers know, the trip was going to end sooner than they had expected.

Traveling the opposite way was the Norwegian Storstad, it was weighed down by a full load of coal. Each ship had spotted the other, but a sudden fog obscured both.

The captain had ordered the ship men to slow down when he had spotted the other boat threw the fog, but the men did not understand the confused signals. To this day no one is certain to how Storstad suddenly came out of the fog striking the Empress like a knife, when Storstand pulled out, the river flooded in. By 2:10 a.m. less than a quarter hour from the time of collision, the Empress was gone.

Storstad and two rescue ships picked up the survivors. When morning broke, the final count was 465 saved and 1,012 lost. Of 138 children embarked on the Empress, only four survived.

It was almost like a fire cracker

going past the portal. We didn't know what it was.

I knew if it were going to cause as much attention as the titanic, I should be scared.

-Survivor Grace Martyn

Surviving the sinking

What Happens Now?

Interesting fact..

Although the loss of Empress of Ireland did not attract the same level of attention as the sinking of the RMS Titanic two years earlier, the disaster did lead to a change in the design of ships. Ship's bows, are now changed because the sinking of Empress proved that the reverse slanting, was deadly in the event of a ship-to-ship collision because it caused massive damage below the waterline.

Protection is important because, unlike Titanic, Empress of Ireland rests at the relatively shallow depth of 44m. While accessible to highly skilled scuba divers, the dive is dangerous due to the cold water, strong currents and impaired visibility.

The ship's cat on Empress of Ireland was named Emmy. She was said to have been a loyal orange tabby who had never once missed a voyage. But shortly before the liner's final voyage, the cat continued to leave the ship before its departure on 28 May 1914. The crew could not coax her aboard therefore, Empress departed without her. It was reported that Emmy watched the ship sail away from Quebec City sitting on the roof of the shed, which would later become a place for the dead pulled from the river after Empress went down. Ship's cats were believed to bring luck to the ship and keep it from sinking

• Some believe it was the cats fault the ship went down

Survivor Grace Martyn (one of four children who

survived the sinking of the Empress).Recalls being awoken by the crash, then making her way up to the deck with her parents. Because the ship was sinking fast, launching more lifeboats was next to impossible.

As she stood holding on to the rails for support. She said that holding on was horrifying, the screams of help that were next to me and seeing the frightened face of my father. Then eight year old, Martyn landed in the frigid water and was rescued by a lifeboat shortly after. She found her self alone, her mother was missing and her father had perished

Work Sited

• http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/economy-business/transport/empress-of-ireland-sinks-in-the-st-lawrence.html

• http://www.norwayheritage.com/articles/templates/great-disasters.asp?articleid=99&zoneid=1

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_Ireland

• http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?30437