Answers » Categories » Shipwrecks

What happaned to the Empress of ireland. It was sunk in the St. Lawrence River around the time the Titanic sun (1912)????



3 Answers

0 
The Empress of Ireland sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence near Rimouski in the early hours of May 29, 1914 with the loss of 1012 souls. It was, and still is, Canada's worst maritime disaster. Outbound from Quebec City and heading for Liverpool, the Empress was struck amidships on the starboard side by the collier Storstad, heading upriver with a full load of coal. The two ships had sighted each other earlier but a fog bank came up suddenly and the ships disappeared from view. The Empress stopped; when the fog lifted, Storstad was only a short distance away and still making ten knots.
The wound was fatal. Within minutes the Empress rolled over on her side, trapping hundreds below decks. Less than fourteen minutes after the collision she disappeared into the frigid water.
Salvage efforts continued until September 1914, after which she was largely forgotten.
The ship was rediscovered by divers in the early 1960s. Divers can still explore the hulk but it is protected by the Quebec government.
Source(s):
Empress of Ireland: The Story of an Edwardian Line (by Derek Grout)
Forgotten Empress (by David Zeni)


0 
how did it sink
Source(s):
f


0 

The Norwegian collier SS Storstad ran into her in the St. Lawrence River's dense fog. More than a thousand people perished as the ship sank in a matter of minutes. As a result of the more well-known sinkings of the Titanic and the Lusitania, the "Forgotten Empress" has been mostly forgotten. <

Want to post an answer?

Join now for free to answer this question.
Already have an account? Login to answer.

Ask your own question

Ask a Question

Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario - A Journey of Discovery Book

The National Museum of the Great Lakes is excited to announce the release of a new book titled Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario: A Journey of Discovery. This book contains stories of long lost shipwrecks and the journeys of the underwater explorers who found them, written by Jim Kennard with paintings by Roland Stevens and underwater imagery by Roger Pawlowski.

Buy Now!



Legend of the Lake - New Discovery Edition Book

The recent discovery of the wreck of the British warship Ontario, “the Holy Grail” of Great Lakes shipwrecks, solves several mysteries that have puzzled historians since the ship sank more than two centuries ago. Now, for the first time, the whole tragic story of the Ontario can finally be told.

Buy Now!